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Checkmate [Paperback]

Dorothy Dunnett (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)


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Book Description

August 1984
For the first time Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles are available in the United States in quality paperback editions.

Sixth in the legendary Lymond Chronicles, Checkmate takes place in 1557, where Francis Crawford of Lymond is once again in France, leading an army against England. But even as the Scots adventurer succeeds brilliantly on the battlefield, his haunted past becomes a subject of intense interest to forces on both sides.
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.


Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

For the first time Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles are available in the United States in quality paperback editions.

Sixth in the legendary Lymond Chronicles, Checkmate takes place in 1557, where Francis Crawford of Lymond is once again in France, leading an army against England. But even as the Scots adventurer succeeds brilliantly on the battlefield, his haunted past becomes a subject of intense interest to forces on both sides. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Dorothy Dunnett was born in 1923 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. Her time at Gillespie's High School for Girls overlapped with that of the novelist Muriel Spark. From 1940-1955, she worked for the Civil Service as a press officer. In 1946, she married Alastair Dunnett, later editor of The Scotsman.

Dunnett started writing in the late 1950s. Her first novel, The Game of Kings, was published in the United States in 1961, and in the United Kingdom the year after. She published 22 books in total, including the six-part Lymond Chronicles and the eight-part Niccolo Series, and co-authored another volume with her husband. Also an accomplished professional portrait painter, Dunnett exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy on many occasions and had portraits commissioned by a number of prominent public figures in Scotland.

She also led a busy life in public service, as a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Library of Scotland, a Trustee of the Scottish National War Memorial, and Director of the Edinburgh Book Festival. She served on numerous cultural committees, and was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. In 1992 she was awarded the Office of the British Empire for services to literature. She died on November 9, 2001, at the age of 78. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

  • Paperback
  • Publisher: Warner Books (August 1984)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0446313017
  • ISBN-13: 978-0446313018
  • Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,711,101 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

37 Reviews
5 star:
 (34)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (37 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars I've never read their equal, April 6, 1998
By A Customer
Let me preface my review by saying I am an avid reader and have read everything from physics texts to children's books and in all of my journeys I have never found anything equal to the genius of these novels. This last of the series, Checkmate, is the most painful to read, for in it all loose ends are at last tied and all farewells must be said. It is just as satisfying as the previous 5 novels and Dunnet's rendition of the history of the religious battle over the souls of England and France in the 16th century is both riveting and fascinating. Dunnett's skill in story-telling is unparalelled. Her characters are rich and engaging and their world is one in which nothing is as it seems, and where history finally seems real. Lymond is a hero of epic proportions; ambiguous, complex and never disappointing. His trademark wit is always refreshing as is his astounding intellect. These are characters who become part of one's daily thoughts and one is guaranteed to miss them when their story has ended. I reluctantly turned the last page of this book while bravely fighting away tears and plan on reading the series again quite soon because I, like others, often missed the nuances of Dunnett's spectacular plots and dense dialogue in order to move on. I really cannot say enough about these books. When one reaches the end of the journeys of Lymond, one can't help but feel as if one has lived through them oneself, from the Highlands of Scotland to the frozen and snowy grounds of Russia. By the last chapter, I couldn't help but feel that I had earned the right to call Lymond by his Christian name, Francis, as only those closest to him are permitted. The Lymond of Crawford series reiterates and reminds me of the reasons we write and read literature: to excite, to escape, to feel truly human and to revel in the glory of being so. If you have dismissed these books early on, do yourself a favor and try again. The trip is well worth the fare. And to Dorothy Dunnett let me say Thank You for showing me what a masterpiece consists of and for giving those of us who feel that perhaps we might have been born a couple of centuries too late the chance to see what might have been.
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, August 15, 1999
By A Customer
A chance recommendation by a friend introduced me to this series and all I can say is that I am grateful for that suggestion. I have rarely enjoyed a series so much or found myself so involved with the characters and their lives. This final book, Checkmate, left me in awe of Lady Dunnett, severely attached to Lymond and Phillipa, immensely pleased with the conclusion and resolution, and more than a little reluctant to agree with Dunnett that there could be no more written about Lymond. No one could finish reading the book without imagining what the future would bring to Lymond and Phillipa. The characters are much too engaging to be put aside with the book upon completion. They grow in front of you and they grow with you until you feel that you have played a part in their character development and not merely seen it happen in front of you. It's wonderful. Lady Dunnett reaches a hand out to each reader and allows him to enter some private corner of these characters' minds until he begins to understand what prompts the characters and to sympathize with them all the more.To anyone considering this book, do not read it without reading the first five books, in order, but definitely do not pass up this series. I could not put the book down. Lady Dunnett is the most skillfull author I know of to truly weave history into the story until the seams between truth and fancy do not show. I felt as though I were leading a double life, both in the present, and in that far away, yet familiar (thanks to Lady Dunnett) world of the Renaissance.This is a book worth reading, and then rereading several times over. It will become familiar, but never old.
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Checkmate, January 24, 2005
By 
K. Freeman (Apple Valley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
These are absolutely wonderful books -- erudite, witty, beautifully written, magnificently characterized and wonderfully plotted.

They, and perhaps particularly this last installment, aren't going to be for everyone. Readers who dislike sentiment and who get bored with long expository passages won't find this is their favorite book. Even I, who love melodrama, found myself tempted at some points during CHECKMATE to shake the characters violently and yell, "Get over it!"

But it's gorgeous stuff nonetheless. Dunnett's whole six-book series is the story of one outstanding character, only rarely told from his point of view, and aided by a vivid supporting cast. She spares him few agonies (even if at times one feels he overreacts just a tad) and gives him great beauty and great talents. Writing in impeccable omniscient point of view, she captures the 1500's beautifully with only a tiny hint of an anachronism here and there. I recommend these books to readers who enjoy character-driven historical fiction with considerable action as well as considerable emotion.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
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First Sentence:
What the celebration at the castle had been, Austin Grey never discovered. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
lord count, second mill
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Francis Crawford, Piero Strozzi, Austin Grey, Duke de Guise, Danny Hislop, Dame de Doubtance, Archie Abernethy, Jerott Blyth, Lord James, Leonard Bailey, King Philip, Adam Blacklock, Mary Fleming, Madame Roset, Philippa Somerville, Marshal Strozzi, Crawford of Lymond, Master Nostradamus, Queen Mary, Richard Crawford, Lord Allendale, Queen of Scotland, Cardinal of Lorraine, Flaw Valleys, John Erskine
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