Customer Reviews

The End of the Line

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In comparison with some of his other books (especially the Brice trilogy) the characterisation is weak and story reads more like a history of the period rather than a novel set it in it. I found myself skimming rather than reading it. It had a few fairly standard romance scenes and other set pieces, but nothing to really grip the reader in the way that the Bruce and Wallace books had. For a Tranter fan its worth getting as a book to complete the series, but if you don't know tranter, I would suggest reading the Wallace, Bruce and Douglas books first (these are all great historical novels).

Not one of Tranter's finest novels. Out of all his books the newer ones seem to not live up to the Wallace and the Bruce Trilogy. The End of the Line is the Fourth book about the Cospatricks or Earls of Dunbar and March. The main character is George, Master of Dunbar and comes of age aiding his father and ultimately becomes the Cospatrick, 11th Earl of Dunbar and March. He lives thru 5 Kings, David II, Robert II, Robert III, James I and finally James II. The book reads as a history and is very short on the 1st person dialogue that I feel is part of the magic of Tranter books. We get to live life and breathe Scotland through his characters. End of the Line is more of an overview and tries to cover too much I feel. It starts out very slow, picks up some steam about three quarters of the way through when we see George take on the Regent, Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany but then the story goes flat and ends with a bit of a whimper. I feel the Cospatricks need more of an exit from the historical stage after reading the other 3 books, Sword of State, Envoy Extraordinaire, and Courting Favour. A must for the series collectors but requires some dedication to close this chapter on Tranter's view of history.