Customer Reviews

King Hereafter

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

There are some reviewers here who question critically whether Dorothy Dunnett has accurately identified the historical MacBeth in her novel, King Hereafter. Need I point out the irony? Whether MacBeth was Thorfinn, Earl of Orkney, or Duncan, King of Alba, or someone else entirely, has little to do with the value of this book - a work of historical fiction. After completing Dunnett's 8-volume House of Niccolo, I quickly added her to my list of favorite authors. At first impression, her writing style could be called cryptic, even disjointed, her cadence unfamiliar. Her research is impeccable and without some foreknowledge of the period setting, Dunnett's density and detail may frustrate the reader.

An 8-volume work affords the reader much time to become acquainted with author and subject. Not so, in the single-volume King Hereafter. One must have some experience with Dunnett or truly be a fan of the age and genre to rejoice in this tale of MacBeth. Yet, one need not rejoice in a book to find it, in the end, a worthy read. If the reader can navigate the obscure asides in which she clearly revels, become comfortable with her unique rythym, Dunnett's King Hereafter will engross and enchant, will certainly educate, and provide it's consumer much pleasure.

A rousing 11th-century tale of royal intrigue, power politics, romance, and wry humor spanning the breadth of medieval Europe, King Hereafter easily merits 4 stars.

My first Dunnett, and a crackerjack. OK, a big, fat crackerjack historical novel about 11th century Britain, specifically on the life of the historic King Macbeth, who ruled Orkney and northern Scotland 1040-1058. For good measure, we get Lady Godiva, too. Plus Duncan, Malcolm, and Duke William waiting for his Big Moment, over there in Normandy.

Google for a fine, short review by reliable Danny Yee: "King Hereafter is a dark and sombre work...and at near nine hundred pages not one to be tackled lightly. It is, however, a rewarding feast for those who like solid historical fiction."

Nice background for the book at dorothydunnettdot)co(dot)uk/dunnettqa5.htm
She read some 700 books for KH! And compiled "145 interlocking European family trees, laid out in miniscule writing on a piece of wallpaper 20 feet long." Now, that's research!

Anyway, it's reassuring that the historical background is as good as she could make it, plus it's a ripping (hacking, stabbing, disembowelling...) good yarn. Boy, Britain went seriously downhill, in the civilization dept., when the Romans left. Positively *medieval* back then <GG>.

Happy reading!
Pete Tillman

First of all, this is historical fiction. The author isn't trying to 'prove' that any names from her homeland's ancient past are who she says they are in her tale - she is simply writing, with all the passion and expertise at her disposal, a story of what might have been. Shakespeare did the same kind of thing. Dunnett gives her Macbeth a more sympathtic press, but he is hers, not Shakespeare's or history's.

She has always excelled at using the minutiae of research to give her people a convincing world to move in. This is no less true in this story than in the Lymond or Niccolo chronicles, and it may surprise many readers who don't know the so-called Dark Ages that for the rich and well-connected this were actually a cosmopolitan, widely-travelled era when politics,religion and intermarriage connected most of Europe. The picture she paints of the birth of the Scots nation is plausible, and her people have the authentic feel of living people breathing air that was less chemically polluted, but otherwise no different from our own.

I loved this book. It is one of the very few historical-mythic fantasies that I cosnider on the same level as Rosemary Sutcliife's sublime 'Sword At Sunset'. Dorothy Dunnet has done her utmost to create a Matter of Scotland with the same convincing texture as Sutcliffe's Celtic take on the Matter of Britain, and it's a job well done.

My librarian friend, and a rabid Dorothy Dunnett fan, recommended this book to me. I am a teacher, and Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's plays that I frequently teach, so right off the bat I was interested. She warned me, however, that the first 50 pages or so were tough going. Well, truth be told, I absolutely suffered through the first 250 pages. It was only stubborn determination that kept me going. The plot was not too confusing for me (though it is pretty cryptic sometimes). The cast of characters was not too broad (though there are lots and lots of people to keep track of). It wasn't even that the writing style was too dense (though it is laid on rather thickly). I think what frustrated me was that nothing ever seemed to get anywhere. Here I was, putting in all this hard work to read carefully, and I felt very little reward as far as rising action is concerned. This is not to say that nothing ever happened. On the contrary, lots and lots happens in this novel. Rather, all these events kept accruing, but they never seemed to coalesce to form a big picture. It was almost potboilerish. I felt it was not worth the time and energy.

But then I came to the last 150 pages or so. Man! Things started rolling. I flew through to the end. And here's where the book's seductiveness (or my illness) becomes apparent: the minute I finished this book, I felt compelled to pick it up again and start reading from the beginning. I reread the first chapter, and the difference in my reading experience was incredible. I forced myself to put the book down because school was beginning in two weeks and I had to do all the planning I had neglected because I was reading King Hereafter, but I think that next summer, I may begin with this one. Having slogged through it once, I now have the big picture in mind, and this knowledge opens a whole new level of appreciation for all the miniplots that happen along the way.

Is this book worth the trouble? I'm afraid the answer to that will vary from individual to individual. For me, I'd have to say, "Yes." I think about this book and its characters frequently. It lives in my imagination. I cannot say the same for so many of the books I read. This one has staying power. That said, I don't think I will venture into any of the other Dorothy Dunnett books. Macbeth is special to me, but I wouldn't want to expend this kind of labor on characters and events that hold no significance to me already. So be warned: King Hereafter is no easy read, but it does offer plentiful rewards to those dogged enough to stick with it.

Based on the tale of Earl Thorfinn Sigurdsson of Orkney, as found in the Orkneyinga Saga, the man who some scholars take for the historical Macbeth, Lady Dorothy Dunnett has here reimagined the life and times of that famous Scottish king. Three parts Celt and one part Norse, this Orkney earl extended the domain bequeathed him by his viking forebears (the Orkney Islands as well as some northern coastal territory on the Scottish mainland) deep into that land that would one day be Scotland, establishing, for all intents and purposes, the first unified Scottish kingdom.

Though his kingdom was not to last, Thorfinn-Macbeth is portrayed as a magnificent visionary who grows from a somewhat reckless, albeit coldly clever and scheming, viking chieftain into a true king, genuinely concerned for the wealth and weal of his newly won kingdom. The tale, itself, is not highly structured but affects to recreate the life of this marauder cum royal prince from his first heedless days in the shadow of Norway's King Olaf the Stout and Denmark's Canute the Great (who briefly carved out an Atlantic empire for himself incorporating England, Denmark and, in the end, Norway), to his final days in the shadow of Harold Godwinsson, William of Normandy and Harald Hardrada, the last genuine viking king of Norway.

Following the life and career of the Orkney earl, Thorfinn, Dunnett creates a very different Macbeth from the man Shakespeare gave us. This Macbeth, an ungainly and ugly looking fellow, is head and shoulders above his fellows both physically and intellectually. More, he is, at bottom, a sensitive soul who, though his first introduction to his future wife, after killing her husband in battle, is barely more than rape, grows to love her as she comes to love him. Their joint career takes them headlong into rule of the future Scottish kingdom with some fascinating detours along the way including the tale of Thorfinn's struggles with the magnificent Rognvald Brusasson, his golden haired nephew (Ms. Dunnett offers a most unusual interpretation of the relationship which led to the famous burning of the earl's house) and engagement in the political maneuvering then going on in the south of England in light of Canute's early death without a strong heir to succeed him.

Although this novel had long barren stretches (I especially found the interlude on the European mainland, as Thorfinn made his way to Rome, frustratingly tiresome and longwinded), the book, on balance, was intelligently done. If it moved too slowly in places, it largely made up for it with well-wrought scenes of battle on the seas and deep in Scotland itself and with some fascinating dialogue. Regrettably, Ms. Dunnett does have a tendency to resort to a kind of cryptic rendering of both dialogue and description, which overdoes the subtlety I think she was pursuing. And I found too many of her characters rather difficult to distinguish from one another. Occasionally, too, she slips into a surprising error such as a description of the Byzantines in which she refers to the Ottoman crown (which, of course, is a major anachronism since the Ottomans didn't conquer Constantinople until 1453 while her tale takes place in the eleventh century). More, she goes on too long in places since I found her repeating herself rather too often, adding an unneeded burden to this already very large novel.

But, if it is not the best of its type (and I am reminded here of Hope Muntz' historical novel, THE GOLDEN WARRIOR, about many of the same characters in roughly the same time period which, perhaps, really is), this one is certainly a good one and worth the attention of intelligent readers attracted to historical fiction, especially when set in this time period and this corner of the world.

SWM
author of The King of Vinland's Saga

I have never read anything else by this author, and am not familiar enough with the period (circa 1,000 AD) to comment knowledgeably on her research, but just judging by her use of unusual Norse and Gaelic terminology, and the frequent use of translated Norse verse, it seems apparent that she is intimately familiar with her subject.

The book reads very well, and the author is highly skilled in creating metaphorical phrases and lyrical descriptions. The book is an absolute pleasure to read, despite many passages that are incompletely translated, and the surfeit of odd names that defy pronunciation. In context, everything becomes intelligible, and the gist of the intended meaning is plain.

A word about the plot: there doesn't seem to be any. The story simply unfolds, like a saga of the protagonist, Thorfinn, his wife, Groa, and their supporters and antagonists. Thorfinn's "Christian" name is Macbeth, in the story.

This is a hefty book for which I am grateful (0ver 720 pages, including, at the end, genealogical charts of the royalty of Scotland, Normandy, Norway and England) and I have not yet finished it. But, I'm hooked. I'm savoring every word. I am really interested in what transpires next. When it ends, I will be sorry that there is no more to read.

So far, I have seen a reference to William the Bastard, of Normandy, introduced by a reference to him at the age of 8 years, in 1,033 AD. Of course, history tells us that he conquered England at the Battle of Hastings in the year 1,066 AD, whereupon his appellation happily (and understandably) changed from "Bastard" to "Conqueror."

I have the feeling that this very interesting book, which I am reading with great delight, is the source of much carefully researched history, although it is presented as fiction. And, as one reviewer has claimed, Macbeth and Thorfinn may or may not have been the same person in fact, historically. Frankly, I don't care. It is a very entertaining book, and I'm happy to read it.

Joseph Pierre

Dunnett's books are a difficult read for me but well worth the effort. I really loved King Hereafter. As soon as I finished Part Two I stopped and started over. Things started really clicking for me the second time. I struggled with Part Three but Part Four just about took my breath away. This book has a place in my keep-for-ever-and-ever bookcase. I love Lymond and adore Nick, but Thorfinn RULES!

I have had a difficult time starting Game of Kings because King Hereafter was my first introduction to Dunnett. Hereafter does not rely on flowery, eloquent language to make the lead players seem important. The fact that there is a Scotland today speaks for Macbeth's importance enough. I think Dunnett does represent Thorfinn as the real Macbeth and that heightens more the sense of destiny and fate within the book than it does the historical significance, which is already profound enough.

As for the expansive-ness of the book... forget the impressive length of time covered in this book (721 pages of wonderfully small print); consider the miles... Finland, Norway, The Orkney Islands, Caithness, Alba, Wales, Ireland, England, Russia and a pilgrimage to Papal Rome. Dunnett has so much to work from and none of it is irrelevant or tedious background. She weaves it all together perfectly - illuminating just the right information as we need it and are best able to digest it. I believe this is her greatest attribute as a historical fiction author... using the pace and prose of fiction to bring the history into an understandable focus for the common Joe reader like myself.

On the central hero... Macbeth is revealed as a King with the strength and practicality of a Viking not tempered with but instead sharpened to a deadly razor edge by his love/understanding of subtle political intrigues that years as a court hostage taught him. His passing encounters and relations with historical figures that I have previously read in depth (like Llewelyn of Wales) is a fascinating outsiders view. For that reason alone Hereafter is a must addition to any 11th century reader's library.

Highly recommended for historical fiction fans. Highly recommended for political fiction fans. Moderately recommended for historic romance fans.

Dorothy Dunnett has written an outstanding work of historical fiction that captures the spirit and style of the old Icelandic sagas, together with the humour. The one bone of contention is her theory that Thorfinn, Jarl of Orkney and Macbeth King of Scots were one and the same man. What can be said for sure is that Thorfinn was indeed the grandson of Malcolm King of Scots, and as such would have had a claim on the throne irrespective of any connection with Macbeth. Indeed the Orkneyinga Saga claims that he had not only the Orkneys under his rule, but nine Scottish Earldoms and a large part of Ireland. If the Macbeth identity issue can be set aside by the reader for separate argument, the book can still be enjoyed as the riveting story it is. Attention is paid to the smallest everyday details of the Norse Scottish world to bring the pages alive. The battle scenes are forceful and convincing. You can hear the swing of the axes, the hiss of arrow storm, see the spout of blood. Dorothy Dunnett writes with the spirit of a Viking veteran. Her extensive research of places in the text gave her a familiarity with the rough waters round Orkney, and it shows in her descriptions of the sea battles. Yet this is not all a man's world. Women like the main heroine Ingibjorg are no shrinking violets, but on the contrary are prime movers in the action and intrigue, as complicated and involved as a knotwork pattern. This is a long book, but I for one enjoyed every page. One of the top ten books I have read and one of the best historical novels of this or any time. Strongly recommended.

I admit I had a hard time getting into it at first, but then I couldn't put it down. Dunnett's images are some of the most vivid I have ever read; I could hear the shouting of battle and smell the sea air, yet she doesn't bog the reader down with too many details. If you've read your Shakespeare, you know how this book has to end, and I found I cared about the characters so much I didn't want to finish (and therefore seal their fate). Yes, Dunnett took a bit of historical license, but then, so did Shakespeare...I find her version much more sympathetic. Made me cry in parts...on the bus. This was my first foray into Dunnett's work and it made an instant devotee out of me (I instantly turned around and devoured her "House of Niccolo" series).