Customer Reviews

Queens Play

5 star:		(19)
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3 star:		(4)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

A friend lent me her much loved copies of "The Disorderly Knights" and then "Queen's Play" and I've been hooked on this series ever since. It has a richness of prose and depth of character that set it apart from the average hero story. It also has an intriguing plot line and an interesting view of Renaissance politics. All six books fit smoothly together with a tasteful use of foreshadowing. This is perhaps the slowest moving book of the series, but I find that each time I re-read this I enjoy it more. I would recommend starting at the beginning (with A Game of Kings) instead of in the middle and out of order, as I did. While each book is self-contained, there are enough references to previous incidents to make following the series order worthwhile. This is the series I always recommend when a meet someone who TRULY loves to read. I can't say enough good things about it.

Once you start with the Lymond series, you will either find it too difficult to follow and will put it down, never to pick it up again, or.... you will sink into the most intricately drawn picture of a fictitous character ever attempted. Once in, you'll never want to leave. You will be shocked by many things Lymond does, but you will find that you will understand in the end. You will also never meet greater evil than in this series - and I can't even give you the name of the character, since that would spoil the moment. Rarely do I sit up straight and experience a sharp intake in breath while reading a description of an event - you will do so every 20 pages or so. Don't be fooled into thinking the Niccolo series will satisfy the longing for more of this series that you will experience - but you have 6 books to keep you happy for a while. Please - try the Lymond series, if hooked, you'll be glad you did.

QUEEN'S PLAY was the first Lymond book I read--stumbled across it at the public library about 20 years ago. I then had to ransack the rest of Washington,DC's branch libraries to get my hands on the other books in the series, and ever since, Dorothy Dunnett has been my favorite historical fiction writer. She is not for the faint-hearted: you must be literate (in several languages if possible)and well read in history of the period if you are to appreciate the books to the fullest. Or, if you come "cold" to the book, the kind of person for whom a novel opens a door through which you begin to learn about the real contemporary history. Her characters are so well-educated and well-bred that I have no problem picturing them at the various European courts where Mrs. Dunnett places them. Modern politics seem very dull indeed in comparison (Tony Blair vs. Mary Tudor!) Mrs. Dunnett writes a beautiful, lush English--one of my major fantasies is inviting her to tea in ! order to find out if she's anything like one of her creations.

I've now been drawn completely into the Byzantine world inhabited by Francis Lymond. While I found Queen's Play to be bit less compelling than The Game of Kings, it's like saying one priceless gem is a bit less sparkling than another.

In this book, Lymond has rehabilitated his reputation in Scotland (at least to the point that his brother is no longer trying to kill him). Now Mary of Guise, the mother of the child queen Mary Queen of Scots, has asked him to go undercover in France to protect Mary from those who will try to end her life and thus change the political landscape in Europe. The problem is that there are far too many who might be advantaged by her death.

Lymond thus appears in the guise of Irishman accompanying an Irish prince. Needless to say, a million different things happen. Lymond's actions and motivations are, as usual, a bit unclear at times, but he's always focused on his task. So, we have fox hunts in which a cheetah plays a prominent role, the ultimate nighttime scavenger hunt on the rooftops of a French city, duels, near poisonings, and lots of drinking and singing in the French court.

Lymond is surrounded by marvelously drawn characters. Dunnett has the ability, like Dickens, to get you so focused on the complexity of her characters that often the plot becomes secondary. You just want to get to know some of the most interesting characters in historical fiction.

This is a great series.

For those U.S. readers who have not read the "The Lymond Series" by Scottish author Dorothy Dunnett, just hang on to your hats. Written in the 1960's, these 6 volume attempts of a young Scot nobleman to regain his good name, save the baby Mary Queen of Scots,keep Scotland out of the clutches of the greedy English crown, and rescue his own baby son held captive by a ruthless enemy in the Turkish capital of Istanbul are historical adventure at its very best. The hero, Francis Crawford of Lymond, is one of the most complex and fascinating studies in modern fiction. The action begins in Scotland and Enland in the first novel, moves to France in the second, Malta and Africa in the third, Africa,Greece and Istanbul in the forth, Russia and a mad czar in the fifth, and back to Scotland in the 6th. I challange a reader to put any of these books down. Extrordinary story lines.

I've read this series so many times I've lost count since discovery twenty tears ago. (I know, get a life...) but they really do reward repetition. Other writers just won't do after these..... Queen's Play, simply brilliant, simply the best, especially as a "standalone" novel (but try King Hereafter if you haven't already). Yes, some of the mediaeval French and Latin can be irritating (even one of the characters says so!), but the characterisation, description, political, military and social detail are unsurpassed. Talking literature with friends, these are my premier recommendation, and the multifarious and exotic locations are provide a great basis for an itinerary in Europe!

I love Dunnett books because the characters are so well developed, and the plot so intricate yet discernable, I read in awed admiration. I have been fooled by the plot twists so many times, I have now come to expect it, and just smile when I see that I had been totally wrong yet agian. Dunnett has such a profound understanding of history and the human nature of both her characters and readers, that the story lives in my mind stronger than any movie that I have ever seen. I recommend this series to everyone, even if you don't speak French and Latin. It's worth the effort.

This is the second book in a series which you will either love or hate. It is also one of those multi-book series which must if at all possible be read in the right order, which is

1) The Game of Kings

2) Queen's Play

3) The Disorderly Knights

4) Pawn in Frankincense

5) The Ringed Castle

6) Checkmate

The Queen of the title is Mary Queen of Scots, a child ruler at the time of the story, with much of the action in Scotland and France relating to intrugues as to who will control the person of the young Queen.

There are two reasons why this series, and the author's similar "Niccolo" series, should be read in chronological order. The first is that the plots are incredibly complicated and if you read them out of sequence you have no chance of understanding what is going on. The second is that many of the characters meet their deaths in ways which are exceptionally unpleasant both for themselves and for the characters who survive them.

I made the mistake of reading one of the later books first. When I came to read this one, advance knowledge of how an important character in this book is going to die, and how Lymond is going to find out about it, seriously affected the pleasure I would otherwise have had in reading the passage when they meet for the first time in "Queen's Play".

Like the books, the central character, Francis Crawford of Lymond, is brilliant, violent, and extremely complicated. Unlike the books he is very flawed. Lymond is a mercenary with particular interests in Scotland and France, and gets involved in nefarious deeds all over the world as 16th century Europeans knew it. Dunnett brings the splendour, cultural ferment, and violent cruelty of the Renaissance world splendidly to life.

If you are at all squeamish, or do not like having to make your brain work overtime to follow a book, leave this series alone. Lymond's story is neither "chewing gum for the brain" nor a comfortable read. And even if you prefer flawed heroes to knights in shining armour, Lymond may infuriate you from time to time. But if you can put up with these features, these books will richly reward the effort you make in reading them.

There is no middle ground: you will either hate the Lymond series or recognise these books as one of the greatest works of historical fiction ever written. Or very possibly both !

Another winner in Dorothy Dunnett's tour de force of 16th century Europe. While not as enchanting as The Game of Kings (I dearly miss Christian Stewart--Oonagh O'Dwyer was nowhere close to being a suitable replacement), Dorothy Dunnett's richness of vision creates a compelling read. Although others have recommended starting with this one, I heartily recommend The Game of Kings first, even if just to understand Lymond's reaction to Erskine, his brother (in a bit cameo), and Lady Lennox. A great read. On to the next book!

I recently came across and read The Game of King. I really enjoyed it, so I decided to try this book, the second in the Lymond Chronicles. Now I'm hooked, and plan to read the entire series. Dunnett is truly a modern-day Dumas. If you liked the Three Muscateers series - which I did - you'll be hooked.