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24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Historically inacurate, but still entertaining., November 7, 1999
As others have rightly pointed out, this novel does have its faults and weaknesses, but on the whole I found it entertaining. I normally read non-fiction, but I liked the movie so much that I felt that I had to read this book.This would not be a particularly good book to rely on for a history lesson. Randal Wallace butchers history a bit in order to make a juicier plot. Though I would like to think that just as exiting a story could be told without sacrificing accuracy, I must admit that his technique works at times. For example, Randal Wallace portrays an affair between Scottish commander Sir William Wallace and French Princess Isabella that didn't and couldn't have happened. Randal Wallace also writes an epilogue which has an air of sober history, but where he's still running with his wildly revisionist story. He tells us that Edward II's reign was sad and brief. Sad, yes, but I wouldn't call a 20 year reign brief! A blurb on the back cover makes the mistake of refering to Sir William as a highlander. Even Randal Wallace doesn't make this mistake himself. There are also other little mistakes, such as giving the name "Stewart" to a character who is little more than a peasant. I'm no professor, but wasn't the name "Stewart" reserved for persons holding an important office in this period? Despite these negative points, though, the book has it's strenghts. There is romance, drama, tragedy, humor, action, and there are interesting characters. Though I favored the movie over this book in many ways, the book does deliver some bits that the movie doesn't. There are two separate scenes in the book that appear as one combined scene in the movie, and actually that's to the movie's credit. The book does, however, allow you to get to know the Isabella character better, and this is wonderful and even sometimes humorous. You find out that she's even more thoughtful that her station in life encourages her to be! Some of the scenes are quite different than the way they appear in the movie -- not neccessarily better or worse, but they are interesting alternatives worth reading for those who like the movie. One of these is a facinating action scene where Wallace and some of his men are being hunted (thanks to Fodran's betrayal) by men using bloodhounds. That's a scene not to be missed!
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by James A. MacKay
by Randall Wallace
by Randall Wallace
~ James Horner
by Max Allan Collins
