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Summary: Lymond At His Best - Dunnett's Done It Again
Review: 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. "Pawn in Frankincense" is my favorite book of the series. The secondary characters are developed to a level unsurpassed in any of Dunnett's other books. The locations feel realistic and the emotional draw of this book is incredible. 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.
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Summary: A long journey
Review: Anyone who has not read the first four novels in the series needn't worry; you can start THE RINGED CASTLE without any prior knowledge of Lymond and his circle. It stands alone, a densely plotted, tense and evocative tale of adventure in one of the sixteenth century's wildest frontiers, filled with incredible characters, heated by raging emotions, chilled by ice-cold political calculations. But oh, how much more you'll enjoy it if you wait until you've read the first four books! Whichever way you choose to enter Dorothy Dunnett's world, don't hesitate - start out on your first adventure with Lymond and prepare,like everyone else who meets him, to be repelled, charmed, overwhelmed, manipulated and ultimately seduced.
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Summary: suspenseful and exciting beyond belief
Review: By far the most baroque episode of Dorothy Dunnett's outrageously baroque romantic adventure series, this book depicts the final conflict between Lymond and Gabriel, now a renegade in the service of Islam - but only insofar as Islam can serve his own ambitions. Can Francis survive his encounter with the golden god and save all the innocents sucked into the morass of political and personal intrigue? Mrs Dunnett is far too clever to make it a foregone conclusion; but with her usual skill, she gives every other character his or her due. The whole structure of the tale is cleverly entwined in the political and social life of Europe and the Near East at the time, giving us at one sitting a heartwrenching, dramatic romance and a very palatable history lesson. Tragedy and betrayal strike at the most unexpected moments, and relationships develop in directions I, for one, didn't anticipate. The book would be worth reading just for Lymond and Malett, but it offers much more. And it couldn't be filmed, because the actors who could step into these two pairs of shoes simply don't exist.
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Summary: Hewn From Sparstone, Like Satin, Containing Its Light
Review: Dorothy Dunnett has a marvelous manner of play with language. I can't say how many times during the course of reading her novels have I paused to re-read a passage oncemore, simply awestruck by her uncanny ability to dream up such wondrously clever articulations of historical detail. Her heroes are always attractive, too. Two years ago, after having read her novel on Macbeth entitled KING HEREAFTER, I undertook to read Dunnett's entire six-book Lymond series - albeit not chronologically. Beginning with the 2nd-QUEEN'S PLAY, then to the 1st-THE GAME OF KINGS, I couldn't wait, so went straight to the 6th-CHECKMATE. I eventually relented, though, and read #'s 3-THE DISORDERLY KNIGHTS, 4-PAWN IN FRANKINCENSE, and 5-THE RINGED CASTLE in their respective order. For some reason it has been, more than any of the others, PAWN IN FRANKINCENSE that has stayed with me ever since. Francis Lymond, an exiled member of a noble family in 16th-century Scotland, embarks upon yet another quest for his honor: this time in lands far, far away from his home and all that he knows. It ultimately leads to an adventurous search for the child he fathered - a child who had, through painstakingly woven schemes and happenstance being wholly under the power of Lymond's most implacable enemy, Graham Malett, been hidden away within the labyrinth of the Ottoman Empire. With the help of some very wise and able allies, including his half-sister Marthe and her husband Jerott Blythe, as well as the daughter of a Scots nobleman, Philippa, Francis Crawford of Lymond sets out. The dangers Lymond faces and the obstacles he must overcome are a gripping force from beginning to end. They include not only scenes of intense battle and riveting action - such as a life-sized & all-too-realistic climatic chess match played out in a magnificent palace (indeed, fans - this form of competition was dreamed up well before the likes of HARRY POTTER ever materialized) - but also an intricate mind game that's generated between our hero and the forces perched against him. For the reader, this in itself becomes a dauntless, all-absorbing thing. The only criticism I have for this book is one that is shared with each of the other books I've read by Dorothy Dunnett: that there is an exasperating tendency to pit the hero against too much. In other words - Lymond never fails to get himself into dire circumstances that often wouldn't be so dire if only his friends and family would understand what he is about. In every plot, it seems he never fails to be continually misunderstood by those closest to him. One would assume that with the intelligence and insight that the majority of these characters never fail to display, there would be no problem in deigning what Lymond's motives are, so hence assisting him in his endeavors. Truly then, it's plain that Dorothy Dunnett's failings are of an admirable nature: for she's created characters of such vast depth and intelligence that there's no way ever to confound them.
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Summary: suspenseful and exciting beyond belief
Review: Having read the first four Lymond books, I find this one to be my favorite, much as I loved "A Game of Kings" and "Disorderly Knights." It has been years since a book, especially such a dense and difficult book, has kept me awake until the small hours of the morning reading. Once I got through the first 100 pages, there was no stopping me; I finished it in a week. I grew much more attached to Phillipa, a character I hadn't particularly liked before, and to Jerott Blyth and, of course, to Lymond. Lymond's cunning and wit and daring amaze me; he's just so...good. And in this book, some of the human side of Lymond was revealed, which gave him even more depth as a character. Dunnett's amazing plot twists and turns and never fails to surprise me; I was literally unable to sit still for most of the second half. When I read the chess scene at the end, I could hardly contain myself (and I was in public, too). There is certainly nothing easy about Dunnett's series; I had to plow through the first 100 pages of "A Game of Kings" and most of "Queensplay," but after having read "Pawn in Frankincense," I couldn't be more glad that I kept going. Every character has his or her own nuances that are kept up and developed wonderfully; no one is ordinary in any way. I've grown very fond of the ones who have been around for a couple of books. I recommend the Lymond Chronicles to any lover of history or Europe, or just anyone who appreciates a good book. The history is flawless and the story is one of the best since Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings."
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Summary: The Best of Lymond
Review: I had a very hard time reading parts of this book--I cried and cried at the abuse that Lymond's son suffers at the hands of his enemies. Parts of this book are certainly not meant for the very sensitive reader; Dunnett is quite explicit in detailing suffering and torture. For this reason, I had to constantly be reminding myself that the characters are entirely fictional. It was excellently written, however. Phillipa absolutely shines, and a certain marriage (de convenience) at the end is truly shocking (this in a good way) given the first book...
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Summary: Not My Personal Favorite of Dunnett's
Review: I really enjoy Dorothy Dunnett's writing. The complexity, the subtlety, the humor, and the heroism, all resting on a foundation of extensive historical research, make her novels some of the most challenging and pleasurable I've ever read. That said, I found "Pawn in Frankincense" to be one of the most difficult to finish.
It's not because it was a much darker novel than the first three, though I did miss the extra helpings of wit found in the earlier novels. What I struggled with in this book were the too-extensive descriptive passages of the Levant and its Islamic rituals and prayers. The endless lists of treasures and opulence, alone, made me numb. At times, it felt as though Dunnett simply couldn't bear to leave out any detail of her exhaustive research, regardless of whether it enhanced the narrative or not. Of all authors, she's the last one who needs to do this. Given her talent, given her ability to evoke compelling images and emotions with just a few sentences, so much descriptiveness becomes overkill. So, for the first time, I felt that one of Dunnett's books could have used more judicious editing.
Oddly enough, what I found to be her most wearisome novel was also, in many ways, her most powerful. The dreadful choices, the rich characterizations, and the atmosphere of mystery struck me deeply. It's Dunnett's ability to engage my mind so fully that makes her one of my favorite authors...and it's this ability that makes me recommend her to anyone who will listen, even if I personally didn't think this particular book was her best.
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Summary: If you've gotten to book 4 in The Lymond Chronicles.........
Review: This is the one you have waited for. From now until book 6 things you believed you knew in the past will be put into new perspective. I hope you have a good memory because you will want to remember things you read in book one more and more. Book 6 also has you racing to the conclusion of this series. Things you really want to know and yet, dread coming to the end. I can't wait for the companion book to come out because I intend to start the whole journey again in July. It's truly an amazing series of books.
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Summary: Not Lymond's Best
Review: Volume IV in the Lymond Chronicles sees a slight drop in quality from the splendid first three volumes, but Dunnett and Lymond on an off day still run circles about the competition. Pawn In Frankincense is slower and grimmer than its predecessors, long, gorgeous descriptions of Constantinople and environs displacing incisive characterization and genius plotting. Many of these passages are so lovely they beg to be read aloud, but eventually they serve to distance us from our heroes and villains. Lymond himself is at a further remove than usual here, Gabriel possesses but a shadow of his spectacular Volume III malevolence, and events grow to seem unfortunately repetitive. Nonetheless, this is a voyage worth taking, given the company of beloved characters, an intense and wrenching climax, and a very surprising proposal of marriage. If this is not the best in this series, it is still a superior read to most anything else in the genre.
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Summary: Another Fantastic Book by Dunnett!
Review: Well, this is the fourth book by Dunnett that I've read (the three earlier books in the Lymond series being the others). Quite simply, Dunnett gets better with each book! Her style continually reminds me of Dumas. History, adventure, great characters - all mix together to form a gripping story. I couldn't put it down last night as I finished it. Most impressive to me is the way she is "realistic" (within, of course, the fictional world she created). By that, I mean that her characters, good and evil, make tough choices. Good sometimes doesn't triumph completely, bad people sometimes come out on top, and loyal friends sometimes pay the price for our heros adventures. This is no fairy tale. A few times, I was actually shocked by the story as it progressed (especially at the end of this book). All in all, a great read if you like historical/fictional mixes. I especially enjoyed being introduced to a world I knew nothing about (ancient Turkey and its empire).
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