Rating: 
Summary: Real In All the Ways That Count
Review: "King Hereafter" was my introduction to Dorothy Dunnett, and I was grabbed from the first scene. As an English major years ago, and even more recently, I've read enough Norse and Icelandic sagas that her premise seems plausible. And I've read enough about how Shakespeare used his sources for his own purposes to allow both authors their own uses of the sources. Both the play Macbeth and the novel can stand on their own merits.
And the novel really stands well on its own merits. The descriptions are incredible, the characters complex. Sure, I had to reread sometimes to get what was going on and who people were. But I like a book with meat on its bones, and this one, like all of Dunnett's historical fiction, has it. I also like a book in which characters grow and change, and Thorfinn and Gruoch and other characters do.
As with other of Dunnett's books, I've read and reread "King Hereafter" and will read it again, each time with new enjoyment. And I don't usually reread books, because there are too many books out there I haven't read yet!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful...
Review: ...but obviously not as easy to get involved in as Dunnett's other historical novels. It is excellently-written and firmly grounded in history. So many of the previous reviewers are unwilling to believe in the "Thorfinn is Macbeth" aspect of the story. I give Ms. Dunnett more than the benifit of a doubt. She extensively researched her topic-- it took her five years. She travelled to the places she wrote about, and almost every character mentioned is a historical one (including Sulien-- it's also fascinating to look into Lulach's comments).About the characters... they are multi-dimensional and the overall story is less romanticized than the Lymond Chronicles and House of Niccolo (though I recommend both very highly)-- it was exciting to read and also a thoughtful book full of politics and human relationships. Read it.
Rating:
Summary: A most unusual novel
Review: 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
Rating: 
Summary: A Mixed Bag . . . But Decently Done
Review: 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
Rating: 
Summary: Impressive, but boring...
Review: Being an avid reader of historical fiction and attracted by the subject and praising (mainly) reviews of the book, unfortunately, after having started to read the book I couldn't make it further than the 20th page. Then it became clear to me that I simply can 't read it any more, because I already forgot what I had read 10 pages before. The background research performed by the author is impressive, and the book might have been a splendid read if only the characters were not drawn so one-dimensially. Has there been something else in their life than intrigues? Feasts, passion, life at home? They are mentioned only as background for innumerable meetings, strifles and scheming.Unfortunately it gives impression of an old chronicle, not of a book sparkling with true-to life characters.
Rating:
Summary: exceptional rendering of the Macbeth story and its period
Review: Dorothy Dunnett has thrown a bright light on the Dark Ages with her retelling of the Macbeth story. The "ruse" is to combine the historical Thorfinn, Earl of Orkney, about whom a great deal is known (he did, for example, travel to Rome) and Macbeth, who is much vaguer although still a historical figure. Some readers may resent this "fictional license" but without it, there wouldn't be much story. And what a story! Although Mrs. Dunnett's literary style sometimes is a little heavy (I personally do not find it so, but then I've been reading her for years), and keeping track of who is feuding with whom (just about every nobleman north and south of Hadrian's wall)can require a scorecard in places, KING HEREAFTER really makes Anglo-Saxon and Dark Age Scotland come alive. Although I list Mrs. Dunnett as among my favorite authors, and like everything she has written, I think KING HEREAFTER stands in a catagory by itself and I hope it is speedily repri! ! nted (in both hard and soft covers).
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Read
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: This is not a book for those who cannot persevere.
Review: Every page is packed with information about the times, the mores, the texture and taste of the characters. Thorfinn MacBeth and Gruoch are so clearly illustrated that it becomes painful to finish the book, knowing from history's tale exactly what end they both meet. This author is the equivalent - in this novel, anyway - of the aesthete's Diana Gabaldon. A very interesting minor character is Luloecen, and I sincerely wish the author had written a separate volume on him.
Rating:
Summary: King Hereafter expresses the Viking lifestyle
Review: Finally a novel that gives the true flavor of the Viking culture. It shows the politcal intrigue of western europe during the 11th century, and the amazing amount of power that a young Earl from the Orkney islands obtained. Incredible...
Rating:
Summary: A passion for Scotland and its history make a superb book
Review: 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.
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