The Disorderly Knights (Lymond Chronicles, 3)

Rating:
Summary: Another engrossing book!
Review: Dorothy Dunnett continues to impress me. I'm a big fan of Dumas and his trilogies. Dunnett comes darn close to his writing. Her books are engrossing, weave a great story, and draw me in more each time I read another book. This is the third in the Lymond Chronicles series. It is very well written. I enjoy how the story stands on its own but also weaves into the first two books. If you have the time, read the entire series from start to finish. I'm looking forward to reading the next one! I also can't wait to get into her House of Niccolo series. This book, and series, is well worth a read!

Rating:
Summary: best series ever written
Review: I envy you if you are just about to read this book because there are 6 in this series and I have read them all! By this book I felt that I knew Francis Crawford (the hero) intimately. I worship him for being the kind of person we all secretly want to be: incredibly smart, strong mentally and physically, kind (although not apparently so), poetic, musical...basically your Renaissance ideal, yet with enough flaws in him to make him endearingly human. In this third book of the series he meets someone who is seemingly his equal, which brings out his character even more. I can't categorize this book as an "adventure" or "historical" novel because it is all that and much more. Read it carefully (although the urge to flip the pages to find out what's next is strong, it's a real page-turner) and you will be as hooked on Dorothy Dunnett as I am.

Rating:
Summary: Astounding fiction
Review: This third book in the series book pits Francis Crawford of Lymond against an adversary worthy of his steel - Graham Reid Malett, a gorgeous, gifted, lying, scheming, corrupt and captivating giant of a man possessed (in more ways than one) of the adoration of almost everyone who meets him, not to mention the most beautiful sister in the world. Can Francis survive the encounter? Like all good writers, Mrs.Dunnett respects her villain too much to make him easy meat, and the conflict between these two gives the book real tension and pace. The Somerville women and the enigmatic Sibylla develop in unexpected and interesting ways, Lymond's male companions reveal why he rates them high or low, and the author gives us not just a rattling good yarn but a great cast of characters and a quick tour of the philosophy and politics of the time into the bargain. 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. I leave the debate over whether Dorothy Dunnett is a 'great' writer or merely a 'good' one to others. She's a hugely enjoyable writer, and I'd rather spend the time enjoying than making needless comparisons. This is a well plotted, well paced, well structured book with characters you won't forget in a hurry. Just read it.