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Rating: 
Summary: Not Overrated
Review: ...Any understanding of what the experience of existing in these times requires imagination and conjecture. Ms Dunnett has enriched her novels with an incredible amount of research and detail. One example of this would be the constant quoting of song and literature from the period. Now I admit that some of the characters and the situations are larger than life, but I don't count that against her. There are no cheap tricks here. Dunnett is incredibly adept at leading you down a primrose path, expecting cliche, then toying with your expectations. When I read this book and the next in the series, I experienced feelings I haven't had since I was very young. I don't know what else to say. I think this is the best adventure story I've ever encountered in any medium, though I haven't read everything. There is much in these books to thrill and sustain repeated readings... These novels are certainly different from O'brien's.
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: 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: Truly a Wondrous Book!
Review: Good for you if you've made it to this, book three in the Lymond series. This is the best series I have read in a long time. It is so worth reading! The book is action-packed and thre are so many plot twists and turns that you have to be extremely sharp to follow them all. Make the effort and take the time, and you will not be disappointed. For anyone who loves adventure books this series cannot be beat. I can't wait to read Book Four, and the other two books in the series, but it will be sad when my adventure is over. Lucky you if your adventure is just beginning.
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: 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: Knights is Worthy of this Brilliant Series
Review: If you've made it to this, book number three in the series, you are no doubt an Lymond addict like me. This book was yet another incredible "fix" in my terrible, obsessive craving for more of Lymond and his heart stopping adventures. I am an impatient soul by nature. And because my time is limited, I loathe the thought of seeing a movie twice and it has never crossed my mind to re-read any book, no matter how good. This all ended when I discovered the Lymond Chronicles. I not only (happily) read and reread passages of each book (often by necessity to puzzle out the complex plots) as I am reading it but as soon as I finish a book in the series I want to start rereading it, and the entire series, right away. These books are like a drug. I cannot get enough of them. They are the most wondrous, satisfying reading experience I have ever had.Disorderly Knights made me laugh so hard, especially Lymond's early escapade with not a small number of sheep. Knights made me cringe during Lymond's terrible beating (particularly since he had known this torture as a galley slave). And, Knights took my breath away with its exciting, brilliantly staged climax with Gabriel.
Rating:
Summary: As Much Fun As You Can Have Reading
Review: The Disorderly Knights, 3rd in the Lymond Chronicles, must be one of the most thrilling adventure stories ever written. From the initial Borderland skirmishes to the intrigue on Malta, from the cryptic dueling at St. Mary's to the Edinburgh climax, the thunderbolt narrative never ceases to twist, turn, and surprise. Lymond himself seems almost to transcend the existing literature -- a genuinely original romantic hero. I'd argue that Lymond Chronicles are actually underrated, as no one I know seems to have heard of them. Having at this point read the first three, its hard to think of anything with which to compare them. The dazzling, larger than life characters, the gleaming wit and razor-sharp dialogue, the breathless action and labyrinthian plotting all combine to create nearly perfect novels: rollercoaster, thinking person's adventure tales. If the first volume has the advantage of surprise and the second is distinguished by its French Court setting and intrigue, I'd make the (arguable) argument that this third is even better, having the advantage of a more serpentine plot, genuinely shocking final quarter revelations, and a villain of spectacular stature. If you love to read, dig into these masterpieces at earliest opportunity -- but start with the first, Game of Kings. They're confusing enough as it is...
Rating:
Summary: Another wonderful Lymond installment.
Review: These books have a tremendous following. This is not surprising as Dunnett is a very good writer and has a remarkable talent for maintaining readers' interest despite complicated, indeed contrived, plots. A number of reviewers have commented that Dunnett is the heir to Dumas and Walter Scott. This is accurate; Dunnett's books are modeled clearly on these Romantic novels. In some respects, these books are actually superior to those classics. Dunnett is arguably a better writer than Scott and her books are more graphically realistic than Dumas' novels. Dunnett seems to have tapped into a vein of feeling that is largely ignored by contemporary novelists. The problem with her work is that it is not a serious effort to understand the past and reading these books will not be particularly rewarding in terms of gaining any real insight into history. This is why comparisons with the work of Patrick O'Brien are misleading. O'Brien's best novels supply a real insight into the conduct and psychology of late 18th Britain in a way that cannot be derived from any of Dunnett's novels. Dunnett's books are very entertaining adventure novels,written at a surprisingly high and consistent level but they do not compare even to less complicated but more serious historical novels like Vanity Fair or The Killer Angels.
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.
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