|
| The Game of Kings (Lymond Chronicles, 1) | 
 enlarge | Author: Dorothy Dunnett
Publisher: Vintage Books
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy Used: $1.89
You Save: $15.06 (89%)
New (50) Used (114) Collectible (3) from $1.89
Avg. Customer Rating:  118 reviews
Sales Rank: 24189
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 543
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.1 x 1
ISBN: 0679777431
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780679777434
ASIN: 0679777431
Publication Date: April 29, 1997
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: PAGES ARE LIGHTLY TANNED Clean, nice condition. Expedited orders placed before 3 PM EST ship the SAME DAY. Automatic Upgrade to Priority Mail shipping on U.S. orders over $40. Multiple books ordered from Look at a Book in a single checkout will help you reach the $40 threshold for your free Priority Mail Upgrade! Satisfaction Guaranteed!
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
Praised for her historical fiction by critics and devoted fans alike, author Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles took the romance world by storm some 30 years ago, firmly fixing Dunnett's reputation as a master of the historical romance. The Game of Kings, the first story in The Lymond Chronicles, sets the stage for what will be a sweeping saga filled with passion, courage, and the endless fight for freedom. The setting is 1547, in Edinborough, Scotland. Francis Crawford of Lymond returns to the country despite the charge of treason hanging over his head. Set on redeeming his reputation, He leads a company of outlaws against England as he fights for the country he loves so dearly. Dangerous, quick-witted, and utterly irresistible, Lymond is pure pleasure to watch as he traverses 16th-century Scotland in search of freedom. The Game of Kings is a must-have for the historical romance connoisseur.
Product Description
For the first time Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles are available in the United States in quality paperback editions.
The first book in the legendary Lymond Chronicles, Game of Kings takes place in 1547. Scotland has been humiliated by an English invasion and is threatened by machinations elsewhere beyond its borders, but it is still free. Paradoxically, her freedom may depend on a man who stands accused of treason: Francis Crawford of Lymond.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 113 more reviews...
 It took me 24 years to finally read this book... November 23, 2008
Twenty-four years ago, I was working in a bookstore as a salewoman. My boss the manager, showed me the line of Dorothy Dunnett's she had lovingly ordered for the store. She explained they were her favorite books ever written, and that they were not well known, and certainly our clientele preferred the trashy novels we sold in the front of the store, so they were never purchased. The reverence with which my boss spoke of these books, and the envy she had for anyone just starting the series, made me want to try one. I didn't get very far. The writing was dense and put me off. I love books, but am a slow appreciative reader, and I just wasn't in the mood then. About 10 years later, I tried again...same result.
Last year I tried again...more as a dare to myself than anything. I was determined to make it through this book, and was greatly rewarded. It is fun, and clever, and the hero is wonderfully, impossibly written. It takes a bit of work to get into Dunnett's style, but once you do...you go with it and just enjoy the ride.
I read the second one in this series, and didn't enjoy it as much, which is what many reviewers said here. I hope to read the third soon. I have to get rid of outside distractions, and make the commitment to concentrate, but it seems well worth the effort. A pleasure!
 Couldn't Deal July 15, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I am an avid reader of all kinds of books and have an advanced degree in literature and I have to say, this book was just TOO MUCH WORK. It seems like there was a grand plot in there somewhere, and I know people love this series, but I simply couldn't follow it -- with the arcane vocab and extensive use of untranslated foreign languages...sure, I'd slog through it if it were a class assignment, but after 200 pages of wondering if I'd had a head injury which wiped out my reading comprehension skills, I gave up.
Premeire of a Great Series May 9, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The Lymond Chronicles are the most amazing series of historical fiction I've ever read. And I've read a lot of historical fiction. Dunnett does a brilliant job of developing a complex story line that you can read over and over and still discover links in the chain.
Game of Kings introduces us to Lymond, the brilliant young Renaissance man who is always trying to explain himself to people who not only don't understand him, but that don't understand how his mind works. But Dunnett does a masterful job of both keeping us in suspense about Lymond's motives while at the same time creating a sympathetic character.
Read this book--it won't disappoint. Then read the rest of the series--they won't disappoint either.
The first of a wonderful historical series May 1, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have just finished the last of the six - Checkmate. I was gripped from the first - Game of Kings. The writing is stunning, the plots complex and very exciting and the hero, Francis Crawford, is mesmerising. I highly recommend all six to anyone who is fond of historical fiction. The stories are all set in amongst genuine characters and events over a period of 10 years in the middle of the 16th C starting in Scotland with the young Mary Queen of Scots but taking in history and politics during that same period in England, Russia, Malta, Turkey and France. The personal stories of Francis, his family and friends/enemies are twisted through the whole in a wonderfully witty, moving and fascinating manner. To start with I was slightly daunted by the detail but persist - the rewards are great.
I kept waiting for this book to get good April 6, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have to agree with the reviewers who have rated this book poorly. It was so boring. I truly kept waiting for the book to get good because I really wanted to like it. I finally put it down with 50 pages left -- at that point I knew it was not getting any better. I was actually relieved to start a new book. The Game of Kings is not worth the time, money, or painstaking effort.
|
|
|
Visit our Pictures of Scotland
| |
|
