Francis Crawford of Lymond, formidable outlaw and rebel, is in Edinburgh again . . . from his headlong arrival he shows himself to be a fresh and unpredictable player in a Scotland of political violence and intrigue, which is also the heartland of his long-estranged kinsfolk.

This is the first of a long intricate narrative set in the sixteenth century set against an accurately depicted historical background.

Start of the extended ray Lymond Chronicles.
Mytilus
Aubriel
Katweeble
MoJeDenUK
Wiblick <----


Postal release of first book (November) to Mytilus

Arrived today. Being a Scot (in exile!) I am *greatly* looking forward to being educated about 16th Century Scotland.

I expect to start reading this in the next couple of days. Thank you Mastulela!

I absolutely loved this! The Game of Kings is certainly not the historical piece of fluff I worried it might be. The plot is clever and twisting, pacy and gripping. And as for Lymond himself, well! What a silver-tongued, handsome character he is. And yet Lymond is not all sweetness and light. He has a darker, dare I say tortured aspect that adds a rich, complex dimension to his character. I do believe I’ve found a new hero to moon over.

As an aside, I have to say I thought my vocabulary was fairly reasonable but The Game of Kings had me persistently reaching for the dictionaries, English and Scottish. But this is no bad thing - oh how I do love new words!

Thank you *so* much Mastuela for introducing me to Lymond. I am avidly anticipating reading the next instalment in Lymond’s adventuring.

(The Game of Kings was consigned to todays post.)

This was waiting for me on my doormat when I returned home today :-)

Afraid I have to admit defeat with this one and pass on to the next ring member. Not quite sure why but I just can't seem to get absorbed enough to continue reading. I guess after eight months of history text books at some level my subconcious is registering anything 'historical' as work and is refusing to play ball ;-)

Arrived today - thanks Aubriel after some confusion on my part about replying to e-mails. Really looking forward to reading a good historical book.

am half way through and really enjoying this - although I found the style of writing hard at first

I really enjoyed this, though it did take time to get used to the style. Late to work a couple of times this week trying to finish it. Looking forward to reading the next - though have a lot of rings and rays coming in having not signed up to many they are all coming at once like buses.

Will PM MoJeDenUk to pass on

Received in the post this morning. The two packets of chocolate buttons, Christmas card and a rollerball pen were also gratefully received too! Thanks Katweeble.

I very much look forward to reading this book and antiplate finding another new fictional hero to salivate over! At the moment I am in the middle of reading another murder/mystery book, which I really cannot put down, but will start on this one as soon as I finish it.

A most unusual book. In the beginning I seriously wondered whether I could get through this, but because I have read so many fantastic reviews on the BC list I really felt compelled to plough on rather than give up at the first hurdle (in my case the first 50 pages). It took a while but Francis Crawford of Lymond really got to me in the end. He's a forceful, charismatic man with a very strong sense of duty and honour and I really want to learn more about him. What a shame he isn't real!
In later books I'm sure other facets of his very complex character will emerge but I think he will always be a good man who needs a strong woman behind him!

I must admit that I did constantly become confused by the plot though. It galloped along and left me trailing behind for most of the time although it became a little clearer at the end! Thank God also for the list of characters at the beginning of the book which I constantly had to refer to just to get my head round who they all were!

I look forward to reading the next one now! I shall despatch this book onto Wiblick next. Have PM'd her but am just waiting to obtain her address.

Posted off to Wiblick today. Apologies for putting the stamp on the wrong side of the envelope though. I forgot my glasses and didn't realise I had the address label upside down! Another senior moment I'm afraid!!!

I've just received this and started reading, the writing style is very odd, some of it reads like a Mills & Boons Romance or someone trying way to hard to be 'historical' - but then there are some Dickensian witticisms and very clever turns of phrase.... odd stuff. Not sure I like Lymond just yet but will report back when I'm finished and ready to send it on again. As a re-enactor I both love and loathe historical fiction, so nice to immerse oneself and yet so easy to spot the flaws.