Cliff's notes to the Lymond Chronicles

[rachelmanija]

yhlee is contemplating reading Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles after repeatedly bouncing off the first fifty pages of the first book. In case she decides to actually do this, can a few of you suggest an easier entry point (perhaps the archery contest? perhaps the second book?) and summarize the action up to that point?

(I confess, this is as much for my own amusement as it is for her edification.)

Humungous spoilers in comments, obviously.

Comments

[veejane.livejournal.com]

Well, as I told Yoon, I too hated Game of Kings, and when I reported this sensation, the Dunnettheads of my correspondence roundly recommended trying the Niccolo books instead.

The which I have not gotten around to trying, but, considering the reason I hated the first Lymond book was Lymond himself, trying a novel that does not feature him is an avenue I can at least imagine pursuing.

[riemannia.livejournal.com]

I loved Niccolo, though I'm not sure I liked the series better.

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

Gah, my impression was that the Niccolo books were even harder to read than the Lymond chronicles! pameladean said of the Niccolo books:

Don't beat yourself up if you just can't get into it. (You may take to it like a duck to water, of course.) I'm not sure I could have without the training of reading her other stuff. On the other hand, the setting is fascinating and the distancing from the protagonist quite remarkable. It is quite remarkably opaque, though. In the Lymond books (GAME OF KINGS being the first) she plants ivy all around the signposts; in the Niccolo books she has simply hammered them into the ground.

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.sf.composition/msg/56648c9eed206dbf?dmode=source