“Evil matters. So does love. So does pity. My pilgrim,” said Dame de Doubtance gently, “you have still three bitter lessons to learn.”

Bitter lessons indeed. This book broke my heart in too many places to count. I should not be surprised, really, Dunnett had done it before. I put the book aside for many days, because the emotional turmoil at last became too much for me to bear. I gathered my courage and dived back – and Dunnett promptly broke my heart yet again. Danse Macabre is mentioned at one point, and this is what the long, desperate quest feels like.

Oh, Lymond. There were battles of all kinds, so many yet to come. I hope that you will let love come to you. Sometimes it’s amazing how much you care for imaginary people…
“Duty, friendship, compassion I do owe to many. But love I offer to none.”
“Duty, friendship, compassion. Which moved him to die for you?”

I loved the partnership of Lymond and Jerott and tempests between them.
“Lymond grinned. “When the clay for thee was kneaded, as they say,” he remarked, “they forgot to put in common sense.”

I loved Marthe – so gifted, so angry, so damaged, so sharp, so clever, so resilient. Her scenes with Lymond at the very end are touching and harrowing at the same time. Give me more Marthe, please.
“I never expect anything,” said Marthe. “It provides a level, low-pitched existence with no disappointments.”

Philippa’s storyline requires suspension of disbelief. Somehow, I was happy to oblige. In the beginning, she does so many right things for the wrong reasons and wrong things for the right reasons, and I wanted to shake her. I ended up admiring and cheering (yes, that’s the same me who screamed “Philippa the brat!” at earlier books). What a journey, what a coming of age, what a spirit… Philippa’s storyline was the only thing that brought me small morsels of joy from time to time.

And so... five stars it is. Because of the characters (book constraints are almost too narrow for them!) - so flawed, so beautifully rendered. Because of the story arcs. Because of the power of storytelling. Because of the dialogues. Because of those turns of phrase that made me fall in love with the written word all over again, as though for the first time. Oh, am I doing this series justice? I don’t think I am. ( )

I've been slowly making my way through the Lymond Chronicles for years now. This series feels a bit dated now, but I appreciate its exploration of 16th-century Europe. Most of this novel takes place in Constantinople and surrounding areas, a setting that is underexplored in historical fiction for this era. Francis Crawford of Lymond remains as interesting a character as ever and I liked how Philippa developed as a character. Chess references abound in this series and this book culminates in a live chess match between Lymond and one of his deadly foes, a match that made me wonder if it was the inspiration for a not dissimilar scene in the first Harry Potter book. ( )

Lymond Chronicles 4

The Lymond Chronicles 4 ( )

Lymond can only save one boy, is it his son or not?