A very odd book. I was enjoying it very much at the beginning, and quite liked Thorfinn, barbaric but clever pagan viking that he was, when suddenly he turned into Francis Crawford of Lymond. Oh well.I wonder, is Dunnett only capable of writing that sort of hypercompetant, ultra-energetic Great Man character, or is it only that she thinks that is the only type of character worth writing about? They make me tired, and I never quite believe in them.But Thorfinn wasn't quite Crawford, for which I was grateful. First, he was wrong occasionally. Several times, in the end, when everything started to go bad. And I liked his stubborn paganness, while at the same time slightly despising his political using of christianity.And Groa. Why on earth, if he loved her, did he neglect, avoid, and insult her for five years running? I must be missing something.I liked Thorkel. In some ways he was more heroic than Thorfinn, more to my liking. A little too devoted, like . . . A kickable dog.Were death rates really so high, amongst early-medieval royalty? A wonder anyone wanted to become king, if it meant lisence for all other claimants to burn your house around you, marry your wife on your deathbed and slaughter your family as potential rivals who would do the same in their turn.

Few works of historical fiction that I've read over the years so completely captures the spirit of an age as this work. While a work of fiction, the author works in a great deal of the detail that we know from historical accounts regarding the real MacBeth. She has a good eye too, for capturing warfare of the period including MacBeth's Norman mercenaries. Her MacBeth is a very human figure. Well worth reading. ( )

This is a fictionalised account of Macbeth, but don't let that stop you. ( )

I truly admire and love Dorothy Dunnett, and this book, like all her others, is a masterpiece of historical fiction.

But it doesn't work for me. I've tried to read it ten times, and I always get bogged down in the dreary setting, and the thousands of characters. This is my failing, I think, and not hers. However, if you're new to Dunnett, my strong suggestion would be that you start with the Niccolo books.