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Loading... Pawn in Frankincense (1969)by Dorothy Dunnett
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. 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. no reviews | add a review
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Fiction.
Literature.
Thriller.
Historical Fiction.
HTML:In this fourth book in the legendary Lymond Chronicles, Francis Crawford of Lymond desperately searches the Ottoman empire for his kidnapped child. Somewhere within the bejeweled labyrinth of the Ottoman empire, a child is hidden. Now his father, Francis Crawford of Lymond, soldier of fortune and the exiled heir of Scottish nobility, is searching for him while ostensibly engaged on a mission to the Turkish Sultan. At stake is the political order of three continents, for Lymond's child is a pawn in a cutthroat game whose gambits include treason, enslavement, and murder. In that game's final move, which is played inside the harem of the Topkapi palace, Lymond will come face to face with his most implacable enemy and the dreadful ambiguities of his own nature. With a Foreword by the author. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.914Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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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. ( )