The Ringed Castle, Dorothy Dunnett

Fifth book in the series, and the fifth time these books have made me INCOHERENT with love. If I ever manage to write a character as complicated, internally-consistent, and readable as Francis Crawford of Lymond I will die happy. (Phillipa runs a very close second in the favorite character ever sweepstakes.) He is both an incredible anti-hero and an incredible hero, sometimes in the same scene. I hate him and I’ve cried for him, and every book in the series is my favorite.

Er, except this one, which took me six months to get through. I don’t know, Lymond was especially mean, and the plot felt a lot like killing time (or Dunnett showing off her research into Russian history). So I stopped 3/4 of the way through in August, and picked it back up in January.

The last 50 pages, for the record, are AMAZING.

I am already on page 97 of the sixth (and final) book. If everyone does not get their shit together in romantic type ways soon, I will lose my mind. The thing is, though, these books are *mean* and no one is promised a happy ending. It is taking all of my will power not to read the last page just to see if my suspicions are correct. It ishorrible wonderful terrible torture. It is also entirely possible that, when I get to the end, I will just pick up book one again, because that SCENE with Francis and Richard, oh my GOD, I just keep re-reading it and trying to figure out how I can steal it for a story of my very own.

*flail*

Grade: A

Originally posted 2008