Nukelavee Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 So, true story: Even though I've been a fan of GRRM for a long time (25 years or so), ASOIAF was something I didn't pick up until, oh, 10 years ago. Mostly because I'd been burned by a lot of his stuff I found lackluster.But, I picked it up one day, because I had a craving for some good characters and great plotting, and, well, I couldn't find any more Dunnet to read.So, basically, everybody saying "I need something like GoT to fill my days...", I say Dunnet.Take out the magic, take out all the Myrish swamps and fat pink masts, strip off teh fantasy overlay from GoT's inspirations..The House of Niccolo, and Lymond are what you get. You get epic battles, duels, hatreds, loves...amazing backdrops, politics, wealth..You ponder R+L=J....try guessing who the fuck is funding that little shit wee David.Niccolo runs during the 1400's, and covers Europe from Iceland to Scotland, to Trebizond, Rhodes, Africa, and all points in between.Lymond? Ask Chataya, or wait for me to finish the big box of Lymond she sent me.So, seriously, anybody but me and Chat read these? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galleymac Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 I haven't, but because of this review I'm gonna. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Mongoose Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Probably my favourite books, but I haven't reread them for ages, unfortunately. They can be quite dense so they need time to read properly. I recommend them to everyone everywhere.Wonderful books, very intelligent, brilliantly plotted, always atmospheric and often poetic.There is no land uninhabitable or sea unnavigable.They made the whole world to hang in the air. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Mongoose Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 At the end of Checkmate (the last Lymond novel), a certain occurrence happened which had one reader throw the book across the room, never to read the real, full ending.No way. :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Mongoose Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 I remember commenting on that years ago on here, it might even have been ezboard. I recall being pretty sure thatThe kid he saved was not his sonBut that was just after reading it. I can't remember the reasons now. Must reread soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukelavee Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 Actually, that first post "review"...I was at a used bookstore today, and the clerk mentioned her friend being on mat leave, and wanting something like GoT to read...So, I sold them on Dunnet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Mongoose Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Possibly. I recall the arguments getting very convoluted.Actually, the main thing I took from it was that it doesn't/shouldn't matter. I'm under the impression that Lymond saved the less messed-up child, his parentage irrelevant.I also remember trying to create the final chess position on my set. Couldn't do it. I like to think it's possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkynJay Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Starting point? Ill give it a go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukelavee Posted June 24, 2012 Author Share Posted June 24, 2012 Oh - So, the woman who started me reading Dunnet was a close friend's mom, and my boss. You'd like her, Chataya, you both prize taste highly.She had an actual Piranesi etching, one he made, in her home. I won major points for knowing what it was, and how valuable it was. (Marco promptly tried to claim it was special to him, and when, God Forbid, she passed, he could have it. She didn't buy it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillio Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Yes, me too on these. One of my favourite re-readsI'm tempted to get the e-books too, my paperbacks are so well-read they are falling apart!!!Nuk, you've tempted me to re-read, its been a while!!Chats, do I recall correctly that Francis is a decendant of Niccolo?Ooh, I'm off to the bookshelves, not been able to get really involved in a book for a while...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEvilKing Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 I've got the first book of both series but haven't gotten round to starting 'em yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillio Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 just snippets above the chapters from what i recall.I really enjoy them, I do like a long series Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maltaran Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 I got these from the library years ago, then kept trying to find them in bookshops and couldn't. Then last year I got a Kindle and found the whole series was available as e-books, so I got them all.Chats, do I recall correctly that Francis is a decendant of Niccolo?Yep - Sybilla was a Semple before she married. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillio Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Just checked on KOBO, got first Lymond book for $6 with a discount code from http://www.retailmenot.com/coupons/books Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukelavee Posted June 24, 2012 Author Share Posted June 24, 2012 I've read the Niccolo series twice so far, and it is a big time investment. Not so much because of the writing style, but because of teh backdrop of events.Dunnet is amazing at weaving her characters and their lives into history, which sends me off to research things so I understand the overall picture. Plus, as an artist, teh descriptions of all the beautiful objects that the characters encounter are amazing.The emotional connections between the various characters are totally believable, as is their growth thru the story.Fat Father Jordan... beneath that Manderly body sits Tywin Lannister. He's one of those characters whose scenes are riveting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillio Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 I've only read the Niccolo series once, ifI can get them all for the kobo too I will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillio Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Ok - any interest in starting a Lymond, Book 1, thread, when you all get there? or should we just continue on this one. Up to y'all (and the mods).Nuk - thanks for the kind words :)I'm happy either way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ran Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 I've recommended both series before, and will join everyone else in doing so again. Dunnett was amazing. Her prose, her layered plotting, her incredible research and verisimilitude -- she was unique. Regarding the Lymond series, it's best to start with them first, but bear in mind that if you find the first book, Game of Kings, heavy-going due to particularly baroque prose, it is something of an outlier -- the prose gets a bit less opaque in the following novels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillio Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Yes, agreed. Queen's Play is very readable, compared to Game of Kings, and then by Book 3, one is either speaking like Lymond by total immersion, or it just gets easier, I'm not sure which :)Lymond tends to speak in French or Latin when totally sloshed. He starts generally abstaining from alcohol by Book 3, so his quotient of French or Latin to English decreases markedly.Trisk - yes, there is a fair, but not overwhelming, bit of French. It helps to have had some exposure to a Romance language - French, Spanish, Italian - to figure it out; but context of what's going on around, plus the people who respond or remark in English help the meaning to come across. My French is elementary (from 20 years ago), but I understood a good 1/3 of it.If you really get into it, there's a set of books (I and II) called The Dunnett Companion, which, god help me, I bought :) It means I'm a total addict :) But, basically The Companion explains some of the real historical characters in detail, as well as certain of the allusions from Rabelais and other classics, and also gets into some of the stuff that is meaningful (yet kind of incidental) to the plot, like galley slave argot.totally agree, must look for the companion, too.We could be creating a monster, if the Sandor sisters ever meet Lymond!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukelavee Posted June 25, 2012 Author Share Posted June 25, 2012 Is having read Niccolo first gonna be a help, or not, btw?I'm so happy to find more people to discuss this with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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