The Ultimate Guide to Dorothy Dunnett's The Game of Kings

by Laura Caine Ramsey

Enter undaunted the world of Dorothy Dunnett's first chef-d'œvre, The GAME of KINGS.

Exhaustively researched, this compilation follows the book page-by-page, providing useful translations, illustrations, lost definitions, and historical facts to faithfully shed light on the story.

Designed to elucidate the mid-16th century for the 21st century reader, the Guide enriches one's experience of The Lymond Chronicles, providing deeper understanding and an appreciation for the discernment, subtlety, and scope of Dorothy Dunnett's extraordinary writing.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, History, Historical, Literature

391 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Melindam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kudos to author Laura Caine Ramsey for the extensive research and referencing almost everything for that monstrous and wonderful novel of The Game of Kings. I might not have finished the novel if not for this book.

It helped me tremendously to have this Issue of Scotland's Who-is-Who (what and when and where
and how-the-hell) from 1547. But of course I don't mean to reduce the book to this, for it is so much more: a fountain of knowledge with all the historic, geographic, philosophic, literary, musical etc. references of the time and the translations of all the quotes and verses and songs.

It is truly a worthy companion of the novel and I am really glad it accompanied me on this exciting literary journey.

[Mona · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very useful guide to The Game of Kings (The Lymond Chronicles #1).

It’s available free on Kindle Unlimited.

The author skipped over some examples of Scottish dialect which I wished she had clarified.

The info on shamanism and Tarot are so-so. I did learn from this book that Tarot was used at the time of Game of Kings for regular card games, which I didn’t know.

These are minor quibbles though. Overall a very good reference. And you’ll need one to get through Game of Kings.

[Katie Montgomery · Rating 5 out of 5]

THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH STARS. Without this reference I doubt -- OK, I KNOW -- I would never have found the courage to jump into this series (I know because it mouldered on my shelves for 2 years before I got the guide), and Dorothy Dunnett is absolutely worth it. Thank you Laura Caine Ramsey!!

[giada · Rating 3 out of 5]

While being an extremely helpful tool in the reading experience of The Game Of Kings , I’m not a big fan of how this guide is structured. Every entry follows the flow of the narration, so that you don’t have to look up every word in alphabetical order (risking to spend a lot of time choosing the right word to look up to find the meaning of a particular sentence), but I think that it could have benefitted from having a separate appendix for the very long biographies every real historical character and city or specific place or battle mentioned: not only they take up a lot of physical space on the page, but they also offer a lot of extra information that breaks up the reading experience (this is true for me because I read with both books open at the same time, of course it’s different for the people that like to consult the guide on a whim).

Some other times it offered etymologies of words that seemed superfluous to me, or that were unnecessarily long as well, as they didn’t seem to have a particular significance linked to what was happening in the book or to some hidden meaning.

Another thing that bothered me was how some translated verses, taken out of songs or rhymes, would retain the translation pertaining the context of the song instead of being translated with the context of what was said in the book: it wasn’t that big of a problem for me since I have a vague understanding of all the foreign languages used in the text and I could infer the real meaning (or google it, in extreme cases) but the same cannot be said for every single reader.

But I cannot be a complete hater to something that has been crucial to my wellbeing these past two months, especially because it saved me from spending way too much time looking up 14th century songs and plays. Really gutted there is not a guide just like this one for every book in the series.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great resource to have on hand while reading The Game of Kings. Clearly written by someone who adores Dunnett's epic series, this guide helped me at least make my way through the first book of said series with some idea of what was going on.

The guide is organized by page numbers that coordinate with the most recent version of The Game of Kings. I could have my Kindle open to this as I read for instant clues to who people were, where places were, and what the heck Lymond was attempting to say. Each entry is basically like a Wikipedia post with clear translations and information about terms and phrases in this novel that are not commonly known.

I bypassed many of the entries because I knew the history and basic geography, but the descriptions of where quotes came from and translations were very helpful. It was probably the same information that I would have found with a quick Google search, but this book takes care of hundreds of Google searches for you.

I only wish that the author had included why Lymond was making these references when he did. It was helpful to know what he was saying, but I often still wasn't quite sure why. If you plan on taking on The Game of Kings, I recommend this as a resource, and it is free through the Kindle Owners' Lending Library.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great companion for Dunnett's novel, and the research it must have required is astounding . I especially liked the bios at the start, which distilled complex historical figures into essential information for the beginner.

Recommended, of course.

[Giki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved 'The game of kings' after my first unguided read through. It is confusing and chaotic and you definitely don't need to understand all the references and quotations to enjoy the story. This thoughtful guide is an excellent companion for a second read through, though. Locations, historical characters, translations and archaic references are explained in the order they come in the book making it quick and easy to flick from one to the other. Not every query is answered and sometimes the explanations supply more questions than answers but it is a great tool for a deeper understanding of the book. A good map would not go amiss though, there is none in this book.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dorothy Dunnett's The Game of Kings is the first book in a series that, in certain circles, is one that Everyone Knows and Loves. All Your Favorite Authors Know It (or so it feels, sometimes).

I, knowing almost nothing of Scottish (or for that matter not enough of the English) history, and having not nearly the same canon of working referential knowledge as Dunnett, was incredibly grateful to The Ultimate Guide for, in many cases, being able to lend a willing translator's hand to a reference or historical anecdote.

My only complaint is that this book also expects you to be smart, and so while they may point out that a reference is a reference, and tell you that x is a y, there's no additional explanation offered as to why Lymond is talking about y, apropos of seemingly nothing.

So - frequently very helpful, sometimes less so, but a very nice resource to start you off into the series.

[Justine B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

An very useful companion to Dorothy Dunnett's The Game of Kings. Obviously it is not exhaustive but it helps get through most references, bring light to real life historical characters and locations and translate many of the Latin, Spanish, and French (yes, French is my mother tongue but I still needed it at times for old French) phrases.

[Sharyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so helpful when reading Game of Kings as it tells the history of some of the real characters, translates some of the Latin and French phrases and explains some of the poetry and folklore that is used throughout. Lymond is an articulate scholar and most people he interacts with usually knows what he is referring to, though most modern readers will not. Thanks to this author for writing this book.

[Clare East · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could not have read to the end of the novel without this guide!
Thoroughly researched, it provided all the historical and cultural background to references in the novel. There were points where this was even more complicated than the story, but there were other parts where this guide was indispensable in understanding what was happening.

[Sara Giacalone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend this ultimate guide to The Game of Kings (read it concurrently with listening to The Game of Kings on Audible, my fifth read). Would love to see this guide for all of the Lymond books in the series. Well done Laura Caine Ramsey!!!!!

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well researched! I eventually found it best to read the references before the actual chapter in the Game of Kings- then when they came up, I would already know what they meant. To be honest, this was very tedious.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful guide which laid out all the Scottish history referenced in The Game of Kings. Also provided translations of many of the French, Latin, and Spanish phrases.

[Cc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super helpful guide. Set the context for the whole series.

[Melanie]

Helpful, though often more detailed than I needed. I wish this information could be put into the novel itself, as an annotated edition, so I wouldn't have to keep flipping between books.

[Jenalyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very helpful and comprehensive guide.

[Mythlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cool reference book! I, er, won't actually remember *everything* when I re-read "The Game of Kings" but hopefully a few facts will have lodged themselves in my brain.

[Onni · Rating 2 out of 5]

Organization of the information per each book is problematic.