The Game of Kings, First in the Lymond Chronicles

General Comments Before You Start Reading

The fact that chess is significant in the Lymond Chronicles is clear from the book titles. What may be less obvious is how chess is used both figuratively and literally. Yes, there are chess games, one in particular that once read cannot be forgotten, no matter how hard you may try. However, except for that one game, the actual playing of chess is not as important as the idea of a game with pieces that are ultimately at the mercy of forces beyond themselves. The quotations at the beginning of each chapter in GoK are from a book that is not a “how to play” or strategy book but instead a book that emphasized how chess is helpful in understanding and developing behavior proper to your station in life. Metaphorically, how the characters play the game of chess reveals their character throughout the series.

Every character in TLC is, of course, one of Dunnett’s chess pieces, and many of the characters assume the role of different pieces throughout the series. In every case, however, they are all expendable, bar one. This is, after all, the LYMOND Chronicles, and DD isn’t going to kill off her protagonist, at least not until the game is over. Francis is the one indispensable chess piece. He is the king. If he is checkmated, the game is over. (However, notice the name of the last book in the series.)

Even though Francis is the king on the board, the one piece that must be protected at all costs, he is the character who tries to protect everyone else. In fact, I would say protecting others--people, animals, and countries--is possibly Francis Crawford’s defining characteristic. I would recommend you keep this in mind as you read: no matter what Francis is doing, no matter how boorish or cruel or disgusting or callous he seems, he is probably motivated by a desire to protect someone or something he believes worthy of protection.

Lymond will drive you crazy. If he doesn’t, you probably either aren’t reading carefully or you may need some serious reflection on your own state of mind, heart, and soul. He is not an easy person to like (or love). DD wrote him that way. He’s so brilliant, so beautiful, so clever, so gifted that he is simply in a class by himself. And he knows it. He is also profoundly tormented in ways obvious and not so obvious. You will get to know all of Lymond’s demons before the tale is told.

A note on names and titles. Francis Crawford of Lymond. The Master of Culter. These are how Francis is known in the first book. He is going to pick up a lot more “names” in the form of various titles as we go along. Few people call him Francis, a fact that is remarked on in a later book.

Abbreviations:

TLC - The Lymond Chronicles

GoK - The Game of Kings

QP- Queen's Play

TDK - The Disorderly Knights

PiF - Pawn in Frankincense

TRC - The Ringed Castle

CM - Checkmate

DD - Dorothy Dunnett

Ready? Buckle up and start here with Opening Gambit. You're in for the ride of your life with Lymond and company.