The Lion Wakes (Kingdom Series #1)
by
Robert Low
A nation will fight for its freedom.
The first novel in a major new series as Robert Low moves from the Vikings to the making of Scotland.
In the dying days of the 13th century, Scotland is in turmoil. The death of Alexander III has plunged the country into war, both with itself and with Edward I of England. Determined to bring the north under his control, Edward instead unl...more
The first novel in a major new series as Robert Low moves from the Vikings to the making of Scotland.
In the dying days of the 13th century, Scotland is in turmoil. The death of Alexander III has plunged the country into war, both with itself and with Edward I of England. Determined to bring the north under his control, Edward instead unl...more
Hardcover, 439 pages
Published
July 1st 2011
by HarperCollins UK Publishers Ltd
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For most of this book I wanted to give it 4 stars. In fact, in the first third I was resolute that this would be a 4 star book despite my initially being put off by the helter skelter beginning. Not to mention the baptism of Scots dialect fire the reader gets straight off the block.
Alas though, my wish for a solid 4 star, it was not to be.
I am a huge fan of Robert Low's Oathsworn series so it is with great sadness that I admit that sometimes there is something about the mechanics of Low's writi...more
Alas though, my wish for a solid 4 star, it was not to be.
I am a huge fan of Robert Low's Oathsworn series so it is with great sadness that I admit that sometimes there is something about the mechanics of Low's writi...more
c2011. Wallace, in this book, is quite different to the stirring young hero portrayed in Braveheart and thus is a far more truer picture. The Hammer of the Scots is also a believable portrayal. What I think was great was that there were cameos of some very famous people that only become more well known after this particular episode of history. The scottish dialect was hard going at times and I think Dogboy will stay with me for a while. Brilliant pithy and gritty battle scenes which I thought we...more
A rip roaring, violent, saucy and interesting fictional account of the early years of Scotland's struggle against Edward I of England and the Anglo-Norman hegemony in the British Isles. Written with a good ear and eye for both period of dialect details, this is a very entertaining read.
The sheer diversity of languages spoken in Scotland and the rest of the British Isles is also made apparent in this textured work, with detailed fictional portraits of both Robert the Bruce and William Wallace.
Hal...more
The sheer diversity of languages spoken in Scotland and the rest of the British Isles is also made apparent in this textured work, with detailed fictional portraits of both Robert the Bruce and William Wallace.
Hal...more
Nope it's not me.
Low throws so many names at you, without enough information as to who they are and what their relevance to the story is, that you are constantly flicking back to see were they've come from and why they're there.
I sometimes had no idea what he was talking about, using language I'd not heard with no explanation, and my inlaws are all Scottish.
"A place of redcaps, dunters and powries, Sim Craw thought to himself and shivered at the idea of those Faeries. He liked the flat, long...more
Low throws so many names at you, without enough information as to who they are and what their relevance to the story is, that you are constantly flicking back to see were they've come from and why they're there.
I sometimes had no idea what he was talking about, using language I'd not heard with no explanation, and my inlaws are all Scottish.
"A place of redcaps, dunters and powries, Sim Craw thought to himself and shivered at the idea of those Faeries. He liked the flat, long...more
The first book of a proposed trilogy, Low's take on the Robert Bruce/William Wallace story promised something new for this period. It certainly delivered, though many, myself included will find the first half of the book hard going.
Densely plotted politics-wise and making a full use of dialect, it was initially difficult to spot who was important and who not so. And because the author often skips from one character's thoughts to another's while also breaking individual speeches into paragraphs...more
Densely plotted politics-wise and making a full use of dialect, it was initially difficult to spot who was important and who not so. And because the author often skips from one character's thoughts to another's while also breaking individual speeches into paragraphs...more
'The Lion Wakes' deals with Scotland's rise against England in the middle ages and features characters like Wallace and Robert the Bruce, national Scottish symbols that also featured in Mel Gibson's box office hit 'Braveheart', a flick that's much maligned by historians. This period of Scottish history greatly interests me and I was really looking forward to reading this book. However I found it really tough going at times, often harder to follow than Hilary Mantel's 'Wolf Hall'. So I think it's...more
This is one of those marmite books - you either love it, or you hate it. My partner is in the latter category, but I am deeply, strongly, utterly in the former. I've always liked Rob Low's work - his Oathsworn Viking series was a fantastic read from start to finish - but this takes his writing to a whole new level of interest, depth of character and outstanding literacy. There's a lot of Scots vernacular in it, but nothing that's incomprehensible and the story of the border wars between Scotland...more
In the dying days of the 13th century, Scotland is in turmoil. The death of Alexander III has plunged the country into war, both with itself and with Edward I of England. Determined to bring the north under his control, Edward instead unleashes a Scottish rebellion which unites the many warring factions against him - though the old hatreds are not easily put aside.
Sir Hal Sientcler of Herdmanston, a minor noble of Lothian, finds himself caught up in the chivalry and honour, as well as the betr
Jan 08, 2012
Lee Broderick
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommended to Lee by:
Terri
Shelves:
fiction-historical,
fiction
This is the first of Robert Low's books that I've read and I have to say that I was surprised. Historic fiction has become littered with poorly constructed novels as it has become more popular in recent years and I now approach nearly all authors in the genre that I haven't read before with (perhaps undue) suspicion and trepidation. Instead I found that Low is a very good writer, for some reason reminding me of George R.R. Martin in general tone, and yet his training as a journalist is immediate...more
For most people who did not grow up in Scotland, Mel Gibson’s movie “Braveheart” is their first introduction to the events of the Scottish Wars of Independence. That, or hearing “Flower of Scotland” bellowed out around Murryfield, never more louder than when the opponents are from south of the border. For anyone who is aware of the actual complexities, brutality, contradictions and real-life heroics and very real villainy of those violent decades around the turn of the Fourteenth Century, Gibson...more
Another solid tale from Robert Low, but I didn’t enjoy this one as much as his Viking sagas. It was really neat how he wrote some sentences so that when it came out it sounded Scottish. Low is really good at describing battles and making them sound epic, in this case it was the English cavalry charge into the Scottish pikes. He is also good at letting the reader fill in some of the blanks and therefore not telling you every single bit of the story but allowing you space to draw your own conclusi...more
Oct 19, 2012
Leodora Murphy
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
un-able-to-finish
I was really looking forward to reading this book, it had so much promise. And it's not that there's anything wrong with the book, I'll just have to admit my inadequate abilities in reading scottish and understanding the old ways of saying things. I read about 40 pages and I have no idea of who is siding with who and why. Make it a movie and I will watch it, gladly, but as a book I just can't.
I was in the book shop and nothing was jumping out at me until I found this.I didn't read any reviews about it, just started reading. After about 30 pages I thought I may have made a mistake, I was struggling with the language and was having to read paragraphs a second time. So I put it down for a few days and came back to it,thinking I'll have another go and after a little while I started to understand the heavy scots lilt to it and I have to say I loved this book, Great characters,great settin...more
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Robert Low is a Scottish journalist and historical novelist, with novels based on the Viking Age. He was war correspondent in Vietnam and also several other locations, including Sarajevo, Romania and Kosovo, until "common-sense, age and the concerns of my wife and daughter prevailed". Now he writes novels full time. He's also a historical reenactor performing with the Scotland-based group, the Vik...more
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