The Lion Wakes (Kingdom Series, #1)

The Lion Wakes (Kingdom Series #1)

3.32 of 5 stars 3.32  ·  rating details  ·  68 ratings  ·  16 reviews
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
Hardcover, 439 pages
Published July 1st 2011 by HarperCollins UK Publishers Ltd
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Terri
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
Ruth
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
Zack Wilson
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
Nigel
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
Jonathan Hopkins
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
James
'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
Manda Scott
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
Al

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

...more
Lee Broderick
Jan 08, 2012 Lee Broderick rated it 3 of 5 stars
Recommended to Lee by: Terri
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
Tim Hodkinson
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
Craig Buno
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
Leodora Murphy
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.
Ralph Halse
Low has delivered a great historical novel, filled with intrigue and depictions of life in ancient Scotland, England & Wales. He does credit to the characters and his research permits him the latitude to offer 'a closer version of what might have been'.
Paul
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
Adam Hunter
Although I'm English I thought I would have a go at this one and see what happened. Turned out to be a good plan! Very well written but helps if you ken a bit of the scots language!
Ron
I stopped reading it after 20 pages.
Renee Smith
May 21, 2013 Renee Smith marked it as to-read
Brad
May 20, 2013 Brad marked it as to-read
Simona
May 19, 2013 Simona marked it as to-read
Conny
May 19, 2013 Conny marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: hf_europe
Dirk
May 19, 2013 Dirk added it
Shelves: wanted
Beke
May 15, 2013 Beke marked it as to-read
Kimberly
May 08, 2013 Kimberly marked it as to-read
Anna
May 01, 2013 Anna marked it as to-read
Malvine
Apr 29, 2013 Malvine marked it as to-read
Shelves: own
Ryan Findley
Apr 27, 2013 Ryan Findley marked it as to-read
Meri
Apr 26, 2013 Meri marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: fantasy, historical
Stavros
Apr 25, 2013 Stavros marked it as to-read
Sabrina
Apr 24, 2013 Sabrina marked it as to-read
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The Lion Wakes (Kingdom Series #1)
The Lion Wakes (Kingdom Series, #1)
The Lion Wakes (Kingdom Series, #1)
The Lion Wakes (Kingdom Series, #1)
The Lion Wakes (Kingdom Series, #1)

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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
More about Robert Low...
The Whale Road (Oathsworn, #1) The Wolf Sea (Oathsworn, #2) The White Raven (Oathsworn, #3) The Prow Beast (Oathsworn, #4) Crowbone (Oathsworn #5)

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