The Forest Laird: A Tale Of William Wallace (2000) - Plot & Excerpts
Rebel is a retelling of the story of William Wallace/Braveheart. I’ve read Jack Whyte books before and his style of character development was familiar to me. The story is told from the perspective of William’s cousin, Jamie, as they both mature from boyhood to adolescence. The bond between the cousins is strong, but their dreams lead them to take different paths. While William becomes fascinated by archery, Jamie excels at priesthood. From an early age William is depicted as strong, commanding, and as a natural leader.Rebel was very brutal, more so than the Braveheart film in some instances. I liked the introduction, and the series of small incidents that gave context to the main characters. Thereafter, the progression of the story was overly descriptive. I felt I was given a painstaking narration of the surprises and events. After having read the end, I saw this book as a prelude to the book about William Wallace that I wanted to read. I am a fan of Jack Whyte. His Templar trilogy was bold, imaginative, and interesting. Unfortunately I didn’t find Rebel to be any of those things. Jack Whyte's A Dream of Eagles series is one of my all-time favourite historical fiction series. This first book in the new Guardian series tells the story of William Wallace's early years and features details of the beginning of the Scottish rebellion. As with most of Jack Whyte's books, he does an excellent job of developing his characters which is usually the most delightful part of his books. In this case, he develops his characters very well but there isn't enough of it. My opinion is that spent too much time explaining history directly rather than through his characters.
What do You think about The Forest Laird: A Tale Of William Wallace (2000)?
I liked his Arthur series did not enjoy this one as much still not a bad read
—malnut
Anyone with even an ounce of Scots blood in them should read this book.
—KonnorK
Interesting subject matter, but poorly written :-/
—ckerr8
Not creative writing style found it dull to read
—Isabella
