"I want you to understand. I am going alone. The risk, if any, is mine. I have no dependants, no responsibilities; I am adamant that this time no one will accompany me. What I hope to do in Russia is worth the risk I shall take. Do you imagine I would do what I did tonight if I did not think it of an importance unimaginable? If I can pull this one man back from the brink, I can save a nation perhaps from something worse than the Tartars. Perhaps bridge the gap of two hundred years. Perhaps find an existence worth living.I thought The Ringed Castle was mostly filler the first time I read it, and I don't feel too differently now. That's not to say that what there is is useless. On the contrary: this is--bar none--the most well-written, detail-laden filler under the sun. And it's not just that. It's never just anything.Did I need to spend 300 pages learning about Russian trade needs? Perhaps not. There were brief bright spots: the tensions with Vishnevetsky; Kate's reaction to Philippa's news; "please forgive the faint smell of fish"; Diccon's Chancellor's humanity. It's also an interesting read from the outside. Is it just me or were there hints (the vaguest of hints!) of Cold War-era thinking slipping through? All that talk of Lymond feeling a burning need to return to Russia and save it from itself definitely felt like something bigger.Pawn in Frankincense put Lymond through the wringer and here he allows himself to shut down. He attempts to seal off the parts of himself that cause him pain, namely all the parts not directly related to being a ruthless leader and strategist. (No Jerott, no Marthe, save a brief mention of each. It's for the best. I couldn't handle either of them here, and neither could Lymond.)A brief digression: After much hesitation, I recently got into Game of Thrones, not because it's like Lymond--it isn't--and not because I've read the books--I haven't--but because it really, really does have chess-like qualities. After three seasons of half-attention I have arrived at the fourth eager to see what moves and counter-moves are yet to unfold.The Lymond Chronicles is also a chess game (duh), and this book is one big, convoluted move with a long-delayed payoff. Dunnett plays the long game so well that it becomes easy to think of Lymond's interminable sojourn in Russia in isolation, not as a reaction to the horror of Book 4, or as a build-up to Book 6. In fact it is all of those things. It is art for art's sake, it is a natural reaction on the part of a well-drawn and well-defined character, and it is a necessary stepping stone in a larger plot. Without Ringed Castle, there would be no Lymond Chronicles.Nor would there be that scene. You know the one. It's time to talk about the Hall of the Revels. In the almost nine years since I first read this book, I have been siting this scene as one of my favorite moments in all of literature. I was hesitant to read it again, afraid that it was just a time-and-place phenomenon, and that I couldn't possibly connect with it in the same way again.Greatest scene in all of literature? I don't know. What I do know is that it had a depth to it that only scenes in series of this length can ever hope to achieve. It was also very evident to me, this time around, how many of my own writing tricks I adapted from Dunnett: how to write close third while giving a minimum away; how you can soar from humor to introspection and back again; how a sudden, shocked realization can be understood in how a character's clothes feel against their skin.(I'm going to save all my Philippa-and-Lymond discussion for Checkmate. For now, suffice it to say that there's a reason the last 150 pages are the best. Nick and Nora Charles, eat your heart out.)So, yes, the book is still constantly jostling up against Disorderly Knights for the title of weakest link in the chain. The book is still in possession of one of the greatest scenes of all time, and some of the strongest final 150 pages I have ever encountered. And, yes, it turns out even the filler adds up to something. You can't segment off parts of your life. If you do, don't be surprised if those pieces gang up on you and ship you off to France for your own good.On the Lymond learning to have a family front (Lymond Learning to Live Life Languishing Locked in L?), this book is the huge step back it would realistically be. This is painfully summed up in the first of Lymond and Richard's two difficult encounters. Richard has learned how to play the game, but Lymond is unwilling to meet him halfway, to accept half a brother, or to allow anyone to shoulder half his burden. "There have been so many misunderstandings in the past. What you did, often, was done for good reason. I know I am simple. I know you are devious. But, oh God, if there is any good reason for what you are doing now; any excuse; any unknown factor or subtle circumstance you are afraid I can't grasp, for the mercy of God, this time, tell me."And, of course, Richard gets nothing back and it's sad, sad, sad. It's so ordinary! So true to life! And in a series full of rooftop races and elephant tricks, the mundane hits twice as hard.
Book #5 in the Lymond Chronicles as Philippa matures and becomes a force to be reckoned with. "Not to every young girl is it given to enter the harem of the Sultan of Turkey and return to her homeland a virgin." Now that's what I call an attention getting opening! The Ringed Castle begins book #5 in the series as Philippa returns home to England a very self assured young woman and Francis has hitched his wagon to the mysterious Guzel and heads to Russia to bring Tsar Ivan and his army out of the dark ages with the aid of Francis' highly trained mercenary corps. As Francis treads the treacherous waters of the Russian court and political intrigues, there is a traitor amongst his troop who has been hired to kill him. At the same time, Philippa is called to court to serve as lady in waiting to Mary Tudor and the delightfully evil Countess Margaret Lennox continues her intrigues against Francis and Philippa. Eventually Francis is ordered by the Tsar to leave Russia, and after a harrowing sail through the dangerous waters of the northern seas Francis comes to London as part of Russia's trade embassy. There he is reunited with his wife, Philippa, who has stumbled across a long hidden mystery regarding Francis' paternity. As with the first four books in the series, Francis Crawford is a fascinating hero, and is as suave, debonair, flawed and fascinating as only a 16th Century version of James Bond could be. While I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I didn't find it as fast paced as the previous four, particularly the time spent in Russia, although necessary to set up the rest of the story. What I very much enjoyed was the maturation of Philippa and she has become the perfect foil for Lymond, she matched word for word in all their verbal battles and was the highlight of the book. I am dying to read the last book in the series, Checkmate: Sixth in the Legendary Lymond Chronicles and anxiously await the answers to just who fathered Francis Crawford of Lymond. Five stars.
What do You think about The Ringed Castle (1997)?
While not as intense as Pawn in Frankincense (though I find myself at a loss to imagine what book could be), I still enjoyed this an awful lot. The sections in Russia dragged a bit for me, both because I didn't find the atmosphere/surroundings delineated as vividly as I'm used to in Dunnett's works, and because there was no foil to set Lymond against. Without someone to bitch worthwhile to pitch himself against, the... less amiable aspects of his character become even more defined, and things drag. Once Lymond and Phillipa were together again, though, it flew along at a cracking pace. Some of the twists made my eyes widen, and of course That One Scene with Lymond and Phillipa made me squeak out loud--much, I'm sure, to raised eyebrows from the people sitting around me on the Tube. Languish Locked in L, indeed.
—Siria
"The Ringed Castle", 5th of the Lymond Chronicles, is set in Muscovy, Russia. Here in the cold, frozen, ice covered landscape, Lymond becomes Voevoda Bolshoia, supreme commander to the half-mad Tsar, Ivan Vasilievich. Using his brilliance to create a Russian army machine, he is also trying to become one. In his burning desire to rid himself of all that has brought him pain, joy, sorrow and deep emotion, he is set to use all his gifts and talents to do anything necessary to become ruler and create his own destiny. However, being forced to go to England he has to face his last test, the mystery of his heritage and encounter those who can wound him because they want to destroy him or those who want to save him from himself. Dorothy Dunnnett's writing is excellent in her vast ability of making landscape come alive. Her historical knowledge has depth and her ability to create characters, not without their human frailties, are real and believable. She leads the reader through amazing twisting plots, diverse episodes and through a beautiful Russia. Dorothy Dunnett brings you into another world which I will revisit time and time again.
—Lorie Ahlander Maenza
I was fully prepared for another dismal addition to the series, but this one was creative and interesting and introduced a whole slew of new characters including the young Elizabeth (not yet queen of England), Mary Tudor and many of her court.There are basically two heroes officially as of this book: Phillipa Somerville and Francis Crawford of Lymond (technically, I guess you'd have to call him an anti-hero). Two major developments in this book: (view spoiler)[ Lymond goes to Russia to train the Tsar's army and arranges for the Tsar to do business with a bunch of English merchants (The Muscovy Company)where he meets another fertile mind in the person of Richard Chancellor, one of the merchants and the navigator of the merchant fleet. Lymond intends to stay in Russia. He feels it is his destiny to help the Tsar upgrade the country to ´Western civilization standards and help fight off its enemies. His plan goes awry when the Tsar forces him to go to England with the (returning) Muscovy Company to ask Mary Tudor for arms. The second major development is Phillipa, married to Lymond in name only, falls in love with him. Then we get a very strong hint that Lymond falls in love with Phillipa as well on his trip to England where Philippa is currently a member of Queen Mary's court. We start to get the feeling this will all turn out quite tragically. Both parties continue to push for an annulment of the marriage. (hide spoiler)]
—Sharon Reamer
