juliana, there's a reason my Lymond icon on DW says "my fandom's first 150 pages are really fucking confusing." To wit: the first 200 or so pages of Game of Kings are really fucking confusing.

If you're still intrigued, I suggest a couple of things. First, you could pick up Queen's Play or Disorderly Knights: both of them have less confusing starts (GoK was Dunnett's first novel, and it shows), and GoK and QP are both basically free-standing from a plot point of view. DK kicks off the overarching plot of the series.

Another option is to try Niccolo Rising instead. That's volume 1 of the other series, set in the 1400s in Belgium. The writing is rather less baroque, and much easier to follow. I find the characters a bit less endearing, but that may in part be because I read the Lymond books when I was a teenager and imprinted on them hard. The Niccolo series is about trade, banking and politics, more than about war, has several interesting women characters, and covers a huge swath of geography (from Iceland to Timbuktu, and everything in between). In my opinion, the Niccolo books are less classically romantic and id-tastic than the Lymond books, but probably better written from a technical standpoint.

In my opinion, the Niccolo books are less classically romantic and id-tastic than the Lymond books, but probably better written from a technical standpoint.

That might be what I need right now, actually. I just finished the Henriad (scripts and Hollow Crown DVDs), and I am up to here with id-tasticness (oh, Falstaff). Thank you, Consuela!

I am loving HILD. So much that I gave it a lot at xmas.

One of those, I could have waited on. Some scenes not suitable for my mother in law. Second time doing this to my inlaws. First time was with Saramugo's Blindness.

I really want to read Cold Magic soon. Thank you for the reminder, Juliana

I may have an advance copy of the new Jo Walton and I'm really excited about it. but I can't read it yet because I have to read a bunch of research AUGH.

I love Elliott's work; the Cold Magic series is really good.

I'll second (or whatever) the recs for the Tasha Alexander and Kate Ross mysteries. And I'll take note of the recs for Sebatian St Syr & Pirates.

Throwing another rec out there. I'm in the middle of The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker, and I'm loving it so much!

It's the story of a female golem and a male Jinni who wind up in New York in 1899.

I'm having a really hard time putting it down.

FWIW, Kate Ross was a big Dorothy Dunnett fan...

Rayne, that book has shown up on a lot of best-of lists, and it sounds great! It's on my to-read list.

Maybe I'll look at them -- I loved the Kate Ross books so much.

Um... I guess it's good that Flynn is doing it with him, but it seems like they're about to change a big piece of what made the story so memorable.