The Disorderly Knights - (Lymond Chronicles) by Dorothy Dunnett (Paperback)

About the Book

"Having refused a commission from the dowager queen of Scotland, Lymond turns mercenary, heading to Malta to observe the crusading order of Knights Hospitaller of St. John, a brotherhood of monks sworn to defend Christendom with swords instead of sermons. The knights' beloved leader, Sir Graham Reid Malett, is devout and charming, and openly declares it his mission to turn Lymond from his mercenary ways and bring him into the order. But as the Turkish fleet launches a series of devastating attacks, Lymond comes to realize that there may be a much deadlier enemy closer at hand: an adversary ho is as subtle as he is savage, and whose piety conceals an absolute genius for evil."--Page 4 of cover.

Book Synopsis

Combining all the political intrigue of Game of Thrones with the sweeping romanticism of Outlander, Dorothy Dunnett's legendary Lymond Chronicles have enthralled readers for decades and amassed legions of devoted fans. In this third volume of the series, Francis Crawford of Lymond is dispatched to embattled Malta to assist an order of crusading knights in defending the island against the Turks--only to discover that the greatest threat to the knights may lie within their own ranks.

Having refused a commission from the dowager queen of Scotland, Lymond turns mercenary, heading to Malta to observe the Crusading Order of Knights Hospitaller of St. John, a brotherhood of monks sworn to defend Christendom with swords instead of sermons. The Knights' beloved leader, Sir Graham Reid Malett, is devout and charming, and openly declares it his mission to turn Lymond from his mercenary ways and bring him into the order. But as the Turkish fleet launches a series of devastating attacks, Lymond comes to realize that there may be a much deadlier enemy closer at hand: an adversary who is as subtle as he is savage, and whose piety conceals an absolute genius for evil.

Review Quotes

"Dunnett is a master of suspense and misdirection."
--The New York Times

"[Lymond] is arguably the perfect romantic hero."
--The Guardian

"Dorothy Dunnett is one of the greatest talespinners since Dumas. . . . Breathlessly exciting."
--Cleveland Plain Dealer

"A masterpiece of historical fiction."
--The Washington Post

"Expert entertainment. . . . Dunnett can describe a duel more convincingly than Dumas."
--The New York Times Book Review

"Exciting, dangerous, fascinating."
--The Boston Globe

"Dunnett is a name to conjure with. Her work exemplifies the best the genre can offer."
--Christian Science Monitor

"Ingenious and exceptional . . . its effect brilliant, its pace swift and colorful and its multi-linear plot spirited and absorbing."
--Boston Herald

"Dunnett evokes the sixteenth century with an amazing richness of allusion and scholarship, while keeping a firm control on an intricately twisting narrative. She has another more unusual quality . . . an ability to check her imagination with irony, to mix high romance with wit."
--Sunday Times (London)

"A very stylish blend of high romance and high camp. Her hero, the enigmatic Lymond, [is] Byron crossed with Lawrence of Arabia. . . . He moves in an aura of intrigue, hidden menace and sheer physical daring."

"With shrewd psychological insight and a rare gift of narrative and descriptive power, Dorothy Dunnett reveals the color, wit, lushness . . . and turbulent intensity of one of Europe's greatest eras."
--Raleigh News and Observer

About the Author

DOROTHY DUNNETT was born in Dunfermline, Scotland. She is the author of the Francis Crawford of Lymond novels; the House of Niccolò novels; seven mysteries; King Hereafter, an epic novel about Macbeth; and the text of The Scottish Highlands, a book of photographs by David Paterson, on which she collaborated with her husband, Sir Alastair Dunnett. In 1992 she was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to literature. Lady Dunnett died in 2001.