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A review by ovenbird_reads
The Forest Laird: A Tale of William Wallace by Jack Whyte
3.0
This is a huge book, but I am thoroughly enjoying it. It's also helping to clarify why I was so disappointed in George R. R. Martin's equally huge volume, Game of Thrones. Both of these books are long. Both deal with wars and politics of an ancient realm and yet Jack Whyte weaves an emotionally charged story that moves along at a completely engrossing pace whereas Martin succeeded only in a plodding narrative with badly chosen points of description marring all the interesting parts. I read Jack Whyte's Arthurian books years ago and this book about the life of William Wallace is reminding me why I loved them so much. Great story, great characters, lots of action, and a good dose of history makes this a compelling read, and unlike Martin's book you won't get bogged down in descriptions of cloaks and footwear.
Whyte's William Wallace is very much alive and vibrant and I think he has achieved something noteworthy in being able to tell this tale effectively after the entire world has been exposed to Braveheart. Whyte gives us a William Wallace who is fallible, and completely human rather than the almost mythical man shown to us in Braveheart. Anyone with an interest in the Wallace story or in the history of Scotland will enjoy this book I'm sure. I'm about halfway through now and having trouble putting it down.
And an update--with 200 pages left to go I'm starting to struggle with this book. It's not holding my interest in the same way it was at first. This could have much to do with being 9 months pregnant though, so I'm not going to blame the book entirely. The problem I'm finding is that William Wallace himself is starting to disappear from the book as he goes off to fight the english and his cousin Jamie is left to tell the tale of the battles from afar, using second hand information in a lot of cases, and somehow it just isn't as captivating now.
And a final update: It picked up again in the last 60 pages.
Whyte's William Wallace is very much alive and vibrant and I think he has achieved something noteworthy in being able to tell this tale effectively after the entire world has been exposed to Braveheart. Whyte gives us a William Wallace who is fallible, and completely human rather than the almost mythical man shown to us in Braveheart. Anyone with an interest in the Wallace story or in the history of Scotland will enjoy this book I'm sure. I'm about halfway through now and having trouble putting it down.
And an update--with 200 pages left to go I'm starting to struggle with this book. It's not holding my interest in the same way it was at first. This could have much to do with being 9 months pregnant though, so I'm not going to blame the book entirely. The problem I'm finding is that William Wallace himself is starting to disappear from the book as he goes off to fight the english and his cousin Jamie is left to tell the tale of the battles from afar, using second hand information in a lot of cases, and somehow it just isn't as captivating now.
And a final update: It picked up again in the last 60 pages.