The Disorderly Knights: Book Three in the legendary Lymond Chronicles

By Dorothy Dunnett

This third volume in The Lymond Chronicles, the highly renowned series of historical novels takes place in 1551, when Francis Crawford of Lymond is dispatched to embattled Malta, to assist the Knights of Hospitallers in defending the island against the Turks. But shortly the swordsman and scholar discovers that the greatest threat to the Knights lies within their own ranks, where various factions vie secretly for master.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Aug 11, 2010
• ISBN: 9780307762306

Reviews for The Disorderly Knights

[lauralkeet · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this third book in the Lymond Chronicles, our hero Francis Crawford travels to Malta and becomes involved with the Knights of St John, a Catholic military order. Led by a tyrannical Grand Master, the group finds themselves defending Malta and then battling the Turks in Tripoli. This action forms the first half of the book, and I admit I almost gave up on it. The setting, the myriad new characters, the complicated battle scenes that were impossible to visualize, were all doing my head in. But I set the book aside, and when I picked it up again a week or so later I found the action had returned to Scotland and familiar characters reappeared. Lymond decides to form his own Knights of St Mary’s, a mercenary army which he plans to train to defend Scotland and possibly other parts of the world. The new army is seeded with a few Knights of St. John, and which seems promising but ultimately leads to a serious conflict between leaders. On the way to the inevitable showdown other characters develop in some very interesting ways, and the reader learns some things about Lymond that he doesn’t yet know himself. The ending is quite open-ended, leaving me wondering just what will happen next. These novels are long and rich with historic detail, requiring considerable concentration. I plan to keep reading this series, but need to put some space between each volume so as not to get overwhelmed.

[beyondedenrock · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved the first two books of the Lymond Chronicles, but when I began to read this book I couldn’t help thinking that those books were laying foundations and that this book would be where she really hit her stride.It was wonderful to be back in Scotland with familiar characters from the first book who I had rather missed in the second. The opening sequence moved from Will Scott’s wedding to a skirmish with English border raiders and then back to the wedding party again. It and it was vibrant, it was colourful and it was a joy to read.That set the scene perfectly.In the first part of the book, Lymond was drawn into the cause of the Knights of Malta, as they struggled to defend their island home from the Turks. There was intrigue, because it was clear that there were more than the stated reasons the invitation extended to Lymond, and for his accepting that invitation. This early part of the story set in Malta and Tripoli, evoked those places wonderfully well. It was perfectly executed, it was immaculately written; there were some wonderful moments, there were some significant plot developments; and yet it was only setting the stage for events that would unfold back in Scotland.Lymond was charged with creating a new military force for Scotland, its objective to break the cycle of clan warfare so that all of Scotland’s forces could be set against the English. Among the company is a group of refugee Knights of Malta, led by Sir Graham Malett, known as Gabriel, who is set on creating a religious force and making Lymond part of that force.That’s as much as I can say about specifics of the plot; because there is such clever and effective sleight of hand, because my understanding of events shifted, and because if you have read this book you will know and if you have you should read and you shouldn’t know too much before you do.The depth and the complexity of the characterisation is extraordinary; and a cast populated by fictional characters and historical figures lived and breathed. I have come to love many of them – Janet Beaton and Kate Somerville are particular favourites – and the death of one early in the story made me realise how very real this world and the people who moved through it have become to me.There would be other deaths and some of them broke my heart. Most were dictated by the real history that is missed so effectively with fiction, and others I understood served the unfolding plot.I reacted more emotionally to this book than others; and fortunately there were scenes to inspire laughter, anger and joy as well as grief.Two new characters – a man and a woman – became central to the story. They were both quite unlike anyone else in the story, they were psychologically complicated and interesting, and they brought much colour and drama.The success or failure of this book though, rested firmly on the shoulders of its central character. I am still drawn right in with his charisma, his manifold talents, and the evolution of his character and his story.There were times when he seemed to have matured, but there were times when he seemed childishly, foolishly reckless. I would come to understand his reasons, that there were times when he had to position himself and play a part, but there was something there that came from character rather than pure necessity.Certain things within the Crawford family that I had observed before were emphasised in this book, and I am very curious to find out more.There were not as many set pieces as I expected in this book, but I didn’t miss them because there was so much that was rooted in character and history, and because I saw that much of what had happened before was building the story arc that would grow through this book.I loved one scene that I haven’t seen mentioned much; an extended scene that had echoes of something the happened at the very beginning of the first book.The finale was a tour de force, an extended set piece rich with colour, drama and emotion that set things up perfectly for the next book and the books to come after that.I love that the thee books in this series have been distinctive but they have also been worked together to reveal different aspects of a character and to move his story forward.I know that I will come back to them again and see things that I missed reading them for the first time, but now I have to get back to ‘Pawn in Frankincense – the fourth book – and find out what happens next.

[wunder-62679 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Docked one star because it is the first book of a longer arc and not a self-contained story. Also, pretty scattered among different events. You'll spend most of the book wondering how this fits together and I won't spoil it. But I will definitely read the next book.

[wagner5sarah35 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It took me a little while to get into this book - likely because it's been quite some time since I've read the preceding novels in this series - but it was well worth the effort by the end. Francis Crawford of Lymond makes for a fascinating character and I enjoyed his exploits, along with the savory and unsavory figures he encountered in his adventures. This book does ended on something of a cliffhanger and I think I may need to pick up the next volume in the series sooner rather than later.

[katesherrod · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Oh, Lymond, Lymond, how I do want to love thee. And every book you almost, almost talk me out of it. Every book you look guilty as hell of whatever crimes most have all of Scotland/France/Malta/Wherever up in arms, and every book you turn out to be, well, I'm trying not to spoil anything here, but there are three more books in this series, so certain truths are probably pretty evident, even to the kinds of people you're so very, very good at fooling...

The Disorderly Knights, the third in the great Dorothy Dunnet's great Lymond Chronicles, broadens the geographic, political and moral scope of our favorite Renaissance bad boy considerably. The Knights of the title are none other than the famous Hospitallers, aka the Knights of Malta -- though an argument could be made for that title also applying to a mercenary company our man forms when he finally gets back to Scotland about halfway through the novel -- and they're in a bit of a pickle, one that the King of France seems to think Lymond might be able to help them out of, or at least bear honest witness to. The King of France being something of a Lymond fanboy after Lymond's exploits last novel in defense of the six-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots, who is engaged to marry the King's son. Ah, dynastic politics!

The problem the Hospitallers face is the same one they were formed to face, namely the Turk, whom they've helped to protect Europe and bits of North Africa from for a good 400 years. But as of the late 16th century, though, well, the Knights have gone a bit to seed. The Grand Master is a bit of a jerk, and a Spanish jerk at that, and the Holy Roman Emperor being Spanish as well, unseating the GM and putting an effective leader in charge is tricky, especially when the good candidates for that job are all either French or Scottish...

Really there's only one Scottish candidate, though, a man in whom our Lymond has definitely met his match. Sir Graham Reid Mallett, nicknamed Gabriel, is everything Lymond is but turned up a notch: a great big gorgeous blue-eyed blonde who is also a genius, a brilliant leader of men, a great strategist, fighter and tactician, but also a holy man, because like the more famous Templars, the Hospitallers are all warrior monks, in the service of God and the Roman Catholic Church, priests with swords. When he and Lymond meet up, the whole world seems fixed to change. Gabriel becomes obsessed with winning Lymond over for Jeebus and won't take no for an answer; Lymond, of course, is loyal only to Scotland and his family and finds religion profoundly unnecessary, if not actually detrimental to a well-lived life. But like I said, Gabriel won't take no for an answer, and soon insinuates himself into every possible aspect of Lymond's life as the duo and a small contingent of Hospitallers first fail to defend various tiny Mediterranean islands from the Turkish onslaught and then, for an encore, lose the famous stronghold city of Tripoli to the Turks. Oops.

Covered in glory like that, what can they do but return to Scotland, where Gabriel has stashed his drop-dead gorgeous sister, Joleta, whom he has already intimated is his ace in the hole (umm) as far as winning Lymond's soul for Christ is concerned, because of course Lymond will convert for the privilege of maybe getting to schtup her. Really, kind of a Lymond thing to hope to do, as Lymond has, more than once, proven that he's not above seducing the odd strategically important round-heeled woman to achieve his goals. Did I mention Lymond has met his match here? Except that now we find there are two of them!

Of course by about two thirds of the way through the novel, the reader discovers she's misread pretty much everything, because the only person better at deception and red herringry than Lymond is his creator, Ms. Dunnett. But when it's artistes like these, it's a pleasure so to be fooled.

Meanwhile, there is everything one would turn to some good historical fiction like this in order to enjoy: more amazing sword fights, sieges, battles of all sorts, border reivers and the Hot Trodd law (and lots of other weird Renaissance English/Scottish border law), sexual politics and oh, about the sexual politics...

I've not yet mentioned the women of The Disorderly Knights, apart from the sex bomb Joleta, who is really the least interesting figure in the book. Most of my old favorites are back and getting good page time, with Lymond's mother Sybilla stealing scenes as usual, but also of note are two others, who come to the fore in this novel after kind of making me yawn in The Game of Kings and Queens Play: Oonagh O'Dwyer -- former mistress of a would-be king of Ireland, who spent most of Queens Play trying to abet her man in his plots to conspire with the French and Scots to throw the English out of Ireland (we all know how well that worked), only to have an encounter with Lymond that looks to turn out to be way more important than it seemed at the time -- and Philippa Somerville, twelve or thirteen-year-old daughter of an English lord who was friendly with Lymond back in the day but who herself hates Lymond like poison and spends a lot of The Disorderly Knights just entertainingly gnashing her teeth at him until circumstances and her own sense of fair play cause her to woman up and kick about 20 kinds of ass all over northern England and southern Scotland and become my new favorite Dorothy Dunnett lady.*

So I find myself so eager to tear into the next book, Pawn in Frankincense, that I don't see any reason not to, even though lots of other good stuff beckons from my to-be-read pile. I was warned that this might happen.

*Though her presence reminds me that my other favorite bratty Dunnett tween, Lady Agnes, has disappeared completely from this narrative, and that makes me a little sad. Agnes does not hold a candle to Philippa in the awesomeness department, but she was terribly amusing in The Game of Kings and I miss her a lot.

[jkdavies · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

and so, the story arc which was hinted at in the last two books begins, with the introduction of Gabriel Mallett and Lymond's adventures in the Mediterranean, fighting alongside the knights of St John. Once these battles peter out, he comes home to Scotland and builds an army of officers and attempts to give the Borders some measure of peace so the country can prosper; but Gabriel has other ideas, and Lymond works to undermine him, pretending to be duped by him until a shocking finale at St Mary's. The bitter ending, after Gabriel has manoeuvred to kill another Scottish stalwart in St Giles cathedral comes as a blast of cold water, leaving you breathless for more.

[seriousgrace · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The year is now 1551. Francis Crawford of Lymond, the blond-haired, blue eyed rebel of Edinburgh Scotland has a new mission from the King of France: to come to the aid of the Knights Hospitallers of St. John in Malta as they battle the Turks to defend their island. It begins as a confusing battle, and as with all great stories in history, not everyone is who they first appear to be. There is a traitor among them. Who can it be? It's up to Francis to figure it out and in doing so discovers his worst enemy. On a personal note, in this installment of the Lymond Chronicles I was pleasantly surprised to see a more personal side to the dashing and devastatingly cruel Francis. This time Dunnett didn't have him constantly drinking to falling down drunk, and while I wasn't always agreeing with Lymond's actions, they shed light on the complexities of his personality.On another note, I was sad to lose key characters.

[herenya_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I listen to audiobooks as I’m doing other things, like driving or housework, but with this book there were several occasions when, having finished my tasks, I just sat in an armchair and kept listening, because I was so engrossed! This story is intense and compelling, and… wow. In the summer of 1551, Francis Crawford of Lymond is asked to come to Malta, where the knights in the Order of St John face a Turkish attack; later, in Scotland, Lymond is again involved with some of the knights as Lymond sets about establishing a company of mercenaries. I found the second half especially captivating, because for so many of the people Lymond knows in Scotland (and England), the reader is also acquainted with their families, friends and neighbours. This means I’m much more invested in their wellbeing and survival. In particular, I like seeing Philippa Somerville -- who was only ten during The Game of Kings -- take on a more active role in the story.I knew to expect Dunnett’s skill with twists and with tying a loosely-connected string of events into a tightly cohesive whole, but I was nevertheless impressed. Impressed and also left reeling -- because some developments are tragic and some revelations are devastating and just from the aftermath of all that tension. As a story, this is arguably darker than I usually prefer, but not, I found, darker than I could bear. I appreciate that certain horrifying or otherwise distasteful incidents occur largely off-screen, and that Dunnett is able to still convey their impact and make it clear that these things are not condoned. In case it needs saying, there is a lot in this book which I enjoyed. There are scenes which are not (or not just) tense or insightful, but very entertaining. The clever plotting, from both author and certain characters, is satisfying, and the nuanced portrayal of characters is fascinating -- there’s a noteworthy amount of perspicacity from both author and some of her characters. And even if the actions of a few cast long shadows, many of the characters are just plain likeable.She said baldly, “You’ve left St Mary’s to itself for three days. If you daren’t leave it any longer, after all the time you’ve devoted to it, then you must know you’ve failed.” Lymond said softly, “That is the only thing you may not say to me... Kate, superb Kate: I will not be mothered.”“Mothered!” Kate’s small, undistinguished face was black with annoyance. “I would sooner mother a vampire. I am merely trying to point out what your browbeaten theorists at St Mary’s ought surely to have mentioned in passing. Health is a weapon of war. Unless you obtain adequate rest, first your judgement will go, and then every other qualification you may have to command, and either way, the forces of light will have a field-day in the end.”

[leslie398 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This 3rd book is where this series really gets going, in my opinion. The writing style is a bit easier (or to put it more accurately, it has fewer quotes in foreign languages & less abtruse vocabulary). What it does have is plenty of excitement as Lymond becomes entangled with the Knights Hospitaller of St. John. In addition to the historical battle ongoing between the Knights (and Emperor Charles of the Holy Roman Empire) and "infidels" in the form of Suleiman's army, Lymond is involved with a personal struggle (which I can't really describe without spoilers).

[vallloyd · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

There is no point in giving a plot summary if you've reached this deep into the series your hooked and any summary would give away too much. It is nice to be back from France with our favorites from Kings.This is the most straight forward of the series. The pain Lymond endures is palpable, surpassed only by Pawn (#4). Knights also has the funniest scene in the series. My favorites vary each time I read the series but Disorderly Knights is always # 1 or 2.

[misfit_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Francis Crawford of Lymond is sent by the French King to the Island of Malta where the Knights Hospitallers are threatened by an invasion from the Turks. While there Francis is caught up in the politics of the Knights, in particular one Graham Malett who the reader will discover is not at all what he and his convent raised sister are what they appear to be on the surface. As Dunnett slowly peels back the layers of her story, the reader is taken from Malta to embattled Tripoli and then back again to Scotland as Francis intrigues to discover Graham's hidden agendas. To say much more would give away the whole plot, but be prepared for some memorable moments that will stick with you for long after the book is finished. The scene with the sheep (LOL), the nail biting suspense in Tripoli as they try to defuse the flame before Tripoli is blown to bits and of course the final climax during the sword fight between Lymond and his greatest enemy. Throughout, 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. This is a complicated tale, and one that a reader has to pay close attention to, if you let your mind wander you may have to back track occasionally as I did. Dunnett is also very subtle (sometimes too much so!) and you do have to wait until the very end when all is revealed during a heart stopping sword fight in an Edinburgh cathedral, and a big surprise for Francis that will have you scrambling for the next book in the series, Pawn in Frankincense: Fourth in the Legendary Lymond Chronicles.

[robrobriver · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book has one of my favorite opening lines of all time: "On the day that his grannie was killed by the English, Sir William Scott the Younger of Buccleuch was at Melrose Abbey, marrying his aunt." If by the time you have read the first page you are not hooked, you are not a lover of derring-do.This was the first Dorothy Dunnett I read, forty years ago. I loved her ornate, glittering prose, then and now. These are not easy books; she seems to delight in misleading the reader. It really helps if you love British history -- and perhaps if you are part Scot. Though this is the third in the Lymond series, it can be read on its own. It roars from Scotland to Malta and back again, picking up steam and characters along the way. When you have read the series, it's fun to watch for its influence upon later writers, especially in the romance, fantasy, and SF genres; but it's never been done better.