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penandtome
Posted July 24, 2011
The price of Scotland's freedom from the King of England is paid for with blood, sweat and tears of those willing to sacrifice everything for love of country. *** This is a fast paced adventure story that tells the struggle of those willing to fight to free Scotland from the rule of the King of England in the 13th century. Andrew de Moray is forced to fight for his life and country after he and other key players in the Scottish royalty and military are killed or taken prisoner fighting the English army. Caitrina, who ends up marrying Moray, provides a tender and humanizing balance to the violence of war. This fast paced tale includes descriptions and depth of character that make the readers believe that they are witnessing history as it is happening. Author J.R. Tomlin researched culture, locations, language and participants to accurately portray events in this well written historical docudrama. The inclusion of strong male and female characters allowed the author to present the struggle for freedom and the personal toll that war in the middle ages had on Scotland's population.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.KerylRaist
Posted July 9, 2011
I like historical fiction. I like military history. I like Scotland. So I was pretty sure I'd like Freedom's Sword, and as I turned off my kindle after reading the last word, I sat back, relaxed, and enjoyed my visit to the first Scottish War of Independence.
As the tale opens we meet Andrew Moray, a new knight about to start his first battle. It goes horribly, he's taken captive, and after months in an English dungeon and a breath-taking escape, he returns to Scotland with a burning need to reconquer his homeland. From there he rounds up a force of like minded men and retakes northern Scotland from the English.
It's a good story. I read most of it over the July 4th weekend, so a tale of booting out the English seemed especially resonant. Battle scenes are vibrant but not overblown. Details of place are deep enough to give an image of what is happening, but not so dense that you need to hack through them with a machete to find the plot. The history is well researched and alive. It's what moves the story along as opposed to being scenery.
If I wanted anything from Freedom's Sword, it was more history. I'm well versed on medieval history, weaponry, and tactics, so I was following along pretty well, but a bit more on how Edward I ended up in charge, why they were rebelling against him, how things were different under Toom Tabard, why Robert the Bruce was a natural claimant to the throne, and how the Scottish political system worked would have been useful. With Tomlin's obvious love of the subject and deft writing, I would have been well pleased by another fifty pages of background.
There was one jarring aspect of Freedom's Sword. For some reason it suddenly shifts POV to Caitrina, Andrew's Lady. And while I thought more or less everything involving Andrew was interesting, I rapidly lost interest when the story shifted to Caitrina. It's not that her story was badly written, nor was it boring per se; it just didn't have a lot to do with the rest of the plot. There's nothing that happens from Caitrina's POV that couldn't be dealt with in a few lines of dialog. There's nothing added by hopping to her head. She's so tangentially related to the plot that at one point 27 chapters go by without her. It almost feels like there was a plan to do a secondary story line of life on the home front, but somehow it didn't make it into the final story. Personally I would have liked to have seen that sort of a storyline. I think Tomlin could have done many fine things with it, but that will have to remain in the wish stage.
Beyond that my only other complaint was the lack of idea of when thing happen. We get one date stamp in the beginning of the tale and another at the very end. Some in between would have made it easier to keep track of what was going on.
All in all I enjoyed Freedom's Sword quiet a bit, and look forward to seeing what else Tomlin will come up with.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.d155890
Posted June 6, 2011
This is the first of two books that a thoroughly enjoyed reading. I had never read anything on the subject of Scotland before. But would love to read more be this author. Highly reommend to any age group.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This focuses on the life of the Andrew de Moray between the battle of Dunbar and the battle of Stirling Bridge. After escaping from being held captive in an English castle, Moray returns home to start driving the English out of Scotland. He works with William Wallace, to win some key battles. This novel gives a good brief look at a Scottish hero who largely is overshadowed by Wallace in history. Its a quick and easy read and while the battle scenes are descriptive, they aren't graphic. It is dominated by Moray's imprisonment, escape, training his troops and battle, and it would have been if the brief scenes of his domestic life were expanded, or if there were more of them to balance out his military life. Caitrina is a fun character, with a bit of rebelliousness that will appeal to the modern reader, but its not done in a modern way. Caitrina's rebelliousness fits in well with her place in the world, and the medieval time period of the novel. I just wish the novel was a bit longer.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I enjoyed this story of the Scottish early rebellion. It seems to be historically correct which I like, even if the story is a fictionalized account. I actually thought this book could have gone a bit further into depth of the characters, but that may take away from its historical roots.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.jeanneMarieJW
Posted November 27, 2012
The first revolt for freedom by the Scots after losing most of Scotland to Edward I of England was led by Andrew de Morey in 1297. At that time the English king was robbing the Scots of all their farm produce and their wool as well as paying heavy taxes to finance his French wars. Castle by castle the Scots regained castles held by the English. William Wallace,The Bruce and other lords joined in this struggle to throw off the English yoke. The book ends at the Battle of Sterling Bridge on September 11, 1297.
This book is not for the squeamish or faint of heart. It would not be a good book for a club discussion.
I would love to read more on Scot's history written by this author.
J.R. Tomlin's love for this time period shows as she writes yet another wonderful tale of the fight between Scotland and England. In this book which I am sure is a prequel to "A Kingdom's Cost," her hero is Andrew d Moray, who had pledged his loyalty to Scotland's current King John. In this story you meet James Douglas' father and begin to understand what took place before William Wallace was captured.
Tomlin has created a fast paced, well -written read that any historical fiction lover will enjoy.
-Kitty Bullard / Great Minds Think Aloud Book Club
Anonymous
Posted November 27, 2012
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Posted October 26, 2012
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Posted December 10, 2011
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