King Hereafter

In Dorothy Dunnett fashion, in this story of Macbeth, King of Alba, Macbeth is a nearly invincible hero. From his youth, he holds his own through all sorts of daunting challenges to his life and position (Earl of Orkney and then King of Alba) by a combination of intelligence and daring which no one seems to expect of him. The one heroic characteristic he does not possess is good looks, which makes him a kind of romantic hero. He is called “tall as a ship's mast,” ungainly, with crow-black hair, a beaked nose, and a uni-brow. He rarely smiles, so people have trouble reading him. In spite of all that, he inspires intense love in some of the people who come to know him (and some of them have an odd way of showing it).

This book is enjoyable for its characters and its sense of the mixture of Norse, Celtic and Saxon cultures that were maneuvering around for power in England, Scotland, Norway and Denmark in the 11th century. However, it is difficult to keep straight all the characters and the significance of the moves they make. Dorothy Dunnett tends to imply rather than tell, and to rely on her readers to catch on to the far reaching consequences of a single character's death or marriage to one woman rather than another. There are maps and genealogical charts to help the reader along, but I had to be OK with the fact that I couldn't follow the fine points of the politics of the story.

Luckily, there is enough to enjoy without following every political twist and turn. The character of Lulach is especially intriguing, and there are a couple of really delightful bishops.