Point of View

Dorothy Dunnett's "The Game of Kings" is written from the third person point of view. None of the characters speak directly to the reader; instead they are spoken about and pronouns are heavily used. This form of writing leaves the reader less emotionally attached to the characters. However, because there are so many characters in this book, I don't think that it could have effectively been written any other way. The author's purpose in writing the Lymond Chronicles, and in particular the first book, The Game of Kings, was to write a fictional account of a heroic character. By using the third person point of view Dorothy Dunnett is able to create multiple layers of the characters' personalities. This occurs not just through events in the book, but also through how each character reports their perspective. For example, how Mariotta discusses with Sybilla her feelings towards...