Book Review - Noble Traitor

Noble Traitor by J.R. Tomlin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Bells tolled a joyous clamor. Today he would become a knight, and everything around him was so bright it made his eyes burn.

"Noble Traitor" is a tale about Thomas and his inward yearning to become a noble knight. He is the nephew of the future King of Scotland, Robert the Bruce, and a devoted squire to Lord Gordon. Indeed, he has all the makings to become a great knight, except one thing is holding him back- his divided loyalties. Caught between the never-ending war between England and Scotland, and living in a time of tumultuous battles across the land, it is up to Thomas to figure out where his true loyalties lie.

I have a strong interest in Scottish history and their clans. As a fan of the film "Braveheart" and the life of William Wallace, I was pretty excited to read "Noble Traitor." The author has a talent for writing historically accurate books, frequently using terminology and language that is attributed to that time period. The dialogue is heavily laced with the Scots language and phrases commonly used in the Highlands. The manner of speech is used by the high and low, and it gave me immense pleasure to see even Bruce using it when addressing his young nephew, Thomas. Bruce's kind words of "I always saw the makings of a braw knight in you," must have greatly pleased the young lad.

Although this story was exceptionally well-written and historically accurate, I did experience some trouble getting into the novel. I believe it was my inability to emphasize with Thomas, or at least vividly pin-point him. He was as vague as ever, and it was only Robert the Bruce that I could see quite vividly in my mind's eye. Most of the characters in the story were somewhat shadowy too, but the epic battle scenes and courtly entertainment made up for it.

If you are a fan of Scottish history or medieval battles, I firmly believe this is the book for you.

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