An excellent collection of camels, as studied in 1670 by Pieter Boel of Antwerp & Paris. Today is his day.
January 25, 2026 at 6:40 AM
This engraving shows the luckenbooths that used to surround St Giles - first illustration of them I can remember seeing despite living in the city most of my life. Readers of period fiction including #Dunnett often find them hard to visualise.
Ahead of #BurnsNight, we focus on #RobertBurns’ publisher, William Creech.
Largely forgotten today, Creech was well known in late 1700s Edinburgh society. He was Lord Provost, a member of Edinburgh’s literati, and a Luckenbooth shopkeeper.
Read about his life on Our Town Stories - zurl.co/zciE6
Largely forgotten today, Creech was well known in late 1700s Edinburgh society. He was Lord Provost, a member of Edinburgh’s literati, and a Luckenbooth shopkeeper.
Read about his life on Our Town Stories - zurl.co/zciE6
January 24, 2026 at 10:11 PM
This engraving shows the luckenbooths that used to surround St Giles - first illustration of them I can remember seeing despite living in the city most of my life. Readers of period fiction including #Dunnett often find them hard to visualise.
Another thrown knife that saves the day.
It makes me wonder how many knives would be found if folks in Lymond's vicinity were patted down.
#Dunnett The Game of Kings
It makes me wonder how many knives would be found if folks in Lymond's vicinity were patted down.
#Dunnett The Game of Kings
January 21, 2026 at 4:39 AM
Another thrown knife that saves the day.
It makes me wonder how many knives would be found if folks in Lymond's vicinity were patted down.
#Dunnett The Game of Kings
It makes me wonder how many knives would be found if folks in Lymond's vicinity were patted down.
#Dunnett The Game of Kings
Remember how much fun cullies could have with 12 crowns and a mere groat per trull session?
Lymond has a price of 1000 crowns on his head from just one unfriend.
Puts a 5 pound (20 crowns) bounty for a nobody in @rywilwrite.bsky.social 's writing in perspective.
#Dunnett The Game of Kings.
Lymond has a price of 1000 crowns on his head from just one unfriend.
Puts a 5 pound (20 crowns) bounty for a nobody in @rywilwrite.bsky.social 's writing in perspective.
#Dunnett The Game of Kings.
January 21, 2026 at 4:32 AM
Remember how much fun cullies could have with 12 crowns and a mere groat per trull session?
Lymond has a price of 1000 crowns on his head from just one unfriend.
Puts a 5 pound (20 crowns) bounty for a nobody in @rywilwrite.bsky.social 's writing in perspective.
#Dunnett The Game of Kings.
Lymond has a price of 1000 crowns on his head from just one unfriend.
Puts a 5 pound (20 crowns) bounty for a nobody in @rywilwrite.bsky.social 's writing in perspective.
#Dunnett The Game of Kings.
Can well believe it.
I was given a 'proxy vocabulary test' in university (pick the correct definitions of obscure words from multiple-choice options, score used to estimate total vocabulary.)
Mine came out at '>100,000', for which Lady Dunnett was entitled to a significant portion of the credit.
I was given a 'proxy vocabulary test' in university (pick the correct definitions of obscure words from multiple-choice options, score used to estimate total vocabulary.)
Mine came out at '>100,000', for which Lady Dunnett was entitled to a significant portion of the credit.
January 20, 2026 at 10:01 PM
Can well believe it.
I was given a 'proxy vocabulary test' in university (pick the correct definitions of obscure words from multiple-choice options, score used to estimate total vocabulary.)
Mine came out at '>100,000', for which Lady Dunnett was entitled to a significant portion of the credit.
I was given a 'proxy vocabulary test' in university (pick the correct definitions of obscure words from multiple-choice options, score used to estimate total vocabulary.)
Mine came out at '>100,000', for which Lady Dunnett was entitled to a significant portion of the credit.
The quarterly magazine of the Dorothy Dunnett Society runs a feature called A Dunnett Lexicon in most editions which looks at at least 3 words she's used that usually don't appear in normal dictionaries. It's been running for years and shows no sign of running out of material.
January 20, 2026 at 9:39 PM
The quarterly magazine of the Dorothy Dunnett Society runs a feature called A Dunnett Lexicon in most editions which looks at at least 3 words she's used that usually don't appear in normal dictionaries. It's been running for years and shows no sign of running out of material.
Was prompted to take your journey of dictionary discovery a good many years ago, at the instigation of Dorothy Dunnett, after one of her characters suffered an assault:
'The world vanished in a bloody mist, reappeared inspissate with pain, disappeared.'
'The world vanished in a bloody mist, reappeared inspissate with pain, disappeared.'
January 20, 2026 at 8:26 PM
Was prompted to take your journey of dictionary discovery a good many years ago, at the instigation of Dorothy Dunnett, after one of her characters suffered an assault:
'The world vanished in a bloody mist, reappeared inspissate with pain, disappeared.'
'The world vanished in a bloody mist, reappeared inspissate with pain, disappeared.'
"Oh, no, he won't," said Lymond confidently. "He's going to be a naughty, naughty rogue like you and me"
#Dunnett The Game of Kings
In parallel reading, Born in Battle by @rywilwrite.bsky.social the 12 year olds and up have been drafted to protect the intel squads who are not allowed to shed blood
#Dunnett The Game of Kings
In parallel reading, Born in Battle by @rywilwrite.bsky.social the 12 year olds and up have been drafted to protect the intel squads who are not allowed to shed blood
January 20, 2026 at 1:02 AM
"Oh, no, he won't," said Lymond confidently. "He's going to be a naughty, naughty rogue like you and me"
#Dunnett The Game of Kings
In parallel reading, Born in Battle by @rywilwrite.bsky.social the 12 year olds and up have been drafted to protect the intel squads who are not allowed to shed blood
#Dunnett The Game of Kings
In parallel reading, Born in Battle by @rywilwrite.bsky.social the 12 year olds and up have been drafted to protect the intel squads who are not allowed to shed blood
Parallel read
#Dunnett The Game of Kings
Redhead: I'll do anything
Master: Kill the man by the cook pot.
Arrow flies with no hesitation.
@rywilwrite.bsky.social Born in Battle
Epasotl: I could make a corpse tell the truth.
Bennett creates a corpse out of the prisoner, just executing on mission.
#Dunnett The Game of Kings
Redhead: I'll do anything
Master: Kill the man by the cook pot.
Arrow flies with no hesitation.
@rywilwrite.bsky.social Born in Battle
Epasotl: I could make a corpse tell the truth.
Bennett creates a corpse out of the prisoner, just executing on mission.
January 20, 2026 at 12:30 AM
Parallel read
#Dunnett The Game of Kings
Redhead: I'll do anything
Master: Kill the man by the cook pot.
Arrow flies with no hesitation.
@rywilwrite.bsky.social Born in Battle
Epasotl: I could make a corpse tell the truth.
Bennett creates a corpse out of the prisoner, just executing on mission.
#Dunnett The Game of Kings
Redhead: I'll do anything
Master: Kill the man by the cook pot.
Arrow flies with no hesitation.
@rywilwrite.bsky.social Born in Battle
Epasotl: I could make a corpse tell the truth.
Bennett creates a corpse out of the prisoner, just executing on mission.
"And Attila and Torquemada and Nero and the man who invented the boot. The only thing they had in common was a cherubic adolescence. And red hair, of course makes it worse."
Gotta watch those soul-stealing gingers, right, @rywilwrite.bsky.social ?
#Dunnett The Game of Kings
Gotta watch those soul-stealing gingers, right, @rywilwrite.bsky.social ?
#Dunnett The Game of Kings
January 19, 2026 at 11:33 PM
"And Attila and Torquemada and Nero and the man who invented the boot. The only thing they had in common was a cherubic adolescence. And red hair, of course makes it worse."
Gotta watch those soul-stealing gingers, right, @rywilwrite.bsky.social ?
#Dunnett The Game of Kings
Gotta watch those soul-stealing gingers, right, @rywilwrite.bsky.social ?
#Dunnett The Game of Kings
I went down the rabbit hole of how many groats in 12 crowns.
Why? Because I'm trying to get a handle on how many of @rywilwrite.bsky.social 's cullies would be having a happy afternoon on #Dunnett 's 12 crowns charged for supplies.
Party hearty at 15 groats/crown and 1 groat/tumble with a trull.
Why? Because I'm trying to get a handle on how many of @rywilwrite.bsky.social 's cullies would be having a happy afternoon on #Dunnett 's 12 crowns charged for supplies.
Party hearty at 15 groats/crown and 1 groat/tumble with a trull.
January 19, 2026 at 11:21 PM
I went down the rabbit hole of how many groats in 12 crowns.
Why? Because I'm trying to get a handle on how many of @rywilwrite.bsky.social 's cullies would be having a happy afternoon on #Dunnett 's 12 crowns charged for supplies.
Party hearty at 15 groats/crown and 1 groat/tumble with a trull.
Why? Because I'm trying to get a handle on how many of @rywilwrite.bsky.social 's cullies would be having a happy afternoon on #Dunnett 's 12 crowns charged for supplies.
Party hearty at 15 groats/crown and 1 groat/tumble with a trull.
Started reading #Dunnett 's The Game of Kings
Favorite lines so far:
"You are not being badgered; you're being invaded"
"If you wish, you may run ahead screaming"
"we shall have a little drama"
What a way to meet your sister-in-law after being disinherited and exiled years ago. Such fun!
Favorite lines so far:
"You are not being badgered; you're being invaded"
"If you wish, you may run ahead screaming"
"we shall have a little drama"
What a way to meet your sister-in-law after being disinherited and exiled years ago. Such fun!
January 19, 2026 at 9:49 PM
Started reading #Dunnett 's The Game of Kings
Favorite lines so far:
"You are not being badgered; you're being invaded"
"If you wish, you may run ahead screaming"
"we shall have a little drama"
What a way to meet your sister-in-law after being disinherited and exiled years ago. Such fun!
Favorite lines so far:
"You are not being badgered; you're being invaded"
"If you wish, you may run ahead screaming"
"we shall have a little drama"
What a way to meet your sister-in-law after being disinherited and exiled years ago. Such fun!
I'd love to introduce Dorothy Dunnett to Mary Queen of Scots, and hear the latter's answer as to what exactly she thought she was doing...!
January 19, 2026 at 7:33 PM
I'd love to introduce Dorothy Dunnett to Mary Queen of Scots, and hear the latter's answer as to what exactly she thought she was doing...!
All good picks. A very tough choice though. I'd invite Bowie along with Akhenaten, Elizabeth I, Gerard Manley Hopkins and Dorothy Dunnett.
January 19, 2026 at 10:12 AM
All good picks. A very tough choice though. I'd invite Bowie along with Akhenaten, Elizabeth I, Gerard Manley Hopkins and Dorothy Dunnett.
#Dunnett or #Dunnettcontent will do fine, but the feed will also pick up any mention of Dunnett or Lymond so we'll see it.
January 18, 2026 at 6:33 PM
#Dunnett or #Dunnettcontent will do fine, but the feed will also pick up any mention of Dunnett or Lymond so we'll see it.
I liked The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring but after that I tired of his “Look! I found and translated an ancient manuscript” style of writing (which iirc was when he wrote about Aragorn).
I always skipped the elf ballads.
It’s ok to skip all the foreign language quotes in Dunnett.
I always skipped the elf ballads.
It’s ok to skip all the foreign language quotes in Dunnett.
January 18, 2026 at 4:57 PM
I liked The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring but after that I tired of his “Look! I found and translated an ancient manuscript” style of writing (which iirc was when he wrote about Aragorn).
I always skipped the elf ballads.
It’s ok to skip all the foreign language quotes in Dunnett.
I always skipped the elf ballads.
It’s ok to skip all the foreign language quotes in Dunnett.
That article is humorous to me.
I'm currently reading Tolkien and hating every minute, despite Tolkien inspiring many of the authors I love.
I'm reading Dorothy Dunnett and loving her writing despite not liking most of the authors mentioned in that NPR piece and never previously hearing of Dunnett
I'm currently reading Tolkien and hating every minute, despite Tolkien inspiring many of the authors I love.
I'm reading Dorothy Dunnett and loving her writing despite not liking most of the authors mentioned in that NPR piece and never previously hearing of Dunnett
January 18, 2026 at 1:26 PM
That article is humorous to me.
I'm currently reading Tolkien and hating every minute, despite Tolkien inspiring many of the authors I love.
I'm reading Dorothy Dunnett and loving her writing despite not liking most of the authors mentioned in that NPR piece and never previously hearing of Dunnett
I'm currently reading Tolkien and hating every minute, despite Tolkien inspiring many of the authors I love.
I'm reading Dorothy Dunnett and loving her writing despite not liking most of the authors mentioned in that NPR piece and never previously hearing of Dunnett
Thanks for the recommendation!
I love @rywilwrite.bsky.social writing and if Dorothy Dunnett is like that, then I'm in.
I love @rywilwrite.bsky.social writing and if Dorothy Dunnett is like that, then I'm in.
January 17, 2026 at 2:53 PM
Thanks for the recommendation!
I love @rywilwrite.bsky.social writing and if Dorothy Dunnett is like that, then I'm in.
I love @rywilwrite.bsky.social writing and if Dorothy Dunnett is like that, then I'm in.
After analyzing my work, AI declared Dorothy Dunnett my greatest literary influence. The conclusion was technically accurate about what my prose does, except I’ve never read her. I didn’t even know who she was.
I’ve Never Read Dorothy Dunnett
When AI analyzed my fiction and identified Dorothy Dunnett as my greatest influence, it was technically accurate about my techniques—banter-as-intimacy, intelligence-as-action, characters masking d…
theannex.blog
January 17, 2026 at 6:47 AM
After analyzing my work, AI declared Dorothy Dunnett my greatest literary influence. The conclusion was technically accurate about what my prose does, except I’ve never read her. I didn’t even know who she was.
Thoughts: Dunnett, of course, was a standout even if I felt very “wtf just happened” upon finishing that one. Also loved Queen Demon, and Lemming’s books were all a hoot.
Glad I read Newitz’s and Beagle’s, and I do rec them. “Brat” was my favorite of Murray’s, I’m still thinking about it.
Glad I read Newitz’s and Beagle’s, and I do rec them. “Brat” was my favorite of Murray’s, I’m still thinking about it.
January 17, 2026 at 2:29 AM
Thoughts: Dunnett, of course, was a standout even if I felt very “wtf just happened” upon finishing that one. Also loved Queen Demon, and Lemming’s books were all a hoot.
Glad I read Newitz’s and Beagle’s, and I do rec them. “Brat” was my favorite of Murray’s, I’m still thinking about it.
Glad I read Newitz’s and Beagle’s, and I do rec them. “Brat” was my favorite of Murray’s, I’m still thinking about it.
Okay I started this project last year and it bothers me to leave it unfinished so, here are the books I read in November, post 1 of 3:
January 17, 2026 at 2:21 AM
Okay I started this project last year and it bothers me to leave it unfinished so, here are the books I read in November, post 1 of 3:
The Lymond Chronicles (series of six books), by Dorothy Dunnett
January 16, 2026 at 9:21 AM
The Lymond Chronicles (series of six books), by Dorothy Dunnett
i’m re-listening to all the Dorothy Dunnett Lymond series. Last year I did the house of Niccolo both series are seven books. They are very involved and they are so fun.
January 16, 2026 at 3:11 AM
i’m re-listening to all the Dorothy Dunnett Lymond series. Last year I did the house of Niccolo both series are seven books. They are very involved and they are so fun.