Flight of the Heron read-along: Part I chapters 1-2

[regshoe]

Hark! now the drums they beat again for all good soldiers, gentlemen...

Welcome back to the Flight of the Heron read-along! This week we read the first two proper chapters, and meet Keith Windham—and Keith meets Ewen Cameron.

As you'll have noticed, Broster is fond of including both Gaelic and Scots words in dialogue; this online Gaelic-English dictionary and this one for Scots may be of use if you'd like to look anything up.

Next week we will continue with chapters 3 and 4.

Comments

[sanguinity]

Well, that is a satisfyingly romantic and slashy beginning! Do tell us one more time, Keith, how splendidly made Ewen is! Make him clash swords with you! Swoon against the tree! He'll take you home and bind your hurts indeed. Ewen is a splendidly-made barbarian who knows French and Latin and has excellent manners -- can a mortal man be any more alluring??

Are we eventually told who the narrator is? I was very startled by the line suggesting that the (apparently omniscient) narrator is actually one of the Highlanders?

[regshoe]

:D :D :D and very much agree with your entire first paragraph! This book just may be a little bit of a perfect gift for slash fandom...

No, the narrator is just an omniscient narrator throughout—what was the line you mean?

[sanguinity]

Some leader called ‘Keppoch’, Captain Windham heard, had then called on the Royals to surrender, or they would be cut to pieces, and to save his men Captain Scott had done so. Immediately on this had come up Ewen Cameron’s chief, Lochiel (who had been asked for assistance), with a number of his clan, including the present narrator, had taken charge of the prisoners, and marched them off to his house of Achnacarry.

I realize now that "the present narrator" was possibly meant to be Ewen? None of that is quoted speech, so I took "the present narrator" to be the omniscient narrator.

[regshoe]

Ah, I see—yeah, I think the 'narrator' here does mean Ewen, because this is all a summary of what Ewen is telling Keith.

[dr_zook]

Haha, I swear I had to howl a few times for all the obvious pining. There is no heterosexual explaination for this and I love it!! :D

[regshoe]

Hehehe, I'm glad to see so much appreciation for this—it is a very good book for slash fandom :D

[dr_zook]

I'm not gonna lie: I'm here for the groundwork, to be able to appreciate all the slashy fic. XD

[impala_chick]

Yesssss. Keith really did go into detail about Ewen's attributes *g* I loved the image of them talking in that study while Keith is healing at the end of ch2.