secondary sources. In addition to their original characters, the novels feature a large number of historical figures, often in important roles. The historical setting is the incessant jockeying for power through treaties, alliances of convenience, political marriages, wars, and even piracy, among the English Tudors, the Holy Roman Empire of the Habsburgs, the French Valois, the Ottoman Empire of Suleiman the Magnificent, and their respective secular and religious allies, including the Stewarts of Scotland, the Knights of St. John, the corsairs of North Africa, and Tsar Ivan the Terrible of Russia. Each of the six books has several locations with the exception of the first, The Game of Kings, which takes place almost exclusively in the Scottish Lowlands and the borders with England. The novels examine the politics and culture of each court and its nobility as monarchies centralized their power; the intensifying controversies over the Reformation; implications of the Age of Discovery for political and economic power and knowledge; and the blurred boundaries between faith and reason in religion, esoterica such as alchemy and astrology, and science. In addition, the large number of women in positions of political power during this period (as rulers in their own name, as regents, as strong wives or mistresses of kings, or as heirs to thrones) affords an exploration of women's roles. Structure The six books, collectively, form a single story, told in chronological order though the first two books can be read as self-contained novels. The endings of the third and fifth novels do not resolve their stories but lead directly to the story taken up in their respective sequels. Relationship to other works by Dunnett Dunnett viewed these works as part of a larger fourteen-volume work, with The House of Niccolò series forming the other part. The other books, written afterwards, tell of Lymond's ancestors in the previous century and allude to events in the Lymond Chronicles. Dunnett recommended readers begin with the Lymond Chronicles and then read The House of Niccolò. As with the Lymond Chronicles, The House of Niccolò features a number of historical figures as important characters. Both the historical and fictional characters are taken from a wider variety of occupations and social classes than in the Lymond Chronicles. There are significant differences in narrative approach and writing style between the series, reflecting the different journey taken by the central character in each. The Game of Kings (1961)