Synopsis
"Are you there--the man they are hunting? Can you hear me? If you can, come quickly to the river, and I will save you." Sixteen-year-old Martin Crawford succeeds in rescuing this fugitive--only to be surprised that the hunted man is none other than Robert the Bruce, rightful King of Scots. Hoping to lead a quiet life, Martin instead is asked by the king to commit himself to the war the Bruce is fighting to regain Scotland's freedom from the brutal rule imposed on it by the English. The rebel campaign gathers bloody momentum. Martin impresses the Bruce with his resourcefulness and valor, and also learns the elements of espionage. He is proud then to be chosen as the king's swift rider--a vital link in the freedom army's scattered forces. And such is his daring and boldness in this dangerous position that the Bruce later appoints Martin the king's master of espionage. Daily now, Martin must risk his life as he secretly gathers the information that will advance the rebel cause--and enable the Bruce to fight the climatic battle of Bannockburn. Defeat there will leave the Scots forever slaves. Victory will mean that longed-for-freedom. Based on real events in Scotland's thirty-year War of Independence, The King's Swift Rider is a gripping tale of adventure into which Mollie Hunter weaves her own tribute in history, Robert the Bruce. Unblinkingly, she tells of the terrible bloodshed of that war, yet still makes her story's keynote one of courage, honor, and a people's determination to achieve freedom. "Martin." the king told me, "I need a courier."A courier? I stopped, wondering if this was a word from the French language spoken by the nobility."A swift rider," he explained. "One who carries messages--in this case, messages of great importance."The king's swift rider...I liked this name, liked the ringing sound of it. "If you trust me to act as such, Sire," I told him, "I am waiting."
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About the Author
Hailed as Scotland's most gifted storyteller and currently living in Inverness, Mollie Hunter has drawn many award-winning novels from her country's history. They include You Never Knew Her As I Did, a riveting tale about Mary, Queen of Scots, and her Carnegie Medal winner, The Stronghold. A Sound Of Chariots, her autobiographical novel, won the 1991 Phoenix Award from the Children's Literature Association.
From School Library Journal
Grade 7 Up-Opening with a suspenseful chase scene reminiscent of Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped, Hunter plunges into the difficult task of bringing to life a hero of even earlier Scots history, Robert the Bruce. She tells his story from the point of view of the bookish and pacifistic Martin Crawford. Moved first by sympathy to distract the armed men pursuing a fleeing stranger and then by duty to join his king's war to free Scotland from English rule, Martin comes to admire the Bruce's ingenuity as a strategist as well as his religious piety. Over seven years, the young man and his brother follow the Bruce's forces all over Scotland as he consolidates his support before the final confrontation with England's King Edward. In the course of his service, Martin continues to refuse to lift a weapon but rises from king's page to swift rider, spy, and leader of a sham troop of banner carriers whose appearance at the turning point of a battle caused the final English retreat at Bannockburn and his brother, finally, to see him as a "soldier" in his own way. Late 20th-century readers might have difficulty understanding Martin's religious ambitions, and some may be turned off by the somewhat uneven pace. However, Hunter is a fine descriptive writer, giving a good sense of the battles and the period. She has, once again, provided a powerful sense of a very different place and time.
Kathleen Isaacs, Edmund Burke School, Washington, DC
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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