I finally finished the historical fiction novel, A Kingdom’s Cost by J.R. Tomlin. It took me a few months because the language at first needed a little getting used. It could be that Scottish English is still spoken this way, but I had to wrap my head around all the “mayhaps” and other language phenomenon that I found.

Overall this was a great story and J.R. Tomlin has a gift for descriptive language that makes you feel like you’re sitting behind a tree in the Scottish forest observing the action first-hand. Below is my review.

James Douglas of Douglasdale has been shipped to France to hide from the English King after his father, a Scottish Lord, is captured and starved to death in an English prison. He is young, mayhaps 15 or 16, but he is ready to head home after he learns of his father’s fate in order to take possession of his rightful inheritance which has been given to an English Lord.

James returns to a world that is upside down. The alliances between the rebel Scottish and those loyal to the English keep shifting, friends are executed in hateful ways and conversations are only done in secret. He finds refuge as a page for Bishop William de Lamberton, a clergy who is sympathetic to the Scottish cause.

About the age of 18 or so, James finds himself in the service of the self-elected Scottish King, Sir Robert de Bruce. James becomes a Knight loyal to Bruce and travels throughout Scottland winning and losing small victories in an effort to restore Bruce to the throne.

Eventually, this leads him back to Douglasdale where he attempts to take ownership of his father’s land and leads the men in his village to rebel against the English as well. His townspeople end up providing necessary intel to James and Bruce in times of need.

The very end of the book is left with a huge cliffhanger. The English King had died and his son is set to succeed him on the throne. Will the Prince have the same iron hand as his father, or will he give up this campaign to attempt to occupy Scottland once and for all.

The characters in this story are factual along with their actions. Relationships are also confirmed by the author through historical record. J.R. Tomlin simply attempts to tell the story from one perspective, that of Lord James. (although one chapter is told from the perspective of Bishop Lamberton, which seemed a little strange to me.) But more than a historical record of the Scottish Wars of Independence, this is the story of Lord James Douglas and how he grew from a thieving, homeless boy in France, into the notorious Black Douglas, Lord of Douglasdale.

This story could stand alone if you weren’t anxious to learn how the Prince will end up treating the Scottish. As for me, I’m already downloading the next book, Countenance of War.

How much do you know about the Wars of Independence of Scotland? Do you think you would like to learn about it through historical fiction like J.R. Tomlin writes?