Not what I was expecting, 16 Oct 2008
Although this book sounded very interesting I couldn't help but feel disappointed after finishing it.

The blurb suggested that the book was an account of Gideon's encounter with the Devil and the events that followed afterward. It promised to be dark, quirky and bizarre, but there was not enough quirkiness to my taste.
In the prologue of the book a summary of the last months of Gideon's life is given by a publisher who has received Gideon's written account of his life, his testament. The tone is humorous and it completely engages you, warming up to the story to come.
But then Gideon Mack takes over, and it sort of falls apart. In a not very engaging tone Gideon Mack starts telling his life story, starting with his bleak childhood, growing up under the tyrannical rule of his father, also a minister, and his almost invisible mother. Gideon's account is very detached, almost devoid of emotion as if he's a machine, and that makes it hard to sympathize with him.
I found the latter half of the book more enjoyable because of its build-up to Gideon's fall in the gorge and the events that followed, but when the encounter with the devil finally took place, it was an anticlimax and did not live up to the dark expectations I had.
Also, throughout the book questions arose regarding Gideon's behaviour for which no explanation was given, such as his reaction to the mysterious stone, and the fact that he starts withdrawing into seclusion, often not answering telephones or doors.
It all becomes even more of a mystery in the epilogue, where new questions arise when the people in Gideon's life share their view of the minister's behaviour. Instead of shedding some light on the matter the mystery only deepens, and that left me unsatisfied and disappointed.
I also had a hard time dealing with the leaps through time. The story contains so many flashbacks that at different points in the story I lost track of where we were.
All in all I guess I was expecting something different, and that may be the cause that I did not enjoy this book very much. I'll probably give it another go sometime, and maybe then I will enjoy it and understand it better.


Funny, thoughtful and easy read..., 10 Aug 2008
Probably one of the easiest books I've ever read, funny, thoughtful with an air of mystery. Not a Booker prize by any stretch of the imagination but if you want to have a good interesting yarn, with strong characters, and narrative - wrapped up with a little bit of religious philosophy and domestic wisdom, it hits the spot. More of a book between books if you know what i mean but a very enjoyable one at that..

Not so much infernal fantasy, more the story of a life, 08 Aug 2008
I approached this book rather warily, thinking there might be too many cloven hooves and forked tails. However, the initial fantastic scenario draws in the reader, but then the interest is retained as we follow Gideon through his rather narrow life - ordinary, except that the men and women who train as Church of Scotland ministers are now few and far between.

The female characters are somewhat one-dimensional - the pretty wife who he does not take the time to understand; the feisty older woman; the siren. But this may be deliberate - we are seeing the world through Gideon's eyes and with Gideon's faults and lack of empathy. I particularly enjoyed the open ending - is he or isn't he? This leads to speculation on other parts of Gideon's earlier history - was his father the ogre he seemed, or are his views more worthy of support?

My husband is not taken with fantasy novels of any sort but I had no hesitation in passing the book straight on to him to share my delight in reading it.

Loved it - no clue what happened., 26 Jun 2008
I really enjoyed this novel (although it takes a while to warm up) although I am left with not much of an idea as to what went on or what it was about. The writer uses the technique of telling the story via a memoir, so throughout, we are only seeing the story that Gideon wants us to see - not necessarily the story of what actually happened. I don't just mean the scenario with the devil - but the truth behind all of Gideon's relationships, especially those between him, Elsie and Jenny - is questionable, as are his characterisations of others. Most of all though I think I enjoyed it simply because I liked Gideon so much. A real 'everyman' who I could relate to - and I imagine that was a deliberate act on behalf of the author. Gideon's issues are the issues of so many of us - bad parenting, unrequited love, inability to believe, lust, guilt... all the usual. I also loved all the little details left in to tantalise, with no definite conclusion reached.... what happened to James in the war, why did Craigie go to Mexico, was John ever having an affair, why was Mack's mum in hell and where is god? All little nuggets of mystery to mull over forever.

I would have liked a more definite conclusion, but in a novel like this, that's to some degree impossible. All in all, highly recommended.

Best Scottish Novel You'll Read This Year: A Must for the Beach, 14 Jun 2008
Wouldn't have found this book if not for the Modern Scottish Gothic course. Gripping, stay-up-all-night page turner written in the classic gothic fiction style of the 'original found manuscript'. A new take on the devil for this reader and best of all, unpredictable. Gideon is not your typical hero as he is very much the everyman, with all the fears, disbeliefs and tormented conflicts that cling to our day to day existence.

I advise reading it in a warm, sunlit place as James Robertson will have you thinking you too are being watched.

Not what I was expecting, 16 Oct 2008
Although this book sounded very interesting I couldn't help but feel disappointed after finishing it.

The blurb suggested that the book was an account of Gideon's encounter with the Devil and the events that followed afterward. It promised to be dark, quirky and bizarre, but there was not enough quirkiness to my taste.
In the prologue of the book a summary of the last months of Gideon's life is given by a publisher who has received Gideon's written account of his life, his testament. The tone is humorous and it completely engages you, warming up to the story to come.
But then Gideon Mack takes over, and it sort of falls apart. In a not very engaging tone Gideon Mack starts telling his life story, starting with his bleak childhood, growing up under the tyrannical rule of his father, also a minister, and his almost invisible mother. Gideon's account is very detached, almost devoid of emotion as if he's a machine, and that makes it hard to sympathize with him.
I found the latter half of the book more enjoyable because of its build-up to Gideon's fall in the gorge and the events that followed, but when the encounter with the devil finally took place, it was an anticlimax and did not live up to the dark expectations I had.
Also, throughout the book questions arose regarding Gideon's behaviour for which no explanation was given, such as his reaction to the mysterious stone, and the fact that he starts withdrawing into seclusion, often not answering telephones or doors.
It all becomes even more of a mystery in the epilogue, where new questions arise when the people in Gideon's life share their view of the minister's behaviour. Instead of shedding some light on the matter the mystery only deepens, and that left me unsatisfied and disappointed.
I also had a hard time dealing with the leaps through time. The story contains so many flashbacks that at different points in the story I lost track of where we were.
All in all I guess I was expecting something different, and that may be the cause that I did not enjoy this book very much. I'll probably give it another go sometime, and maybe then I will enjoy it and understand it better.


Funny, thoughtful and easy read..., 10 Aug 2008
Probably one of the easiest books I've ever read, funny, thoughtful with an air of mystery. Not a Booker prize by any stretch of the imagination but if you want to have a good interesting yarn, with strong characters, and narrative - wrapped up with a little bit of religious philosophy and domestic wisdom, it hits the spot. More of a book between books if you know what i mean but a very enjoyable one at that..

Not so much infernal fantasy, more the story of a life, 08 Aug 2008
I approached this book rather warily, thinking there might be too many cloven hooves and forked tails. However, the initial fantastic scenario draws in the reader, but then the interest is retained as we follow Gideon through his rather narrow life - ordinary, except that the men and women who train as Church of Scotland ministers are now few and far between.

The female characters are somewhat one-dimensional - the pretty wife who he does not take the time to understand; the feisty older woman; the siren. But this may be deliberate - we are seeing the world through Gideon's eyes and with Gideon's faults and lack of empathy. I particularly enjoyed the open ending - is he or isn't he? This leads to speculation on other parts of Gideon's earlier history - was his father the ogre he seemed, or are his views more worthy of support?

My husband is not taken with fantasy novels of any sort but I had no hesitation in passing the book straight on to him to share my delight in reading it.

Loved it - no clue what happened., 26 Jun 2008
I really enjoyed this novel (although it takes a while to warm up) although I am left with not much of an idea as to what went on or what it was about. The writer uses the technique of telling the story via a memoir, so throughout, we are only seeing the story that Gideon wants us to see - not necessarily the story of what actually happened. I don't just mean the scenario with the devil - but the truth behind all of Gideon's relationships, especially those between him, Elsie and Jenny - is questionable, as are his characterisations of others. Most of all though I think I enjoyed it simply because I liked Gideon so much. A real 'everyman' who I could relate to - and I imagine that was a deliberate act on behalf of the author. Gideon's issues are the issues of so many of us - bad parenting, unrequited love, inability to believe, lust, guilt... all the usual. I also loved all the little details left in to tantalise, with no definite conclusion reached.... what happened to James in the war, why did Craigie go to Mexico, was John ever having an affair, why was Mack's mum in hell and where is god? All little nuggets of mystery to mull over forever.

I would have liked a more definite conclusion, but in a novel like this, that's to some degree impossible. All in all, highly recommended.

Best Scottish Novel You'll Read This Year: A Must for the Beach, 14 Jun 2008
Wouldn't have found this book if not for the Modern Scottish Gothic course. Gripping, stay-up-all-night page turner written in the classic gothic fiction style of the 'original found manuscript'. A new take on the devil for this reader and best of all, unpredictable. Gideon is not your typical hero as he is very much the everyman, with all the fears, disbeliefs and tormented conflicts that cling to our day to day existence.

I advise reading it in a warm, sunlit place as James Robertson will have you thinking you too are being watched.

Saltcoats Fan, 16 May 2008
I have,just a few minutes ago,finished reading this book. What powerful writing. Not just a good read but an examination of personal values.
The pen indeed...

Wonderful read - so compelling., 12 Nov 2007
Despite being a slow reader, this book was so rewarding to me: the Scottish and West Indian history, the horrors of the slave trade, the familiar Scottish names and places, all of this was so absorbing and shocking too. Mr Robertson writes so eloquently and I love the Scottish dialect making the people's conversations so real and human. A truly wonderful read. I now have to visit the Museum of the Docklands in London in which there is a gallery devoted to 'London, Sugar & Slavery'.

Compelling, 01 Aug 2005
This has been sitting on my bedside table for some time, but I wish I had picked it up sooner. The characterisation, the themes, the language and the plot are fascinating and absorbing and I have found the book poignant, funny and very moving. It is a wonderful story beautifully told and I think it is a shame that it has not received more widespread acclaim outside Scotland, where it justly has won prizes. It is one of the best books I've read for some time.

A book you cannot put down, 20 Apr 2004
Easily the most enjoyable piece of fictional writing I have read in a longtime. I just could not put it down until I had finished it. Like anotherwork by the same author, 'The Fanatic', this book has so obviously beenmeticulously researched and planned.
The author successfully interweaves time, history, travel, the Scotstongue, emotions, intrigue and human relationships into a compelling storyand brings the characters so much to life you feel as if you know themwell. Everything is so real.
James Robertson must surely be recognised as one of the leading Scottishwriters of the 21st century - I am eagerly awaiting his next publication!

Thoughts of a Wedderburn descendant...., 13 May 2003
Genealogist, author of the Internet "Wedderburn Pages", and direct descendant of the real life Wedderburns who play a central role in this book, I have come to know the family history pretty well. This atmospheric, no-holds-barred account, rings true in almost every detail. The vital narrative vividly evokes the milieu and culture of late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Scottish history, encouraging the reader to reappraise conventional understanding of the British role in the marginalisation and subjugation of a people uprooted and transported to a life of slave labour in the West Indian sugar plantations. (How many of us are aware that sugar and slavery created the foundations of the first British empire?)

Robertson has managed to bring my ancestors to life through an entirely believable characterisation of brothers James and John Wedderburn, portrayed as I had always imagined them - a testament both to the author’s meticulous research and considerable insight. We follow the family on a journey from impoverishment following the defeat of the Jacobite uprising and Bonny Prince Charlie at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, to enforced exile in Jamaica, and, finally, the immense riches amassed by the family through the exploitation of slave labour in the Caribbean sugar trade, prior to their eventual return to Scotland. The curious blend of the historian’s penchant for accuracy and, in Robertson’s own words, a number of ‘liberties’ with the historical record, the blurring of the line between truth and fiction, do not detract from the reader’s sense of the work’s authenticity and credibility.

James Wedderburn reflects the certitudes, and John the first stirrings of doubts, surrounding the acceptability of white dominion over the black slave at the time. Despite John’s misgivings and a certain degree of guilt, he believes to the end of his life that he was entitled to consider Joseph Knight a possession, notwithstanding defeat in the Court of Session, Scotland’s supreme civil court. For years many members of the Jamaican plantocracy had taken advantage of the notion of ownership to exercise their ‘rights’ over their female slaves, and use and abuse them as they saw fit. It is somewhat ironic that James, utterly convinced of this right, was to father a son by his mulatto housekeeper Rosanna who was later to prove a real thorn in the family’s side. An acquaintance of Wilberforce, author of radical tracts and a revolutionary preacher, James’s son Robert was to become a leading and influential proponent of abolitionism, his autobiography “The Horrors of Slavery” a vivid indictment of an execrable system. (Ideal material for a sequel by James Robertson, perhaps?!)

I could not but be impressed by this unembellished yet dramatic, powerful and convincing account of a darker period of British colonialism, one which breathes extraordinary life into a lesser known era, in a manner which renders our past, skeletons included, accessible to all.

Not what I was expecting, 16 Oct 2008
Although this book sounded very interesting I couldn't help but feel disappointed after finishing it.

The blurb suggested that the book was an account of Gideon's encounter with the Devil and the events that followed afterward. It promised to be dark, quirky and bizarre, but there was not enough quirkiness to my taste.
In the prologue of the book a summary of the last months of Gideon's life is given by a publisher who has received Gideon's written account of his life, his testament. The tone is humorous and it completely engages you, warming up to the story to come.
But then Gideon Mack takes over, and it sort of falls apart. In a not very engaging tone Gideon Mack starts telling his life story, starting with his bleak childhood, growing up under the tyrannical rule of his father, also a minister, and his almost invisible mother. Gideon's account is very detached, almost devoid of emotion as if he's a machine, and that makes it hard to sympathize with him.
I found the latter half of the book more enjoyable because of its build-up to Gideon's fall in the gorge and the events that followed, but when the encounter with the devil finally took place, it was an anticlimax and did not live up to the dark expectations I had.
Also, throughout the book questions arose regarding Gideon's behaviour for which no explanation was given, such as his reaction to the mysterious stone, and the fact that he starts withdrawing into seclusion, often not answering telephones or doors.
It all becomes even more of a mystery in the epilogue, where new questions arise when the people in Gideon's life share their view of the minister's behaviour. Instead of shedding some light on the matter the mystery only deepens, and that left me unsatisfied and disappointed.
I also had a hard time dealing with the leaps through time. The story contains so many flashbacks that at different points in the story I lost track of where we were.
All in all I guess I was expecting something different, and that may be the cause that I did not enjoy this book very much. I'll probably give it another go sometime, and maybe then I will enjoy it and understand it better.


Funny, thoughtful and easy read..., 10 Aug 2008
Probably one of the easiest books I've ever read, funny, thoughtful with an air of mystery. Not a Booker prize by any stretch of the imagination but if you want to have a good interesting yarn, with strong characters, and narrative - wrapped up with a little bit of religious philosophy and domestic wisdom, it hits the spot. More of a book between books if you know what i mean but a very enjoyable one at that..

Not so much infernal fantasy, more the story of a life, 08 Aug 2008
I approached this book rather warily, thinking there might be too many cloven hooves and forked tails. However, the initial fantastic scenario draws in the reader, but then the interest is retained as we follow Gideon through his rather narrow life - ordinary, except that the men and women who train as Church of Scotland ministers are now few and far between.

The female characters are somewhat one-dimensional - the pretty wife who he does not take the time to understand; the feisty older woman; the siren. But this may be deliberate - we are seeing the world through Gideon's eyes and with Gideon's faults and lack of empathy. I particularly enjoyed the open ending - is he or isn't he? This leads to speculation on other parts of Gideon's earlier history - was his father the ogre he seemed, or are his views more worthy of support?

My husband is not taken with fantasy novels of any sort but I had no hesitation in passing the book straight on to him to share my delight in reading it.

Loved it - no clue what happened., 26 Jun 2008
I really enjoyed this novel (although it takes a while to warm up) although I am left with not much of an idea as to what went on or what it was about. The writer uses the technique of telling the story via a memoir, so throughout, we are only seeing the story that Gideon wants us to see - not necessarily the story of what actually happened. I don't just mean the scenario with the devil - but the truth behind all of Gideon's relationships, especially those between him, Elsie and Jenny - is questionable, as are his characterisations of others. Most of all though I think I enjoyed it simply because I liked Gideon so much. A real 'everyman' who I could relate to - and I imagine that was a deliberate act on behalf of the author. Gideon's issues are the issues of so many of us - bad parenting, unrequited love, inability to believe, lust, guilt... all the usual. I also loved all the little details left in to tantalise, with no definite conclusion reached.... what happened to James in the war, why did Craigie go to Mexico, was John ever having an affair, why was Mack's mum in hell and where is god? All little nuggets of mystery to mull over forever.

I would have liked a more definite conclusion, but in a novel like this, that's to some degree impossible. All in all, highly recommended.

Best Scottish Novel You'll Read This Year: A Must for the Beach, 14 Jun 2008
Wouldn't have found this book if not for the Modern Scottish Gothic course. Gripping, stay-up-all-night page turner written in the classic gothic fiction style of the 'original found manuscript'. A new take on the devil for this reader and best of all, unpredictable. Gideon is not your typical hero as he is very much the everyman, with all the fears, disbeliefs and tormented conflicts that cling to our day to day existence.

I advise reading it in a warm, sunlit place as James Robertson will have you thinking you too are being watched.

Saltcoats Fan, 16 May 2008
I have,just a few minutes ago,finished reading this book. What powerful writing. Not just a good read but an examination of personal values.
The pen indeed...

Wonderful read - so compelling., 12 Nov 2007
Despite being a slow reader, this book was so rewarding to me: the Scottish and West Indian history, the horrors of the slave trade, the familiar Scottish names and places, all of this was so absorbing and shocking too. Mr Robertson writes so eloquently and I love the Scottish dialect making the people's conversations so real and human. A truly wonderful read. I now have to visit the Museum of the Docklands in London in which there is a gallery devoted to 'London, Sugar & Slavery'.

Compelling, 01 Aug 2005
This has been sitting on my bedside table for some time, but I wish I had picked it up sooner. The characterisation, the themes, the language and the plot are fascinating and absorbing and I have found the book poignant, funny and very moving. It is a wonderful story beautifully told and I think it is a shame that it has not received more widespread acclaim outside Scotland, where it justly has won prizes. It is one of the best books I've read for some time.

A book you cannot put down, 20 Apr 2004
Easily the most enjoyable piece of fictional writing I have read in a longtime. I just could not put it down until I had finished it. Like anotherwork by the same author, 'The Fanatic', this book has so obviously beenmeticulously researched and planned.
The author successfully interweaves time, history, travel, the Scotstongue, emotions, intrigue and human relationships into a compelling storyand brings the characters so much to life you feel as if you know themwell. Everything is so real.
James Robertson must surely be recognised as one of the leading Scottishwriters of the 21st century - I am eagerly awaiting his next publication!

Thoughts of a Wedderburn descendant...., 13 May 2003
Genealogist, author of the Internet "Wedderburn Pages", and direct descendant of the real life Wedderburns who play a central role in this book, I have come to know the family history pretty well. This atmospheric, no-holds-barred account, rings true in almost every detail. The vital narrative vividly evokes the milieu and culture of late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Scottish history, encouraging the reader to reappraise conventional understanding of the British role in the marginalisation and subjugation of a people uprooted and transported to a life of slave labour in the West Indian sugar plantations. (How many of us are aware that sugar and slavery created the foundations of the first British empire?)

Robertson has managed to bring my ancestors to life through an entirely believable characterisation of brothers James and John Wedderburn, portrayed as I had always imagined them - a testament both to the author’s meticulous research and considerable insight. We follow the family on a journey from impoverishment following the defeat of the Jacobite uprising and Bonny Prince Charlie at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, to enforced exile in Jamaica, and, finally, the immense riches amassed by the family through the exploitation of slave labour in the Caribbean sugar trade, prior to their eventual return to Scotland. The curious blend of the historian’s penchant for accuracy and, in Robertson’s own words, a number of ‘liberties’ with the historical record, the blurring of the line between truth and fiction, do not detract from the reader’s sense of the work’s authenticity and credibility.

James Wedderburn reflects the certitudes, and John the first stirrings of doubts, surrounding the acceptability of white dominion over the black slave at the time. Despite John’s misgivings and a certain degree of guilt, he believes to the end of his life that he was entitled to consider Joseph Knight a possession, notwithstanding defeat in the Court of Session, Scotland’s supreme civil court. For years many members of the Jamaican plantocracy had taken advantage of the notion of ownership to exercise their ‘rights’ over their female slaves, and use and abuse them as they saw fit. It is somewhat ironic that James, utterly convinced of this right, was to father a son by his mulatto housekeeper Rosanna who was later to prove a real thorn in the family’s side. An acquaintance of Wilberforce, author of radical tracts and a revolutionary preacher, James’s son Robert was to become a leading and influential proponent of abolitionism, his autobiography “The Horrors of Slavery” a vivid indictment of an execrable system. (Ideal material for a sequel by James Robertson, perhaps?!)

I could not but be impressed by this unembellished yet dramatic, powerful and convincing account of a darker period of British colonialism, one which breathes extraordinary life into a lesser known era, in a manner which renders our past, skeletons included, accessible to all.

An important advance in Scottish writing, 25 Feb 2002
Robertson's novel, as well as being a gripping, trans-historical yarn about demonology, depression and detectives, is an important advance in what Scotland can offer in terms of literary fiction. Forget the slumming it shabby-chic of the Irvine Welsh clones, this is a novelist ready to grapple with Ideas, and prosecute them through engaged narrative. A fugue between the past and the present, a dialectic, an argument and above all an urgency.

an extraordinary historical novel, 21 Dec 2001
I'm not Scottish; James Robertson's book is. That's what gives it its flavour. But its atmosphere and intelligence is such that - despite the Scots language (or dialect - let's not get into that) used, it will reach beyond a purely national audience.
This is a book that should appeal to everyone who has ever enjoyed a history documentary; or a big biography of, say, Henry VIII or Richard III or Julius Caesar.

Certainly, Robertson writes with a focused historian's vision: The Fanatic's main subject is the intractable, often bewildering religious disputes of the 17th century (mixed with a dash of modern-day Edinburgh, with all its tourist and students and flakes). And the author, though he's an accesible writer, does not dumb down for his readers

But this novel is also about a time when committing to a cause meant something, and when the stakes of standing up for a belief were so much higher than today. The phrase "sticking your neck out" doesn't come from nowhere...

Top class. I'm on tenterhooks for the sequel

I wish I'd never bought it, 20 Nov 2001
This has to be one of the most indecipherable books I have ever had the misfortune to read. Carefully picking out the story from pages of historical Scottish dialect, juxtaposed with the psychotic ravings of a 21st century bedsit dewller, was almost more than I could bear. Only for those who feel deeply enough about Scottish history to rate themselves in the same category as the title, which, unfortunately, wasn't me.

Naw bad - but doesn't add up to the sum of its parts, 12 Sep 2001
James Robertsons novel weaves together (not entirely convincingly) stories set in Edinburgh in 1990s and the 1670s. The novel deals with little discussed aspect of Scottish history and juxtaposes it with modern day events, most specifically the 1997 General election.

The historical aspects of the novel are well done dramatic but at the same time credible - you believe that what you are reading is close to the truth. However the more current storyline is thin and seems a little forced in its symbolism.

While the historical characters really come to life only one of the modern characters is more than paper thin.

All in all a decent, entertaining and informative read, but be prepared for loats aw brawd Scots dialekt!

and if you know your history..............., 12 Jul 2001
If you're into history and know the landscape and past of Edinburgh/Scotland then you'll really take to this book. He captures the present day Edinburgh very well and (although I wasn't there at the time!) convinced me of the harsh realities of the Tolbooth Prison and the Bass Rock a few centuries ago. The portrayal of life in Edinburgh then and now will strike a chord with anyone who has sympathy for those living on the outer edge of society.

Not what I was expecting, 16 Oct 2008
Although this book sounded very interesting I couldn't help but feel disappointed after finishing it.

The blurb suggested that the book was an account of Gideon's encounter with the Devil and the events that followed afterward. It promised to be dark, quirky and bizarre, but there was not enough quirkiness to my taste.
In the prologue of the book a summary of the last months of Gideon's life is given by a publisher who has received Gideon's written account of his life, his testament. The tone is humorous and it completely engages you, warming up to the story to come.
But then Gideon Mack takes over, and it sort of falls apart. In a not very engaging tone Gideon Mack starts telling his life story, starting with his bleak childhood, growing up under the tyrannical rule of his father, also a minister, and his almost invisible mother. Gideon's account is very detached, almost devoid of emotion as if he's a machine, and that makes it hard to sympathize with him.
I found the latter half of the book more enjoyable because of its build-up to Gideon's fall in the gorge and the events that followed, but when the encounter with the devil finally took place, it was an anticlimax and did not live up to the dark expectations I had.
Also, throughout the book questions arose regarding Gideon's behaviour for which no explanation was given, such as his reaction to the mysterious stone, and the fact that he starts withdrawing into seclusion, often not answering telephones or doors.
It all becomes even more of a mystery in the epilogue, where new questions arise when the people in Gideon's life share their view of the minister's behaviour. Instead of shedding some light on the matter the mystery only deepens, and that left me unsatisfied and disappointed.
I also had a hard time dealing with the leaps through time. The story contains so many flashbacks that at different points in the story I lost track of where we were.
All in all I guess I was expecting something different, and that may be the cause that I did not enjoy this book very much. I'll probably give it another go sometime, and maybe then I will enjoy it and understand it better.


Funny, thoughtful and easy read..., 10 Aug 2008
Probably one of the easiest books I've ever read, funny, thoughtful with an air of mystery. Not a Booker prize by any stretch of the imagination but if you want to have a good interesting yarn, with strong characters, and narrative - wrapped up with a little bit of religious philosophy and domestic wisdom, it hits the spot. More of a book between books if you know what i mean but a very enjoyable one at that..

Not so much infernal fantasy, more the story of a life, 08 Aug 2008
I approached this book rather warily, thinking there might be too many cloven hooves and forked tails. However, the initial fantastic scenario draws in the reader, but then the interest is retained as we follow Gideon through his rather narrow life - ordinary, except that the men and women who train as Church of Scotland ministers are now few and far between.

The female characters are somewhat one-dimensional - the pretty wife who he does not take the time to understand; the feisty older woman; the siren. But this may be deliberate - we are seeing the world through Gideon's eyes and with Gideon's faults and lack of empathy. I particularly enjoyed the open ending - is he or isn't he? This leads to speculation on other parts of Gideon's earlier history - was his father the ogre he seemed, or are his views more worthy of support?

My husband is not taken with fantasy novels of any sort but I had no hesitation in passing the book straight on to him to share my delight in reading it.

Loved it - no clue what happened., 26 Jun 2008
I really enjoyed this novel (although it takes a while to warm up) although I am left with not much of an idea as to what went on or what it was about. The writer uses the technique of telling the story via a memoir, so throughout, we are only seeing the story that Gideon wants us to see - not necessarily the story of what actually happened. I don't just mean the scenario with the devil - but the truth behind all of Gideon's relationships, especially those between him, Elsie and Jenny - is questionable, as are his characterisations of others. Most of all though I think I enjoyed it simply because I liked Gideon so much. A real 'everyman' who I could relate to - and I imagine that was a deliberate act on behalf of the author. Gideon's issues are the issues of so many of us - bad parenting, unrequited love, inability to believe, lust, guilt... all the usual. I also loved all the little details left in to tantalise, with no definite conclusion reached.... what happened to James in the war, why did Craigie go to Mexico, was John ever having an affair, why was Mack's mum in hell and where is god? All little nuggets of mystery to mull over forever.

I would have liked a more definite conclusion, but in a novel like this, that's to some degree impossible. All in all, highly recommended.

Best Scottish Novel You'll Read This Year: A Must for the Beach, 14 Jun 2008
Wouldn't have found this book if not for the Modern Scottish Gothic course. Gripping, stay-up-all-night page turner written in the classic gothic fiction style of the 'original found manuscript'. A new take on the devil for this reader and best of all, unpredictable. Gideon is not your typical hero as he is very much the everyman, with all the fears, disbeliefs and tormented conflicts that cling to our day to day existence.

I advise reading it in a warm, sunlit place as James Robertson will have you thinking you too are being watched.

Saltcoats Fan, 16 May 2008
I have,just a few minutes ago,finished reading this book. What powerful writing. Not just a good read but an examination of personal values.
The pen indeed...

Wonderful read - so compelling., 12 Nov 2007
Despite being a slow reader, this book was so rewarding to me: the Scottish and West Indian history, the horrors of the slave trade, the familiar Scottish names and places, all of this was so absorbing and shocking too. Mr Robertson writes so eloquently and I love the Scottish dialect making the people's conversations so real and human. A truly wonderful read. I now have to visit the Museum of the Docklands in London in which there is a gallery devoted to 'London, Sugar & Slavery'.

Compelling, 01 Aug 2005
This has been sitting on my bedside table for some time, but I wish I had picked it up sooner. The characterisation, the themes, the language and the plot are fascinating and absorbing and I have found the book poignant, funny and very moving. It is a wonderful story beautifully told and I think it is a shame that it has not received more widespread acclaim outside Scotland, where it justly has won prizes. It is one of the best books I've read for some time.

A book you cannot put down, 20 Apr 2004
Easily the most enjoyable piece of fictional writing I have read in a longtime. I just could not put it down until I had finished it. Like anotherwork by the same author, 'The Fanatic', this book has so obviously beenmeticulously researched and planned.
The author successfully interweaves time, history, travel, the Scotstongue, emotions, intrigue and human relationships into a compelling storyand brings the characters so much to life you feel as if you know themwell. Everything is so real.
James Robertson must surely be recognised as one of the leading Scottishwriters of the 21st century - I am eagerly awaiting his next publication!

Thoughts of a Wedderburn descendant...., 13 May 2003
Genealogist, author of the Internet "Wedderburn Pages", and direct descendant of the real life Wedderburns who play a central role in this book, I have come to know the family history pretty well. This atmospheric, no-holds-barred account, rings true in almost every detail. The vital narrative vividly evokes the milieu and culture of late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Scottish history, encouraging the reader to reappraise conventional understanding of the British role in the marginalisation and subjugation of a people uprooted and transported to a life of slave labour in the West Indian sugar plantations. (How many of us are aware that sugar and slavery created the foundations of the first British empire?)

Robertson has managed to bring my ancestors to life through an entirely believable characterisation of brothers James and John Wedderburn, portrayed as I had always imagined them - a testament both to the author’s meticulous research and considerable insight. We follow the family on a journey from impoverishment following the defeat of the Jacobite uprising and Bonny Prince Charlie at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, to enforced exile in Jamaica, and, finally, the immense riches amassed by the family through the exploitation of slave labour in the Caribbean sugar trade, prior to their eventual return to Scotland. The curious blend of the historian’s penchant for accuracy and, in Robertson’s own words, a number of ‘liberties’ with the historical record, the blurring of the line between truth and fiction, do not detract from the reader’s sense of the work’s authenticity and credibility.

James Wedderburn reflects the certitudes, and John the first stirrings of doubts, surrounding the acceptability of white dominion over the black slave at the time. Despite John’s misgivings and a certain degree of guilt, he believes to the end of his life that he was entitled to consider Joseph Knight a possession, notwithstanding defeat in the Court of Session, Scotland’s supreme civil court. For years many members of the Jamaican plantocracy had taken advantage of the notion of ownership to exercise their ‘rights’ over their female slaves, and use and abuse them as they saw fit. It is somewhat ironic that James, utterly convinced of this right, was to father a son by his mulatto housekeeper Rosanna who was later to prove a real thorn in the family’s side. An acquaintance of Wilberforce, author of radical tracts and a revolutionary preacher, James’s son Robert was to become a leading and influential proponent of abolitionism, his autobiography “The Horrors of Slavery” a vivid indictment of an execrable system. (Ideal material for a sequel by James Robertson, perhaps?!)

I could not but be impressed by this unembellished yet dramatic, powerful and convincing account of a darker period of British colonialism, one which breathes extraordinary life into a lesser known era, in a manner which renders our past, skeletons included, accessible to all.

An important advance in Scottish writing, 25 Feb 2002
Robertson's novel, as well as being a gripping, trans-historical yarn about demonology, depression and detectives, is an important advance in what Scotland can offer in terms of literary fiction. Forget the slumming it shabby-chic of the Irvine Welsh clones, this is a novelist ready to grapple with Ideas, and prosecute them through engaged narrative. A fugue between the past and the present, a dialectic, an argument and above all an urgency.

an extraordinary historical novel, 21 Dec 2001
I'm not Scottish; James Robertson's book is. That's what gives it its flavour. But its atmosphere and intelligence is such that - despite the Scots language (or dialect - let's not get into that) used, it will reach beyond a purely national audience.
This is a book that should appeal to everyone who has ever enjoyed a history documentary; or a big biography of, say, Henry VIII or Richard III or Julius Caesar.

Certainly, Robertson writes with a focused historian's vision: The Fanatic's main subject is the intractable, often bewildering religious disputes of the 17th century (mixed with a dash of modern-day Edinburgh, with all its tourist and students and flakes). And the author, though he's an accesible writer, does not dumb down for his readers

But this novel is also about a time when committing to a cause meant something, and when the stakes of standing up for a belief were so much higher than today. The phrase "sticking your neck out" doesn't come from nowhere...

Top class. I'm on tenterhooks for the sequel

I wish I'd never bought it, 20 Nov 2001
This has to be one of the most indecipherable books I have ever had the misfortune to read. Carefully picking out the story from pages of historical Scottish dialect, juxtaposed with the psychotic ravings of a 21st century bedsit dewller, was almost more than I could bear. Only for those who feel deeply enough about Scottish history to rate themselves in the same category as the title, which, unfortunately, wasn't me.

Naw bad - but doesn't add up to the sum of its parts, 12 Sep 2001
James Robertsons novel weaves together (not entirely convincingly) stories set in Edinburgh in 1990s and the 1670s. The novel deals with little discussed aspect of Scottish history and juxtaposes it with modern day events, most specifically the 1997 General election.

The historical aspects of the novel are well done dramatic but at the same time credible - you believe that what you are reading is close to the truth. However the more current storyline is thin and seems a little forced in its symbolism.

While the historical characters really come to life only one of the modern characters is more than paper thin.

All in all a decent, entertaining and informative read, but be prepared for loats aw brawd Scots dialekt!

and if you know your history..............., 12 Jul 2001
If you're into history and know the landscape and past of Edinburgh/Scotland then you'll really take to this book. He captures the present day Edinburgh very well and (although I wasn't there at the time!) convinced me of the harsh realities of the Tolbooth Prison and the Bass Rock a few centuries ago. The portrayal of life in Edinburgh then and now will strike a chord with anyone who has sympathy for those living on the outer edge of society.

How theyýre told in Scotland., 09 Mar 2005
I have read helpful and detailed appreciations of this book on the Internet. I shall just add two points. Firstly, I think the book's great strength is that it is written by a skeptic. Ghost stories are not likely to be taken seriously if their reporting is sensationalized. James Robertson has collected and presented them with just the right mix of detached scholarship and narrative simplicity. Secondly, it should be obvious that ghost stories are ideal material for old-fashioned listening rather than for reading. Accordingly, I strongly recommend the Soundings audio version of this book, enabling you to hear the Scottish ghost stories told by a Scotsman. James Bryce delivers them beautifully, tossing the place names and off with ready familiarity.

With its prolific folklore and long history of civil strife, its many ancient castles and churches, its many bleak, windswept and lonely locations for human habitation, Scotland has been a fertile place for the growth of tales of the supernatural. Most such tales date from earlier more credulous times than ours but Robertson's collection includes recent examples.

Not what I was expecting, 16 Oct 2008
Although this book sounded very interesting I couldn't help but feel disappointed after finishing it.

The blurb suggested that the book was an account of Gideon's encounter with the Devil and the events that followed afterward. It promised to be dark, quirky and bizarre, but there was not enough quirkiness to my taste.
In the prologue of the book a summary of the last months of Gideon's life is given by a publisher who has received Gideon's written account of his life, his testament. The tone is humorous and it completely engages you, warming up to the story to come.
But then Gideon Mack takes over, and it sort of falls apart. In a not very engaging tone Gideon Mack starts telling his life story, starting with his bleak childhood, growing up under the tyrannical rule of his father, also a minister, and his almost invisible mother. Gideon's account is very detached, almost devoid of emotion as if he's a machine, and that makes it hard to sympathize with him.
I found the latter half of the book more enjoyable because of its build-up to Gideon's fall in the gorge and the events that followed, but when the encounter with the devil finally took place, it was an anticlimax and did not live up to the dark expectations I had.
Also, throughout the book questions arose regarding Gideon's behaviour for which no explanation was given, such as his reaction to the mysterious stone, and the fact that he starts withdrawing into seclusion, often not answering telephones or doors.
It all becomes even more of a mystery in the epilogue, where new questions arise when the people in Gideon's life share their view of the minister's behaviour. Instead of shedding some light on the matter the mystery only deepens, and that left me unsatisfied and disappointed.
I also had a hard time dealing with the leaps through time. The story contains so many flashbacks that at different points in the story I lost track of where we were.
All in all I guess I was expecting something different, and that may be the cause that I did not enjoy this book very much. I'll probably give it another go sometime, and maybe then I will enjoy it and understand it better.


Funny, thoughtful and easy read..., 10 Aug 2008
Probably one of the easiest books I've ever read, funny, thoughtful with an air of mystery. Not a Booker prize by any stretch of the imagination but if you want to have a good interesting yarn, with strong characters, and narrative - wrapped up with a little bit of religious philosophy and domestic wisdom, it hits the spot. More of a book between books if you know what i mean but a very enjoyable one at that..

Not so much infernal fantasy, more the story of a life, 08 Aug 2008
I approached this book rather warily, thinking there might be too many cloven hooves and forked tails. However, the initial fantastic scenario draws in the reader, but then the interest is retained as we follow Gideon through his rather narrow life - ordinary, except that the men and women who train as Church of Scotland ministers are now few and far between.

The female characters are somewhat one-dimensional - the pretty wife who he does not take the time to understand; the feisty older woman; the siren. But this may be deliberate - we are seeing the world through Gideon's eyes and with Gideon's faults and lack of empathy. I particularly enjoyed the open ending - is he or isn't he? This leads to speculation on other parts of Gideon's earlier history - was his father the ogre he seemed, or are his views more worthy of support?

My husband is not taken with fantasy novels of any sort but I had no hesitation in passing the book straight on to him to share my delight in reading it.

Loved it - no clue what happened., 26 Jun 2008
I really enjoyed this novel (although it takes a while to warm up) although I am left with not much of an idea as to what went on or what it was about. The writer uses the technique of telling the story via a memoir, so throughout, we are only seeing the story that Gideon wants us to see - not necessarily the story of what actually happened. I don't just mean the scenario with the devil - but the truth behind all of Gideon's relationships, especially those between him, Elsie and Jenny - is questionable, as are his characterisations of others. Most of all though I think I enjoyed it simply because I liked Gideon so much. A real 'everyman' who I could relate to - and I imagine that was a deliberate act on behalf of the author. Gideon's issues are the issues of so many of us - bad parenting, unrequited love, inability to believe, lust, guilt... all the usual. I also loved all the little details left in to tantalise, with no definite conclusion reached.... what happened to James in the war, why did Craigie go to Mexico, was John ever having an affair, why was Mack's mum in hell and where is god? All little nuggets of mystery to mull over forever.

I would have liked a more definite conclusion, but in a novel like this, that's to some degree impossible. All in all, highly recommended.

Best Scottish Novel You'll Read This Year: A Must for the Beach, 14 Jun 2008
Wouldn't have found this book if not for the Modern Scottish Gothic course. Gripping, stay-up-all-night page turner written in the classic gothic fiction style of the 'original found manuscript'. A new take on the devil for this reader and best of all, unpredictable. Gideon is not your typical hero as he is very much the everyman, with all the fears, disbeliefs and tormented conflicts that cling to our day to day existence.

I advise reading it in a warm, sunlit place as James Robertson will have you thinking you too are being watched.

Saltcoats Fan, 16 May 2008
I have,just a few minutes ago,finished reading this book. What powerful writing. Not just a good read but an examination of personal values.
The pen indeed...

Wonderful read - so compelling., 12 Nov 2007
Despite being a slow reader, this book was so rewarding to me: the Scottish and West Indian history, the horrors of the slave trade, the familiar Scottish names and places, all of this was so absorbing and shocking too. Mr Robertson writes so eloquently and I love the Scottish dialect making the people's conversations so real and human. A truly wonderful read. I now have to visit the Museum of the Docklands in London in which there is a gallery devoted to 'London, Sugar & Slavery'.

Compelling, 01 Aug 2005
This has been sitting on my bedside table for some time, but I wish I had picked it up sooner. The characterisation, the themes, the language and the plot are fascinating and absorbing and I have found the book poignant, funny and very moving. It is a wonderful story beautifully told and I think it is a shame that it has not received more widespread acclaim outside Scotland, where it justly has won prizes. It is one of the best books I've read for some time.

A book you cannot put down, 20 Apr 2004
Easily the most enjoyable piece of fictional writing I have read in a longtime. I just could not put it down until I had finished it. Like anotherwork by the same author, 'The Fanatic', this book has so obviously beenmeticulously researched and planned.
The author successfully interweaves time, history, travel, the Scotstongue, emotions, intrigue and human relationships into a compelling storyand brings the characters so much to life you feel as if you know themwell. Everything is so real.
James Robertson must surely be recognised as one of the leading Scottishwriters of the 21st century - I am eagerly awaiting his next publication!

Thoughts of a Wedderburn descendant...., 13 May 2003
Genealogist, author of the Internet "Wedderburn Pages", and direct descendant of the real life Wedderburns who play a central role in this book, I have come to know the family history pretty well. This atmospheric, no-holds-barred account, rings true in almost every detail. The vital narrative vividly evokes the milieu and culture of late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Scottish history, encouraging the reader to reappraise conventional understanding of the British role in the marginalisation and subjugation of a people uprooted and transported to a life of slave labour in the West Indian sugar plantations. (How many of us are aware that sugar and slavery created the foundations of the first British empire?)

Robertson has managed to bring my ancestors to life through an entirely believable characterisation of brothers James and John Wedderburn, portrayed as I had always imagined them - a testament both to the author’s meticulous research and considerable insight. We follow the family on a journey from impoverishment following the defeat of the Jacobite uprising and Bonny Prince Charlie at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, to enforced exile in Jamaica, and, finally, the immense riches amassed by the family through the exploitation of slave labour in the Caribbean sugar trade, prior to their eventual return to Scotland. The curious blend of the historian’s penchant for accuracy and, in Robertson’s own words, a number of ‘liberties’ with the historical record, the blurring of the line between truth and fiction, do not detract from the reader’s sense of the work’s authenticity and credibility.

James Wedderburn reflects the certitudes, and John the first stirrings of doubts, surrounding the acceptability of white dominion over the black slave at the time. Despite John’s misgivings and a certain degree of guilt, he believes to the end of his life that he was entitled to consider Joseph Knight a possession, notwithstanding defeat in the Court of Session, Scotland’s supreme civil court. For years many members of the Jamaican plantocracy had taken advantage of the notion of ownership to exercise their ‘rights’ over their female slaves, and use and abuse them as they saw fit. It is somewhat ironic that James, utterly convinced of this right, was to father a son by his mulatto housekeeper Rosanna who was later to prove a real thorn in the family’s side. An acquaintance of Wilberforce, author of radical tracts and a revolutionary preacher, James’s son Robert was to become a leading and influential proponent of abolitionism, his autobiography “The Horrors of Slavery” a vivid indictment of an execrable system. (Ideal material for a sequel by James Robertson, perhaps?!)

I could not but be impressed by this unembellished yet dramatic, powerful and convincing account of a darker period of British colonialism, one which breathes extraordinary life into a lesser known era, in a manner which renders our past, skeletons included, accessible to all.

An important advance in Scottish writing, 25 Feb 2002
Robertson's novel, as well as being a gripping, trans-historical yarn about demonology, depression and detectives, is an important advance in what Scotland can offer in terms of literary fiction. Forget the slumming it shabby-chic of the Irvine Welsh clones, this is a novelist ready to grapple with Ideas, and prosecute them through engaged narrative. A fugue between the past and the present, a dialectic, an argument and above all an urgency.

an extraordinary historical novel, 21 Dec 2001
I'm not Scottish; James Robertson's book is. That's what gives it its flavour. But its atmosphere and intelligence is such that - despite the Scots language (or dialect - let's not get into that) used, it will reach beyond a purely national audience.
This is a book that should appeal to everyone who has ever enjoyed a history documentary; or a big biography of, say, Henry VIII or Richard III or Julius Caesar.

Certainly, Robertson writes with a focused historian's vision: The Fanatic's main subject is the intractable, often bewildering religious disputes of the 17th century (mixed with a dash of modern-day Edinburgh, with all its tourist and students and flakes). And the author, though he's an accesible writer, does not dumb down for his readers

But this novel is also about a time when committing to a cause meant something, and when the stakes of standing up for a belief were so much higher than today. The phrase "sticking your neck out" doesn't come from nowhere...

Top class. I'm on tenterhooks for the sequel

I wish I'd never bought it, 20 Nov 2001
This has to be one of the most indecipherable books I have ever had the misfortune to read. Carefully picking out the story from pages of historical Scottish dialect, juxtaposed with the psychotic ravings of a 21st century bedsit dewller, was almost more than I could bear. Only for those who feel deeply enough about Scottish history to rate themselves in the same category as the title, which, unfortunately, wasn't me.

Naw bad - but doesn't add up to the sum of its parts, 12 Sep 2001
James Robertsons novel weaves together (not entirely convincingly) stories set in Edinburgh in 1990s and the 1670s. The novel deals with little discussed aspect of Scottish history and juxtaposes it with modern day events, most specifically the 1997 General election.

The historical aspects of the novel are well done dramatic but at the same time credible - you believe that what you are reading is close to the truth. However the more current storyline is thin and seems a little forced in its symbolism.

While the historical characters really come to life only one of the modern characters is more than paper thin.

All in all a decent, entertaining and informative read, but be prepared for loats aw brawd Scots dialekt!

and if you know your history..............., 12 Jul 2001
If you're into history and know the landscape and past of Edinburgh/Scotland then you'll really take to this book. He captures the present day Edinburgh very well and (although I wasn't there at the time!) convinced me of the harsh realities of the Tolbooth Prison and the Bass Rock a few centuries ago. The portrayal of life in Edinburgh then and now will strike a chord with anyone who has sympathy for those living on the outer edge of society.

How theyýre told in Scotland., 09 Mar 2005
I have read helpful and detailed appreciations of this book on the Internet. I shall just add two points. Firstly, I think the book's great strength is that it is written by a skeptic. Ghost stories are not likely to be taken seriously if their reporting is sensationalized. James Robertson has collected and presented them with just the right mix of detached scholarship and narrative simplicity. Secondly, it should be obvious that ghost stories are ideal material for old-fashioned listening rather than for reading. Accordingly, I strongly recommend the Soundings audio version of this book, enabling you to hear the Scottish ghost stories told by a Scotsman. James Bryce delivers them beautifully, tossing the place names and off with ready familiarity.

With its prolific folklore and long history of civil strife, its many ancient castles and churches, its many bleak, windswept and lonely locations for human habitation, Scotland has been a fertile place for the growth of tales of the supernatural. Most such tales date from earlier more credulous times than ours but Robertson's collection includes recent examples.

Not what I was expecting, 16 Oct 2008
Although this book sounded very interesting I couldn't help but feel disappointed after finishing it.

The blurb suggested that the book was an account of Gideon's encounter with the Devil and the events that followed afterward. It promised to be dark, quirky and bizarre, but there was not enough quirkiness to my taste.
In the prologue of the book a summary of the last months of Gideon's life is given by a publisher who has received Gideon's written account of his life, his testament. The tone is humorous and it completely engages you, warming up to the story to come.
But then Gideon Mack takes over, and it sort of falls apart. In a not very engaging tone Gideon Mack starts telling his life story, starting with his bleak childhood, growing up under the tyrannical rule of his father, also a minister, and his almost invisible mother. Gideon's account is very detached, almost devoid of emotion as if he's a machine, and that makes it hard to sympathize with him.
I found the latter half of the book more enjoyable because of its build-up to Gideon's fall in the gorge and the events that followed, but when the encounter with the devil finally took place, it was an anticlimax and did not live up to the dark expectations I had.
Also, throughout the book questions arose regarding Gideon's behaviour for which no explanation was given, such as his reaction to the mysterious stone, and the fact that he starts withdrawing into seclusion, often not answering telephones or doors.
It all becomes even more of a mystery in the epilogue, where new questions arise when the people in Gideon's life share their view of the minister's behaviour. Instead of shedding some light on the matter the mystery only deepens, and that left me unsatisfied and disappointed.
I also had a hard time dealing with the leaps through time. The story contains so many flashbacks that at different points in the story I lost track of where we were.
All in all I guess I was expecting something different, and that may be the cause that I did not enjoy this book very much. I'll probably give it another go sometime, and maybe then I will enjoy it and understand it better.


Funny, thoughtful and easy read..., 10 Aug 2008
Probably one of the easiest books I've ever read, funny, thoughtful with an air of mystery. Not a Booker prize by any stretch of the imagination but if you want to have a good interesting yarn, with strong characters, and narrative - wrapped up with a little bit of religious philosophy and domestic wisdom, it hits the spot. More of a book between books if you know what i mean but a very enjoyable one at that..

Not so much infernal fantasy, more the story of a life, 08 Aug 2008
I approached this book rather warily, thinking there might be too many cloven hooves and forked tails. However, the initial fantastic scenario draws in the reader, but then the interest is retained as we follow Gideon through his rather narrow life - ordinary, except that the men and women who train as Church of Scotland ministers are now few and far between.

The female characters are somewhat one-dimensional - the pretty wife who he does not take the time to understand; the feisty older woman; the siren. But this may be deliberate - we are seeing the world through Gideon's eyes and with Gideon's faults and lack of empathy. I particularly enjoyed the open ending - is he or isn't he? This leads to speculation on other parts of Gideon's earlier history - was his father the ogre he seemed, or are his views more worthy of support?

My husband is not taken with fantasy novels of any sort but I had no hesitation in passing the book straight on to him to share my delight in reading it.

Loved it - no clue what happened., 26 Jun 2008
I really enjoyed this novel (although it takes a while to warm up) although I am left with not much of an idea as to what went on or what it was about. The writer uses the technique of telling the story via a memoir, so throughout, we are only seeing the story that Gideon wants us to see - not necessarily the story of what actually happened. I don't just mean the scenario with the devil - but the truth behind all of Gideon's relationships, especially those between him, Elsie and Jenny - is questionable, as are his characterisations of others. Most of all though I think I enjoyed it simply because I liked Gideon so much. A real 'everyman' who I could relate to - and I imagine that was a deliberate act on behalf of the author. Gideon's issues are the issues of so many of us - bad parenting, unrequited love, inability to believe, lust, guilt... all the usual. I also loved all the little details left in to tantalise, with no definite conclusion reached.... what happened to James in the war, why did Craigie go to Mexico, was John ever having an affair, why was Mack's mum in hell and where is god? All little nuggets of mystery to mull over forever.

I would have liked a more definite conclusion, but in a novel like this, that's to some degree impossible. All in all, highly recommended.

Best Scottish Novel You'll Read This Year: A Must for the Beach, 14 Jun 2008
Wouldn't have found this book if not for the Modern Scottish Gothic course. Gripping, stay-up-all-night page turner written in the classic gothic fiction style of the 'original found manuscript'. A new take on the devil for this reader and best of all, unpredictable. Gideon is not your typical hero as he is very much the everyman, with all the fears, disbeliefs and tormented conflicts that cling to our day to day existence.

I advise reading it in a warm, sunlit place as James Robertson will have you thinking you too are being watched.

Not what I was expecting, 16 Oct 2008
Although this book sounded very interesting I couldn't help but feel disappointed after finishing it.

The blurb suggested that the book was an account of Gideon's encounter with the Devil and the events that followed afterward. It promised to be dark, quirky and bizarre, but there was not enough quirkiness to my taste.
In the prologue of the book a summary of the last months of Gideon's life is given by a publisher who has received Gideon's written account of his life, his testament. The tone is humorous and it completely engages you, warming up to the story to come.
But then Gideon Mack takes over, and it sort of falls apart. In a not very engaging tone Gideon Mack starts telling his life story, starting with his bleak childhood, growing up under the tyrannical rule of his father, also a minister, and his almost invisible mother. Gideon's account is very detached, almost devoid of emotion as if he's a machine, and that makes it hard to sympathize with him.
I found the latter half of the book more enjoyable because of its build-up to Gideon's fall in the gorge and the events that followed, but when the encounter with the devil finally took place, it was an anticlimax and did not live up to the dark expectations I had.
Also, throughout the book questions arose regarding Gideon's behaviour for which no explanation was given, such as his reaction to the mysterious stone, and the fact that he starts withdrawing into seclusion, often not answering telephones or doors.
It all becomes even more of a mystery in the epilogue, where new questions arise when the people in Gideon's life share their view of the minister's behaviour. Instead of shedding some light on the matter the mystery only deepens, and that left me unsatisfied and disappointed.
I also had a hard time dealing with the leaps through time. The story contains so many flashbacks that at different points in the story I lost track of where we were.
All in all I guess I was expecting something different, and that may be the cause that I did not enjoy this book very much. I'll probably give it another go sometime, and maybe then I will enjoy it and understand it better.


Funny, thoughtful and easy read..., 10 Aug 2008
Probably one of the easiest books I've ever read, funny, thoughtful with an air of mystery. Not a Booker prize by any stretch of the imagination but if you want to have a good interesting yarn, with strong characters, and narrative - wrapped up with a little bit of religious philosophy and domestic wisdom, it hits the spot. More of a book between books if you know what i mean but a very enjoyable one at that..

Not so much infernal fantasy, more the story of a life, 08 Aug 2008
I approached this book rather warily, thinking there might be too many cloven hooves and forked tails. However, the initial fantastic scenario draws in the reader, but then the interest is retained as we follow Gideon through his rather narrow life - ordinary, except that the men and women who train as Church of Scotland ministers are now few and far between.

The female characters are somewhat one-dimensional - the pretty wife who he does not take the time to understand; the feisty older woman; the siren. But this may be deliberate - we are seeing the world through Gideon's eyes and with Gideon's faults and lack of empathy. I particularly enjoyed the open ending - is he or isn't he? This leads to speculation on other parts of Gideon's earlier history - was his father the ogre he seemed, or are his views more worthy of support?

My husband is not taken with fantasy novels of any sort but I had no hesitation in passing the book straight on to him to share my delight in reading it.

Loved it - no clue what happened., 26 Jun 2008
I really enjoyed this novel (although it takes a while to warm up) although I am left with not much of an idea as to what went on or what it was about. The writer uses the technique of telling the story via a memoir, so throughout, we are only seeing the story that Gideon wants us to see - not necessarily the story of what actually happened. I don't just mean the scenario with the devil - but the truth behind all of Gideon's relationships, especially those between him, Elsie and Jenny - is questionable, as are his characterisations of others. Most of all though I think I enjoyed it simply because I liked Gideon so much. A real 'everyman' who I could relate to - and I imagine that was a deliberate act on behalf of the author. Gideon's issues are the issues of so many of us - bad parenting, unrequited love, inability to believe, lust, guilt... all the usual. I also loved all the little details left in to tantalise, with no definite conclusion reached.... what happened to James in the war, why did Craigie go to Mexico, was John ever having an affair, why was Mack's mum in hell and where is god? All little nuggets of mystery to mull over forever.

I would have liked a more definite conclusion, but in a novel like this, that's to some degree impossible. All in all, highly recommended.

Best Scottish Novel You'll Read This Year: A Must for the Beach, 14 Jun 2008
Wouldn't have found this book if not for the Modern Scottish Gothic course. Gripping, stay-up-all-night page turner written in the classic gothic fiction style of the 'original found manuscript'. A new take on the devil for this reader and best of all, unpredictable. Gideon is not your typical hero as he is very much the everyman, with all the fears, disbeliefs and tormented conflicts that cling to our day to day existence.

I advise reading it in a warm, sunlit place as James Robertson will have you thinking you too are being watched.

Saltcoats Fan, 16 May 2008
I have,just a few minutes ago,finished reading this book. What powerful writing. Not just a good read but an examination of personal values.
The pen indeed...

Wonderful read - so compelling., 12 Nov 2007
Despite being a slow reader, this book was so rewarding to me: the Scottish and West Indian history, the horrors of the slave trade, the familiar Scottish names and places, all of this was so absorbing and shocking too. Mr Robertson writes so eloquently and I love the Scottish dialect making the people's conversations so real and human. A truly wonderful read. I now have to visit the Museum of the Docklands in London in which there is a gallery devoted to 'London, Sugar & Slavery'.

Compelling, 01 Aug 2005
This has been sitting on my bedside table for some time, but I wish I had picked it up sooner. The characterisation, the themes, the language and the plot are fascinating and absorbing and I have found the book poignant, funny and very moving. It is a wonderful story beautifully told and I think it is a shame that it has not received more widespread acclaim outside Scotland, where it justly has won prizes. It is one of the best books I've read for some time.

A book you cannot put down, 20 Apr 2004
Easily the most enjoyable piece of fictional writing I have read in a longtime. I just could not put it down until I had finished it. Like anotherwork by the same author, 'The Fanatic', this book has so obviously beenmeticulously researched and planned.
The author successfully interweaves time, history, travel, the Scotstongue, emotions, intrigue and human relationships into a compelling storyand brings the characters so much to life you feel as if you know themwell. Everything is so real.
James Robertson must surely be recognised as one of the leading Scottishwriters of the 21st century - I am eagerly awaiting his next publication!

Thoughts of a Wedderburn descendant...., 13 May 2003
Genealogist, author of the Internet "Wedderburn Pages", and direct descendant of the real life Wedderburns who play a central role in this book, I have come to know the family history pretty well. This atmospheric, no-holds-barred account, rings true in almost every detail. The vital narrative vividly evokes the milieu and culture of late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Scottish history, encouraging the reader to reappraise conventional understanding of the British role in the marginalisation and subjugation of a people uprooted and transported to a life of slave labour in the West Indian sugar plantations. (How many of us are aware that sugar and slavery created the foundations of the first British empire?)

Robertson has managed to bring my ancestors to life through an entirely believable characterisation of brothers James and John Wedderburn, portrayed as I had always imagined them - a testament both to the author’s meticulous research and considerable insight. We follow the family on a journey from impoverishment following the defeat of the Jacobite uprising and Bonny Prince Charlie at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, to enforced exile in Jamaica, and, finally, the immense riches amassed by the family through the exploitation of slave labour in the Caribbean sugar trade, prior to their eventual return to Scotland. The curious blend of the historian’s penchant for accuracy and, in Robertson’s own words, a number of ‘liberties’ with the historical record, the blurring of the line between truth and fiction, do not detract from the reader’s sense of the work’s authenticity and credibility.

James Wedderburn reflects the certitudes, and John the first stirrings of doubts, surrounding the acceptability of white dominion over the black slave at the time. Despite John’s misgivings and a certain degree of guilt, he believes to the end of his life that he was entitled to consider Joseph Knight a possession, notwithstanding defeat in the Court of Session, Scotland’s supreme civil court. For years many members of the Jamaican plantocracy had taken advantage of the notion of ownership to exercise their ‘rights’ over their female slaves, and use and abuse them as they saw fit. It is somewhat ironic that James, utterly convinced of this right, was to father a son by his mulatto housekeeper Rosanna who was later to prove a real thorn in the family’s side. An acquaintance of Wilberforce, author of radical tracts and a revolutionary preacher, James’s son Robert was to become a leading and influential proponent of abolitionism, his autobiography “The Horrors of Slavery” a vivid indictment of an execrable system. (Ideal material for a sequel by James Robertson, perhaps?!)

I could not but be impressed by this unembellished yet dramatic, powerful and convincing account of a darker period of British colonialism, one which breathes extraordinary life into a lesser known era, in a manner which renders our past, skeletons included, accessible to all.

An important advance in Scottish writing, 25 Feb 2002
Robertson's novel, as well as being a gripping, trans-historical yarn about demonology, depression and detectives, is an important advance in what Scotland can offer in terms of literary fiction. Forget the slumming it shabby-chic of the Irvine Welsh clones, this is a novelist ready to grapple with Ideas, and prosecute them through engaged narrative. A fugue between the past and the present, a dialectic, an argument and above all an urgency.

an extraordinary historical novel, 21 Dec 2001
I'm not Scottish; James Robertson's book is. That's what gives it its flavour. But its atmosphere and intelligence is such that - despite the Scots language (or dialect - let's not get into that) used, it will reach beyond a purely national audience.
This is a book that should appeal to everyone who has ever enjoyed a history documentary; or a big biography of, say, Henry VIII or Richard III or Julius Caesar.

Certainly, Robertson writes with a focused historian's vision: The Fanatic's main subject is the intractable, often bewildering religious disputes of the 17th century (mixed with a dash of modern-day Edinburgh, with all its tourist and students and flakes). And the author, though he's an accesible writer, does not dumb down for his readers

But this novel is also about a time when committing to a cause meant something, and when the stakes of standing up for a belief were so much higher than today. The phrase "sticking your neck out" doesn't come from nowhere...

Top class. I'm on tenterhooks for the sequel

I wish I'd never bought it, 20 Nov 2001
This has to be one of the most indecipherable books I have ever had the misfortune to read. Carefully picking out the story from pages of historical Scottish dialect, juxtaposed with the psychotic ravings of a 21st century bedsit dewller, was almost more than I could bear. Only for those who feel deeply enough about Scottish history to rate themselves in the same category as the title, which, unfortunately, wasn't me.

Naw bad - but doesn't add up to the sum of its parts, 12 Sep 2001
James Robertsons novel weaves together (not entirely convincingly) stories set in Edinburgh in 1990s and the 1670s. The novel deals with little discussed aspect of Scottish history and juxtaposes it with modern day events, most specifically the 1997 General election.

The historical aspects of the novel are well done dramatic but at the same time credible - you believe that what you are reading is close to the truth. However the more current storyline is thin and seems a little forced in its symbolism.

While the historical characters really come to life only one of the modern characters is more than paper thin.

All in all a decent, entertaining and informative read, but be prepared for loats aw brawd Scots dialekt!

and if you know your history..............., 12 Jul 2001
If you're into history and know the landscape and past of Edinburgh/Scotland then you'll really take to this book. He captures the present day Edinburgh very well and (although I wasn't there at the time!) convinced me of the harsh realities of the Tolbooth Prison and the Bass Rock a few centuries ago. The portrayal of life in Edinburgh then and now will strike a chord with anyone who has sympathy for those living on the outer edge of society.

How theyýre told in Scotland., 09 Mar 2005
I have read helpful and detailed appreciations of this book on the Internet. I shall just add two points. Firstly, I think the book's great strength is that it is written by a skeptic. Ghost stories are not likely to be taken seriously if their reporting is sensationalized. James Robertson has collected and presented them with just the right mix of detached scholarship and narrative simplicity. Secondly, it should be obvious that ghost stories are ideal material for old-fashioned listening rather than for reading. Accordingly, I strongly recommend the Soundings audio version of this book, enabling you to hear the Scottish ghost stories told by a Scotsman. James Bryce delivers them beautifully, tossing the place names and off with ready familiarity.

With its prolific folklore and long history of civil strife, its many ancient castles and churches, its many bleak, windswept and lonely locations for human habitation, Scotland has been a fertile place for the growth of tales of the supernatural. Most such tales date from earlier more credulous times than ours but Robertson's collection includes recent examples.

Not what I was expecting, 16 Oct 2008
Although this book sounded very interesting I couldn't help but feel disappointed after finishing it.

The blurb suggested that the book was an account of Gideon's encounter with the Devil and the events that followed afterward. It promised to be dark, quirky and bizarre, but there was not enough quirkiness to my taste.
In the prologue of the book a summary of the last months of Gideon's life is given by a publisher who has received Gideon's written account of his life, his testament. The tone is humorous and it completely engages you, warming up to the story to come.
But then Gideon Mack takes over, and it sort of falls apart. In a not very engaging tone Gideon Mack starts telling his life story, starting with his bleak childhood, growing up under the tyrannical rule of his father, also a minister, and his almost invisible mother. Gideon's account is very detached, almost devoid of emotion as if he's a machine, and that makes it hard to sympathize with him.
I found the latter half of the book more enjoyable because of its build-up to Gideon's fall in the gorge and the events that followed, but when the encounter with the devil finally took place, it was an anticlimax and did not live up to the dark expectations I had.
Also, throughout the book questions arose regarding Gideon's behaviour for which no explanation was given, such as his reaction to the mysterious stone, and the fact that he starts withdrawing into seclusion, often not answering telephones or doors.
It all becomes even more of a mystery in the epilogue, where new questions arise when the people in Gideon's life share their view of the minister's behaviour. Instead of shedding some light on the matter the mystery only deepens, and that left me unsatisfied and disappointed.
I also had a hard time dealing with the leaps through time. The story contains so many flashbacks that at different points in the story I lost track of where we were.
All in all I guess I was expecting something different, and that may be the cause that I did not enjoy this book very much. I'll probably give it another go sometime, and maybe then I will enjoy it and understand it better.


Funny, thoughtful and easy read..., 10 Aug 2008
Probably one of the easiest books I've ever read, funny, thoughtful with an air of mystery. Not a Booker prize by any stretch of the imagination but if you want to have a good interesting yarn, with strong characters, and narrative - wrapped up with a little bit of religious philosophy and domestic wisdom, it hits the spot. More of a book between books if you know what i mean but a very enjoyable one at that..

Not so much infernal fantasy, more the story of a life, 08 Aug 2008
I approached this book rather warily, thinking there might be too many cloven hooves and forked tails. However, the initial fantastic scenario draws in the reader, but then the interest is retained as we follow Gideon through his rather narrow life - ordinary, except that the men and women who train as Church of Scotland ministers are now few and far between.

The female characters are somewhat one-dimensional - the pretty wife who he does not take the time to understand; the feisty older woman; the siren. But this may be deliberate - we are seeing the world through Gideon's eyes and with Gideon's faults and lack of empathy. I particularly enjoyed the open ending - is he or isn't he? This leads to speculation on other parts of Gideon's earlier history - was his father the ogre he seemed, or are his views more worthy of support?

My husband is not taken with fantasy novels of any sort