The Lion of the North Book Report
The Lion of the North is a book written by G.A Henty. Henty’s writing style is different from most authors because his books take place in major events in history. He has fictional characters partake in the main event of their timeline, which in this case, is the 30 years war. You’ll get to see the fictional characters interact with historical wonders! This book has part of the story of the Swedish king, Gustaves Adolphus. The reason the book is titled The Lion of the North is that, the lion of the north was Adolphus’ nickname (no one is exactly sure why).
The main character is a 16-year-old boy named Malcom Graheme. Malcom is a smart athletic boy who knows how to survive in a dire situation. All he wants is something exciting to happen. Ever sense the king left nothing has happened except continuous rain. Malcom’s father was impaled with a sword when he was just 8-years-old. Malcom’s uncle, Nigel Graheme, promised him that he would take care of Malcom until the day either one of them died. Nigel did his best to keep that promise.
Malcom goes through a huge journey in this book. He is faced with danger, love, starvation, near death, etc. I’ll be talking about three of the biggest life changing moments Malcom has in his adventure, why it was so important, what it did to change the character, if any of the other characters liked it, if it was for the better or the worse, and why the plot twist helped the book progress. Now let’s get down to business.
The book starts out in 1630 Scotland in the middle of a huge rainstorm, and at that very moment, two men, whose names were Captain Hume and Cornell Munro, were asking Malcom if he wants to go to war without any chance of making it back alive. I would’ve said no, but I’m not Malcom, and he said yes. This was a big deal at the time because the rain had kept everyone inside for three days straight. Also, ever sense Scotland’s king left to rule England, nothing exciting had happened. Therefore, to get an offer to go to war in such boring times was like winning an Oscar (except that there were no Oscar award ceremonies back in 1630)! Nigel wasn’t too keen on letting his 16-year-old nephew go to war. He had no family left and he would get lonely without anyone besides his employees. Nigel said no, but Captain Hume and Cornell Munro volunteered to be Malcom’s guardians during the war. Eventually Nigel gave in, and thank goodness, he did! If Malcom wasn’t allowed to go to war, many towns would‘ve been pillaged, ransacked, and utterly destroyed by their enemy, the Imperialists. Malcom’s strategic knowledge helped defeat the Imperialists many times and made sure they never came back.
One evening, the green brigade (the name of the Swedish army) was in a big fight with the Imperialists. And on that fateful evening, King Gustaves Adolphus was killed. He was the general for the green brigade and the king of Sweden. When I read that he died, my heart had a big PANG! It’s hard to see one of the most likable characters get shot in the heart two times (note I said one of the most likable characters). Malcom was devastated to have his chief commander gone forever, and it threw him off his game. No one on the green brigade was happy (if any of them were happy, they’d probably be an Imperialist in disguise). Malcom was depressed. Gustaves was his leader and his role model. I would hate for my role model to be shot in the chest, twice. Malcom was so thrown off that he got majorly injured, but we’ll talk about that later. The Imperialists, on the other hand, were overjoyed! If I was an Imperialist that would mean that, I had won the war! But the war was still going on. The death of King Gustaves was an awful thing to occur because without a general, who’s going to tell the army what to do and where to go to win the battle? Well Malcom does that stuff, but that’s not the point! King Gustaves held a place of respect in my mind. He was a jolly man and loved a good sport. Malcom showed that while saving many towns, Gustaves recognized his hard work, thus he promoted Malcom to Captain of the army. That sounds like a great leader to me, and I think great leaders should die by old age, not by two bullets in the heart! Malcom discovered that he had to except the death of a close friend and to keep defending what is right, even if your leader is down. This paragraph is in loving memory of King Gustaves Adolphus.
Right after the news came to Malcom that King Gustaves Adolphus was dead he had to go into battle and win! But he didn’t, in fact he was shot twice by an Imperialist. One bullet through the rib cage and the other one though the left arm. Thankfully, the bullets just narrowly missed vital arteries. If the bullets did hit the vital arteries, he would’ve bleed to death within five minutes of being shot! But the bullet that hit his arm knocked out many nerves, thus he couldn’t move his arm. Because of that, the surgeons had to amputate his arm (I hope he’s right handed). This was obviously bad because now Malcom only has one hand to work with. That means he can’t work with guns anymore, and he’ll also need someone to help him with stuff that requires two arms and hands like lifting heavy stuff, horse mounting, cutting his meat, and all sorts of things. I don’t think Malcom was in favor of having only one arm and hand, but like my grandpa said, “It’s better than the alternative!” (The alternative is death!) Malcom learned to appreciate what you have, even an arm, because it can leave you any second.
Wallenstein was a former ally to the green brigade, but during the battle where King Gustaves died, Wallenstein turned on them and switched sides to the Imperialists. The next battle, he shot Malcom in the rib cage and the left arm. This act of betrayal upset most everyone in the green brigade. Malcom was truly startled to see that it was Wallenstein who shot him. It sickened him to the bone. But it really didn’t matter that Wallenstein switched sides because Malcom murdered him as soon as he got the chance. All evil shall be reformed. If that doesn’t work, than all evil must DIE! This choice moved the storyline a little bit. If Wallenstein hadn’t shot Malcom, than Malcom wouldn’t have met his true love, Thekla. Oops! I’ve said too much! Nevertheless, Malcom figured out that he had to know who to trust before you actually trust them.
Malcom got the flu in Old Brandenburg because the air and water quality was pretty bad, so he led a party of sick soldiers to a town they had defended from the Imperialists called, Glogav (glug- OFF). A few weeks past and most of the troops were all better (the rest were almost all better), Malcom got news that the Imperialists were going to attack the city of Mansfeld. He thanked the town of Glogav for their hospitality, asked for directions, and rode off to Mansfeld. When they arrived, the count and countess welcomed the tired troops. The count was so thankful that they came to help and they introduced Malcom to their daughter, Thekla. She was a beautiful young woman around the age of 14 with long flowy hair and smooth skin. Thekla would soon fall in love with Malcom, and, (of course) get married! Thekla and Malcom got married in Scotland, and they raised a family in a small home. The countess was perfectly happy with her daughter getting married to an ex-soldier because she loved her daughter and she wanted Thekla to be happy (she also wanted the count to have an air (even though he had already died)). Nigel could care less if his nephew married a count’s daughter. He just wanted Malcom to drop out of the war and spend time with his family (that eventually happened)! This was a good decision on Malcom’s part because he doesn’t have any more risk of major injury (or death!) and he can now live happily ever after with his family! At the end of the book, Malcom realized that family was more important than anything in the world (in retrospect)!
The lion of the north is about a 16-year-old boy who gets called out to war and all of his adventures. That 16-year-old boy’s name is Malcom Graheme. He is a smart, athletic, optimistic young lad who can kick but in battle and destroy any enemy in his way. He was born in 1614, Scotland. 8 years later, Malcom’s father was killed and his uncle Nigel took him under his wing. From then on, Nigel cared for his nephew. That is, until Malcom was taken away to war. His many experiences during the war helped him become more mature (not that he was not mature before he went to war). Like when the king died, he learned how to accept the death of a close friend and how to carry on.
I loved the Lion of the North. It was a great story with a character that had to make some hard choices to get to where he wanted to go. On the other hand, this story wasn’t rich in description. The most description you’d get out of anything was what the “things” name was and what the color scheme was. If I could make any improvements to the story, I’d make sure to give a better history of the 30 Years War than G.A Henty did, as well as, giving more to Malcom’s backstory, and describing the settings better. Even though you are dead, G.A Henty, I think you should take my advice and edit your book in heaven. Thank you for such a wonderful book!
