Editing Rob Roy (novel) (section)

==Reception==
''Rob Roy'' met with a generally enthusiastic reception from the reviewers.<ref>For a full list of contemporaneous British reviews see William S. Ward, ''Literary Reviews in British Periodicals, 1798‒1820: A Bibliography'', 2 vols (New York and London, 1972), 2.487. For an earlier annotated list see James Clarkson Corson, ''A Bibliography of Sir Walter Scott'' (Edinburgh and London, 1943), 215‒16.</ref> Only three (''The Anti-Unionist'', ''The British Critic'', and ''The Theatrical Inquisitor''), were predominantly hostile. The characters were generally admired, though a degree of caricature was sometimes detected; several reviewers pointed out that some of them bore a distinct resemblance to characters in the preceding novels (Die to Flora in ''[[Waverley (novel)|Waverley]]'', Helen to Meg Merilees in ''[[Guy Mannering]]'', and Fairservice to Dandie Dinmont in ''Guy Mannering'' and Cuddie Headrigg in ''[[Old Mortality]]'') but they mostly noted significant variations which meant they were not mere repetitions. Although one or two reviewers were surprised by the failure of Rob to live up to his prominence in the title, he was generally judged a success. The Highland landscape descriptions and striking individual scenes also attracted much praise. Most reviewers found the story rather weak, as usual with this author, with improbable coincidences and a hurried conclusion.