- Hardcover: 430 pages
- Publisher: Legend paperbacks (3 Jun 1993)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 009926241X
- ISBN-13: 978-0099262411
- Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 16.2 x 4.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,639,273 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
"A swift-paced, historical SF story with an air of absolute authenticity. This is the way it might have, and perhaps should have been."--"Science Fiction Chronicle"
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
A fantasy adventure set in the 9th century. With plans under way for a Christian crusade against the pagan Viking lords of England, an English boy finds himself a pawn between those Vikings who would live in peace and those who seek only war.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is Harrison at his very best. Not his more famous space opera stuff but a powerfully presented alternative history. Drifting well into the realms of fantasy Harrison proves that he is a master story teller.
If you've read his other alternative history, Stars And Stripes for Ever, don't be put off: buy this book and see how it should be done.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Science fantasy at it's best as Harry Harrison weaves an epic tale of warring gods, pagan Vikings and Christian English, in an alternative history.
Volume 1 of the trilogy sees our 'hero' - one uses the term loosely - rise from a lowly position in his English village, through the protection of a new Viking religion, to king of half of England.
Along the way there is enough death, battle and sudden murder, often described in gruesome detail - such as the death of the English king or Shef's ritual blinding - to please anyone!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
24 reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Great, Excellent, Fantasic
20 Jan 2005
Format:Paperback
I normally dislike alternate history. But this proved that people can pull this genre off. If you come to this book looking for stories about the Norse gods you won't find them. Instead, you find an Englishman who falls in among Viking raiders . He meets a Way-man(i.e. Asatruar) who tells him about the Asier and Vanir (Norse gods). His life from that point is then touched by his patron god (can't say who, it will spoil the book).
This is a grand story, filled with romance, action, adventure, mystery, and one suprise after another. I'm currently reading the sequel and so far it is proving to be just as impressive. You will not be disappointed if you buy this book.
This is a grand story, filled with romance, action, adventure, mystery, and one suprise after another. I'm currently reading the sequel and so far it is proving to be just as impressive. You will not be disappointed if you buy this book.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Where myths are borne
23 Oct 2000
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This alternate history tale is full of attractive ideas, images and characters. A very well documented background, reveals Harrison's researches. This novel shows how myths are created, the chosen Hero, rising from an obscure corner and going step by step on the path Gods or Destiny had forged. At the same time, Shef is not a puppet in their hands, his humanity is present, he is free to choose and he does so, not without paying the price.
The entire early middle age world is reconstructed accurately; its reality is overwhelming. Harrison has profited from his long period at Denmark, the Norse legends blended into the narrative and the Viking characters, with their regional characteristics (a Dane is different from a Norwegian and from a Sweden) shows it. Also we may trace hints of Mark Twain's "Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur's court", and that excellent movie that was "Alfred the Great" but recreated in a new and brilliant scheme. The inventions and rediscoveries are plausible, they make me think about a genius like Leonardo da Vinci, transported some centuries ahead of his time.
A book to enjoy and read more than once.
Reviewed by Max Yofre.
The entire early middle age world is reconstructed accurately; its reality is overwhelming. Harrison has profited from his long period at Denmark, the Norse legends blended into the narrative and the Viking characters, with their regional characteristics (a Dane is different from a Norwegian and from a Sweden) shows it. Also we may trace hints of Mark Twain's "Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur's court", and that excellent movie that was "Alfred the Great" but recreated in a new and brilliant scheme. The inventions and rediscoveries are plausible, they make me think about a genius like Leonardo da Vinci, transported some centuries ahead of his time.
A book to enjoy and read more than once.
Reviewed by Max Yofre.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Brutally realistic, yet idealistic, historical fiction.
17 Feb 1999
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Being both a historian and a fantasy fan, I loved this book. Harrison's recreation of the brutality of the so-called Dark Ages adds an element of realism sorely lacking from most fantasy novels. Moreover, he's gotten most of his history right. On top of all the brutality, though, is the desire of Shef and his cohorts of "the Way" to create a less brutal, more human society, all the while being manipulated by the various gods of Norse mythology. For those who liked this book, try "A Game of Thrones" by George Martin. The story line takes a lot from the War of the Roses, and Martin is Harrison's equal in depicting the brutality of medeival life.
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