The Hammer and the
Cross
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The Hammer and the
Cross
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The Hammer and the Cross
by
Harry Harrison
Intriguing alternate-world yarn set in England during the turbulent ninth century, from the veteran author of the Stainless Steel Rat series, etc. King Ella, having deposed Osbert, now rules Northumbria--but his rule is swiftly challenged by invading Vikings, while the Christian Church absorbs all wealth and destroys any who dares oppose it. King Edmund of East Anglia is soon defeated and killed by Vikings led by the avenging sons of Ragnar (he was a mighty Viking jarl tortured to death by Ella), who have sworn to conquer all England. Fleeing from the battle is Shef, a young, despised smith, bearing a blade he has forged himself, and upon which Viking swords break. Seeing no future with the broken East Anglians, Shef joins the Viking encampment, where he discovers practitioners of the Way--a civilized version of the old Norse religion eager for new ideas and offering freedom of worship. Shef sides with the mighty warrior Brand, whose allies of the Way intend to dispute the leadership of the Vikings with the Ragnarssons. An inventive genius, Shef rediscovers ancient Roman war-machines and develops some new ones of his own. To supplement the Viking battle-fury, he invents new tactics based on stealth, misdirection, and cunning, and uses untrained but keen and biddable Saxons to man his machines. Finally, the Church appeals to Rome for help, and stirs up the kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex to battle Shef. Shef maneuvers the Mercians, however, into fighting the Ragnarssons, while Alfred of Wessex sides with Shef. But then Rome sends a great force of Franks across the Channel to expunge Shef's hybrid armies and whip Alfred into line. Fascinating sinewy, brutal, and fine--and never mind the sometimes wobbly plot and rather thin characters: few historicals are as powerfully evocative of time and place as Harrison's tremendous saga. |
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One King's Way
by
Harry Harrison
This is the second book of what Harrison seems to be developing into an imposing alternative history saga about a Norse empire in ninth-century England. In it, the Norse ruler, Shef Sigvarthsson, is finding that both Christians and less civilized Norsemen want him dead, that the Norse gods are not as well suited to an established religion as was expected, and that he will need all his statecraft and technical ingenuity to keep the proverbial alligators from biting him, never mind draining the swamp. One of his creations is a huge war fleet, which is to be used for defense but also creates the potential for empire building beyond the Channel. As before, Harrison's pacing, characterization, narrative sweep, and evident research are all impressive, but the preaching against Christianity is a trifle less conspicuous. The latest saga (an apt name in this case) from Harrison's pen promises to be one of his most successful undertakings. |
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King and Emperor
by
Harry Harrison
Harrison concludes The Hammer and the Cross, his ambitious, sprawling, but largely successful saga about an alternative history that branches off from the tenth century A.D. Continuing protagonist Shef is now the unquestioned king of the North but faces the ultimate challenge of meeting the Holy Roman Empire. He succeeds in this and in love, too, and at saga's end, Europe enjoys a stable peace, Shef's technological and social innovations are spreading, and Shef has found a degree of personal happiness. The action scenes are superb (Shef's foes are borrowing his innovations liberally, which increases the suspense), the sex scenes are not, and Harrison's anti-Christian bias will inevitably give gratuitous offense to a fair number of readers. Both this volume and the trilogy as a whole, however, do rank high among Harrison's works, and no one who has followed the saga of Shef thus far will be able to resist finding out how it ends. |
