THE STRONGHOLD

by Mollie Hunter ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 10, 1974

The coasts of the Orkney Islands are dotted with a unique type of stone strongholds known as brochs, and Mollie Hunter's explanation of how these fortresses came to be built combines a seemingly effortless transition back into the harsh mysteries of life under the Druids with a breathtakingly ingenious plot. Indeed the swings of plot may be too abrupt at times, especially when a hitherto mysterious prophecy fulfills itself at exactly the right moment to enable the game-legged Coll to save his beloved Fand from human sacrifice. Coll is of course the designer of the brochs, which he hopes will defend his people, the Tribe of the Boar, against Roman slave raiders. But the adoption of his plan must await the outcome of a bitter power struggle between the Boar chief Nectan who longs to give up resistance to Rome, and the arch Druid Domnall, who at first appears to be the incarnation of evil and gradually is proved to be a kind of prophet, defending the ancient ways and beliefs against change. It is to Hunter's credit that we, along with practical, ""modern"" Coll, can accept Domnall -- plots, human sacrifices and all -- as a keeper of knowledge, a search for ""the secret source of life itself."" The tribe's continually challenged hold on their unfriendly environment and their need for the magic and moral certainties of Druidism is vividly realized, and the drama unfolds without a hint of the self-conscious archaisms so often relied on to shore up settings in the remote past. This is a considerable accomplishment in itself, even though, for us at least, CoWs personal vision never quite catches up with his military genius. Exciting, ambitious, ever so slightly top-heavy.

Pub Date: April 10, 1974

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Harper & Row

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1974

Categories: FICTION