The usual splendid stuff from the master of historical battle. There’s a bit of deus ex machina, but it’s tolerable.
An archer on the lam from a bum rap in his county ships out with Henry V to test his shooting and slashing skills at one of the bloodiest but most glorious battles in history.
Cornwell (Sword Song, 2008, etc.), having dealt in gorgeous detail with the role of the longbow at Crecy in his three-volume Archer series, effectively laid the groundwork for this single-volume assessment of the great victory at Agincourt. The hero this time is Nicholas Hood, easily the best archer in his neighborhood, but stuck like his younger brother at the bottom of the local food chain even though he is probably the bastard child of the local squire Lord Slayton. The Hood family was cursed by the evil Perrill family, and the two clans have been feuding for generations. The Perrills, with assistance from dastardly priest Sir Martin, frame the Hooks with a capital crime, forcing Nicholas to leave for London, then ship out for France in the King’s forces. Across the channel he is witness to slaughter and treachery at the siege of Soissons, where, following emergency prayers to St. Crispin and St. Crispinian, he acquires their saintly protection and advice as well as the companionship of lovely local lass Melisande, bastard daughter of one of the greatest French warriors. There is barely time to rest before Nicholas and Melisande ship out again, this time with the King and his expeditionary force. Prince Hal hopes to reclaim his French crown, but his strategy runs afoul of steely resistance by the defenders of the Seine port Harfleur. What was to have been a walkover turns into a long siege in which dysentery claims as many victims as battle. The finally victorious but much depleted English force, instead of calling it a day, heads under Henry toward Calais, a march that draws the attention of the vastly larger French army and finally leads to battle in the sodden fields outside the village the French call Azincourt.
The usual splendid stuff from the master of historical battle. There’s a bit of deus ex machina, but it’s tolerable.Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-06-157891-5
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2008
Despite a few rookie missteps, the novel's originality makes it worth reading.
Four gifted women of color inhabit a multigenerational saga of slavery, rebellion, and magic.
The novel begins in present-day Cleveland, as nursing home worker Gaelle is tending to a mysterious resident, known to staff only as Jane Doe, who has an uncanny ability to generate heat—an ability that Gaelle shares. The mute, ancient woman seems to understand Gaelle’s Creole. Gaelle’s story will recur, but the past predominates here. In 1791, Haiti’s slave rebellion is beginning, as escaped slaves known as maroons are mustering forces. Abigail, whose husband, a rebel, is executed by the whites, is taken by her mistress, Ninette, to New Orleans. Soon after arriving, though, Abigail is rescued from slavery by an ancient crone and a seemingly ageless man named Josiah, who educate her in the dark arts. As yellow fever grips 1850s New Orleans, the Hannigan family repairs to their summer residence, Far Water, with enslaved sisters Veronique and Margot in tow. However, the Hannigan fortunes fail thanks to the feckless husband of Catherine, Ninette’s granddaughter, and Veronique and Margot are sold. They embark on the Underground Railroad but only Margot survives the trek to Ohio. There, Margot is ushered into a magical, Shangri-La–like realm called Remembrance, which was founded by Abigail, now a fearsome priestess. She has erected the Edge, an invisible force field around the black community of Remembrance, barring any whites from entry. Josiah is now her chief henchman. However, white bounty hunters are near, and the Edge, due to Abigail’s increasing dementia, is fraying. Abigail strives to pass the torch to her adopted daughter, 18-year-old Winter, who exhibits powers of psychokinesis. (Margot too has a gift, for visceral empathy.) But before Winter is ready, disaster looms. Scenes drag on as characters ruminate over various courses of action. Plans are too often interrupted by happenstance, which, though realistic, is not all that interesting. And the novel subverts its own suspense by revealing crucial facts way too early.
Despite a few rookie missteps, the novel's originality makes it worth reading.Pub Date: Jan. 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-29845-4
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Forge
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
Then comes the fire storm and "It is so short and jumbled and jangled" . . . because there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre but it is precise jumble and jangle, disconcerting and ultimately devastating.
Pub Date: March 21, 1969
ISBN: 0385312083
Page Count: 232
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Oct. 6, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1969
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