MASK OF THE SOUL EATER

A royal scout considers switching allegiances in this third installment of a historical fantasy series.

The Frankish King Karl has nearly brought the rebellious Saxons to their knees. The Christian king is not a merciful one: When he captures hundreds of pagan Saxon warriors in battle, he has them beheaded in order to strike fear in those who still oppose him. The brutality is too much for Gerwulf, the king’s royal scout, to bear. The half-Saxon, half-Frankish Gerwulf is a Wulfhedinn—a warrior possessed by a wolf demon—and he attacks the king in anger. Imprisoned for his transgression, Gerwulf is rescued by his friend Brother Pyttel, a Christian monk who isn’t above murder when it’s convenient. Pyttel hopes to end the war with no further bloodshed, though he is disturbed that the pagan gods now seem to speak to him more than his Christian one. Gerwulf has no further agenda other than tracking down Vala, a priestess enthralled to the war goddess Walkyrie who happens to be carrying his unborn child. In order to possess Vala, Gerwulf may have to join the father he was raised to despise, lead the wolf-warriors he has long forsaken, and switch sides in a war that has already seen so much death and betrayal. Can a man who moves so easily between kings and gods ever find the peace his mind desperately desires? Spader’s prose summons northern Germany in the eighth century in all its muddy, blood-soaked splendor. In this world, the spiritual and the physical are blurred, and even Pyttel’s Jesus can manifest as a bloody pagan apparition: “Then the Shepherd’s hood fell back, and his halo faded into a crown of thorns. The thorns grew longer, penetrating his scalp. Blood flowed, streaking down his face. Christ had paid dearly for our sins. So would I. ‘Your blood will not atone for the blood that has been spilled,’ the Shepherd said.” As in the previous volumes, the book’s alchemy comes from the blending of history—Karl is a version of Charlemagne—with gory sword-and-sorcery elements. Those who know what a seax is will enjoy the continuing adventures of Gerwulf.

A bloody—and entertaining—tale about a gritty warrior in eighth-century Germany.