An enjoyable historical fantasy with a conflicted hero.
Spader (Feast of the Raven, 2016) returns to the epic of Gerwulf the Wulfhedinn in this second installment of her series.
Weeks after he was sent to investigate the cultic practices at the center of the Saxon rebellion, Gerwulf reappears in Frankish territory missing his wolf skin but sporting a giant wound on his stomach—an injury that, by the look of it, he should not have survived. Gerwulf, the half-Saxon half-Frankish Wulfhedinn (or wolf-demon), was recently the prisoner of a Saxon witch known as the Walkyrie. But the full nature of their relationship is known only to Gerwulf and the witch. Despite her efforts to convert him to the pagan Saxon cause, he is intent on remaining in the service of his Christian God and the Frankish King Karl. Now a conditional member of the Frankish aristocracy, Gerwulf is no longer interested in being a Wulfhedinn, even if the skills that come with it are the exact reasons he is a valuable servant to the king. As the war between Saxon and Frank intensifies, with oaths broken and atrocities committed on both sides, Gerwulf’s loyalty will continue to be tested: loyalty to God and king but also to his heart and soul. Familial connections to the leader of the Saxon revolt and emotional links to the Walkyrie may make it impossible for Gerwulf to remain a simple Christian soldier. In the end, as his friend Father Pyttel wonders, “can you separate the man from the wolf?” As in the previous volume, Spader’s world of eighth-century Germany is distinctive and a lot of fun, with the fantastic elements playing a supporting role to the historical ones. This novel takes some time to get going, but Gerwulf’s pathos and aspirations make him a complex enough protagonist to carry the book through its quieter moments. While many classic genre archetypes are present in the story, Spader has created a realm that feels just uncharted enough for surprises to be lurking behind every tree. Fans of Feast of the Raven should enjoy this new chapter in the Gerwulf saga.
An enjoyable historical fantasy with a conflicted hero.Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-9971535-3-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Quillstone Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
Sisters in and out of love.
Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-345-45073-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.
Coelho is a Brazilian writer with four books to his credit. Following Diary of a Magus (1992—not reviewed) came this book, published in Brazil in 1988: it's an interdenominational, transcendental, inspirational fable—in other words, a bag of wind.
The story is about a youth empowered to follow his dream. Santiago is an Andalusian shepherd boy who learns through a dream of a treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. An old man, the king of Salem, the first of various spiritual guides, tells the boy that he has discovered his destiny: "to realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation." So Santiago sells his sheep, sails to Tangier, is tricked out of his money, regains it through hard work, crosses the desert with a caravan, stops at an oasis long enough to fall in love, escapes from warring tribesmen by performing a miracle, reaches the pyramids, and eventually gets both the gold and the girl. Along the way he meets an Englishman who describes the Soul of the World; the desert woman Fatima, who teaches him the Language of the World; and an alchemist who says, "Listen to your heart" A message clings like ivy to every encounter; everyone, but everyone, has to put in their two cents' worth, from the crystal merchant to the camel driver ("concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man"). The absence of characterization and overall blandness suggest authorship by a committee of self-improvement pundits—a far cry from Saint- Exupery's The Little Prince: that flagship of the genre was a genuine charmer because it clearly derived from a quirky, individual sensibility.
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.Pub Date: July 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-06-250217-4
Page Count: 192
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1993
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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