Kings of the north
(Book)
Description
Copies
Location | Call Number | Status |
---|---|---|
Bedford Park Public Library District - Stacks | FIC Hol | On Shelf |
Homewood Public Library District - Stacks | FIC HOLLAND, C. | On Shelf |
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Published Reviews
Publisher's Weekly Review
Raef Corbanson and his companions return to England in this Viking-era sequel to The High City. England is going through tumultuous times as power struggles first put Ethelred the Unready on the throne, then Sweyn Forkbeard, and a raging civil war follows between Ethelred's son, Edmund, and Sweyn's son, Knut. Raef has his work cut out for him: be a good foster father to Knut; struggle with his daughter, Gemma; and face his fear of the Lady of Hedeby. While Holland's novels are always immersive and set in chaotic times rife with drama, unfortunately, once again, Raef is a hopeless protagonist, too passive and far from the action. His mysterious spiritual powers destroy any dramatic tension because he can foretell the future and also mysteriously defeat his opponents. The characters around him, however, particularly hottempered Knut, are fantastic. Readers of Holland's last works will be a little confused and may finally be frustrated, assuming they have any investment in Raef as a character at all. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Book Review
Prior to 1066, Bloodie Olde Englande was a fine arena for politically inflected combatand veteran historical novelist Holland is just the writer to bring it back to life.In this rousing sequel to The High City (2009), and the concluding volume of a series begun with The Soul Thief (2002), Holland connects numerous attempts to dethrone borderline-scumbag monarch Ethelred (the Unready) with the tale of itinerant adventurer Raef Corbanson, recently returned from Constantinople and now having cast his lot with displaced Scandinavians residing in the Viking town of Jorvik. The complex plot knits Raef's seemingly inherited out-of-body powers with his pursuit by the vindictive wraith of the Lady of Hedeby (a nemesis prominently featured in earlier volumes), who is herself empowered to "enter" others' bodies (e.g., that of Ethelred's somewhat dumpy current consort). Such outbreaks of supernaturalism seem suited to a culture grounded in folklore and magic, and add vigorous counterpoint to Holland's sure-handed deployment of conflicting acts of aggression and conquest (at one point, no fewer than five forces contend for Ethelred's crown), which eventually embrace the Unready one's stalwart progeny Aethelstan and Edmund; powerful Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard and his sons (bloodthirsty Harald and innately noble Knut, later Canute); Ethelred's unconscionable enforcer Eadrich Streona; murderous Jomsviking mercenary leader Thorkel the Tall; and a dozen or so other slashers, burners and co-conspirators. Holland's battle scenes are brilliantly, viscerally detailed, and she's even better in quieter scenes that provide illuminating contrastsnotably, those revealing the impulse of Raef's embattled wife Laissa toward the strange new doctrine of Christianity, and the struggles of ill-fated heir to the throne Edmund to honor his essentially dishonorable father.The work of a true master of her much maligned genre. If you love history, do not under any circumstances overlook or underestimate Cecelia Holland. ]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
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Citations
Holland, C. (2010). Kings of the north (First edition.). Forge.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)Holland, Cecelia, 1943-. 2010. Kings of the North. New York: Forge.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)Holland, Cecelia, 1943-. Kings of the North New York: Forge, 2010.
Harvard Citation (style guide)Holland, C. (2010). Kings of the north. First edn. New York: Forge.
MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)Holland, Cecelia. Kings of the North First edition., Forge, 2010.