In her follow up to The Half-Drowned King, Linnea Hartsuyker continues her novelization of Snorri Sturlison’s “The Saga of Harald Harfagr” in an immaculately researched story that stands u
“Ragnvald danced on the oars, leaping from one to the next as the crew rowed. Some kept their oars steady to make it easier for him; some tried to jostle Ragnvald off when he landed on them.
“It was a small gesture of defiance, a candle against the dark night, but later Jian would remember that moment and think, That is when it really began.”
Trying too hard with Celtic mythology and a modern setting in KingFisher, McKillip fails to reach her full award-winning potential (she has won the World Fantasy Award previously), in this
Language is magic. It allows us to communicate the intangible as well as the concrete; to relate history, invent story, and blend both into the sometimes maddening mix called legend.
