Mother Of Kings, Book One

It is slow work reading Poul Anderson's Mother Of Kings not because of any defect in the novel but only because of other interests and activities. On a visit to Preston, I meditated as usual in a City-centre church, then walked down towards the river to visit the temple only to find that it is closed in the afternoons.

Book One establishes that the novel is not only historical but also fantasy. Magic not only is believed to work but also works. Like an Ysan Witch-Queen, Gunnhild learns how to send her spirit forth as a bird and to call to her the man that she wants.

An unlikely heroine, she cold bloodedly murders the two warlocks who have been training her and I am still not quite sure why. Yes, they were potentially a threat and she wanted out of the situation that she was in. In any case, she winds up married to Eirik so the scene is set for them to work as a couple during the remaining five Books.

As usual, Anderson's narrative follows the changing seasons and makes the reader feel what it would have been like to have lived then. One man offers to Thor but also makes the sign of the Cross because it is no harm to call also on that distant god.