Book Review: THE LAST VIKING and the rhythm of narrative history

On By Steven D'AdamoIn On Storytelling, ReviewsLeave a comment

I am woefully behind on posting book reviews, which is perhaps a good thing. It means I’ve at least been keeping up with my reading. So here goes an attempted book review for a book I finished almost a month ago.

I listened to The Last Viking: The True Story of King Harald Hardrada by Don Hollway on audiobook, and it reminded me of the pleasing rhythm of well-constructed narrative history.

King Harald Hardrada was, as Hollway argues, the last great figure of the Viking age of Norse history. After his older brother, King Olaf of Norway, is killed in battle, the young Harald embarks on a wild life’s journey that takes him opposite corners of Europe, until his death in 1066.

Hollway uses a combination of historical sources and dramatized dialogue and exposition to weave together this history of Harald Hardrada’s life. His open discussion of his sources (or lack thereof, at times) and their veracity lends credibility to his understanding of Harald’s life. We have to take the information we have about a person who appears larger than life. Hollway then builds a narrative and life journey fit for a figure who appeared to be legendary in his own time.

To open the book, Hollway cleverly sets the scene for the battle of Stamford Bridge in England, 1066, where King Harald Hardrada of Norway met King Harold the Saxon, of Wessex.

Before the battle begins, Hollway winds the clock back to Harald’s youth. Following the death of his brother, the book follows Harald as he makes his way down the Volga and ultimately to Constantinople, becomes embroiled in the imperial court, and escapes as the reign of Constantine II collapses.

Harald then returns to his homeland and attempts to conquer parts of Sweden and Denmark from his seat in Norway, before finally embarking on his expedition to conquer England. This framing leads to a surprisingly climactic end for Harald, in which Hollway deservedly places him among the most influential figures of his time.

The Last Viking is an excellent read for anyone interested in the early medieval period of Northern Europe or the Byzantine period. For me personally, this book tugged at multiple threads in the history of side of my brain, and only reinforces my growing obsession with the early-Medieval period in Britain, and now Scandanavia.

Steve D

Book Review: THE BRIGHT SWORD

On By Steven D'AdamoIn On Storytelling, ReviewsLeave a comment

The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman is a deeply intimate retelling of the Arthurian legend, of the rise and fall of dynasties, and of the meaning and power one person can hold over kingdoms, countries, and his dearest friends and relatives.

I picked up this book on Audible without any prior knowledge of it, and I greatly enjoyed it.

Grossman pulls all of the legends of the Arthurian tales – Bedivere, Gawain, Gallahad, Lancelot, Morgan, Morgase, Guinevere, and many others – and brings them into a grounded story of the final days of Arthur’s reign.

Without giving away any spoilers, Grossman does a great job of blending the main plot with flashback chapters to explain how each of the main characters got to where they are in the story. This structure served to drive the narrative forward while helping contextualize and humanize the larger-than-life figures one expects to meet in a tale of Arthur.

The story’s use of both fae and Christian mythology was fascinating and only added to the world-building. This is a true high fantasy tale, and the author (as he admits in his note) takes some liberties with historical accuracy.

This is all fairly smooth in the actual reading; the overarching plot and abundant appearance of magic mean there are no illusions about this attempting to be historical fiction.

Would definitely read again, as well as Grossman’s other novels.

Steve D

Book Review: TERRAFORMERS is worth a read

On By Steven D'AdamoIn On Storytelling, ReviewsLeave a comment

I’m coming late to this review, having finished The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz a few weeks ago.

I think a slim part of the reason why it took me so long to review this novel is because I’m still not entirely sure how I felt about it.

As a world-building experiment complete with planet-sized terraforming projects, centuries-long urban planning policies, and biomechanical creatures of varying sentience and form, I found this book thoroughly enjoyable.

However, I think I struggled with the structure of the novel, even as I came to understand Newitz’s attempts to emphasize that monumental societal change does not necessarily happen overnight. Sometimes it takes generations, even when those generations live for centuries, rather than decades.

And so, this book is split into three novella-sized plots, each one taking place several hundred years after its predecessor. Again, while I appreciate the author’s notion that The Revolution is not always instantaneous, this three-part structure made it difficult to connect with any character in particular.

Scratch that, By the time I had connected with Destry of the Environmental Rescue Team – an ecological engineer purpose-designed for her job – the first plot was finished, and I was thrust seven (?) hundred years into the future, with characters who reference Destry as a hero, but who do not land as well as the first plot.

The overall plot between the three timeframes worked, I think. I just found it jarring.

I think Newitz did an excellent job of taking big, messy ideas, like bioengineered limits on intelligence based on one’s role in society, or the Personhood of creatures other than hominids, and including some biomechanical beings, or the concept of a society where people have mastered ecological balance as a form of control (and profit)… Newitz takes these grandiose ideas, and then allows little microcosms of character dialogue talk debate, challenge, and advocate for them in very accessible ways.

The world was incredibly well thought-out and felt lived in. The characters sounded unique and fully realized with their own motives and flaws, and the plot was cohesive and nuanced, even across multiple large time jumps.

This book is worth reading for those reasons, even if its structure feels a little forced.

Steve D

November Write Day: A Week Late

On By Steven D'AdamoIn Fantasy, On LifeLeave a comment

October was a frenetic month, capped off by Halloween festivities and a brief trip I took to L.A. with one friend to visit another friend. I neglected to post this last week, so here we are almost halfway through November.

Last Month’s Goals

  1. Finish three books.
  2. Stretching & exercise.
  3. Continue organizing around the house.
  4. Community resilience.
  5. Take writing notes.

Finish three books?

I finished one book in October – The Terraformers, by Annalee Newitz, for which I’ll post my review next week. I’ve made progress on other reads, and I’m more than halfway through an Arthurian fantasy book: The Bright Sword, by Lev Grossman, so I should be able to hit two or three books in November.

Stretching and exercise?

I did four shorter stretching/yoga sessions in October, short of my goal. I’m hitting another motivation wall with exercise. Luckily, I went on a lovely hike in California last weekend that has given me at least one day of above-average exercise.

Continue organizing around the house?

We got our front hill landscaped, Halloween decorations put out and now cleaned up, and cleaned up the backyard a bit. I still want to build storage shelves in our shed. Some of our neighbors are already putting out holiday lights. We’re not mentally prepared to do so yet, but it will certainly be a topic of conversation and planning in our house until Thanksgiving or so.

Community resilience?

No news on this front. Still pondering.

Take writing notes?

I managed to spend a couple of brief sessions taking notes on stories floating through my head. I also played Dungeons and Dragons over the weekend. During our trip to L.A., our friend organized a one-shot session with his local friend, who DM’d for the three of us.

I used a character I had only used one time before, so I already had a bit of a backstory outline in my head. Playing (and beating!) this one-shot quest has me thinking about this even more. I don’t know if or where I will provide any information for my character, but I will definitely count this towards writing this month.

Goals for November

  1. Finish three books.
    • Current reads: The Bright Sword, by Lev Grossman; A Promised Land by Barack Obama; The Essential Tales and Poems of Edgar Alan Poe, by Edgar Alan Poe and Benjamin Franklin Fisher (editor)
    • Likely next reads: Haven’t looked that far ahead yet.
  2. Stretching & exercise. Aiming for 5-10 shorter exercise sessions, and 2-5 longer yoga or weightlifting sessions (or a hike in the mountains).
  3. Community resilience. Similar to last month, I need to find ways to contribute more directly and proactively in my community.
  4. Take writing notes. I’m taking notes and thinking more regularly about writing, but my attention at the moment is split between two stories in my own fantasy universe and my D&D character. Not a bad thing, I’m just letting my writing curiosity take me where it will for now.

Steve D