[Doglips]

Hammer and the Cross, Vol. 1
Harry Harrison ISBN: 0812523482

This is an interesting take on historical fiction. In this case an English boy rises from near slave to leader of a Viking war band. In the process forms an alliance with an English king to oppose the army of the pope. Aside from the battles and use of old/new technology (basically Battle Rifle 3G gets creative with catapults) the side story is about freeing the people to own land and to have religious freedom and how it would improve life for all. This is an interesting book to read. Mr. Harrison presents the series of events in such a logical and probable manner that you wonder why it did not happen. It also shows fairly accurately the hardships the early Catholic Church caused the peasant class of society and shows in a simplistic way, the Nordic religion of the Vikings. Overall this is an enjoyable book to read. The action keeps coming and the images are striking. Below is the publisher’s description of this book.

From the Publisher
Harry Harrison, best-selling author of the acclaimed West of Eden trilogy, returns to alternate history with a major new work: a thrilling and thought-provoking adventure set on an Earth both similar to and radically different from our own. 865 A.D. Warring kings rule over the British Isles, but the Church rules over the kings. Powerful bishops and black-robed priests fill their cathedrals with gold, while threatening all who oppose them with ****ation. But there are those who do not fear the priests, and they are the dreaded Vikings of Scandinavia. Among these Northern invaders, those who follow the Way of the Gods of Asgard carry the Hammer of Thor as their emblem, and they are sworn to increase mankind's knowledge and strength by conquest and by craft. And as Viking warlords cast hungry eyes upon a weak and divided Britain, the Way collides with the Church, launching an all-out war between The Hammer and the Cross. At the center of this bloody conflict is Shef, ******* son of a Norse raider and a captive English lady. A smith and a warrior, he is driven by strange visions that seem to come from Odin himself. Torn by divided loyalties, Shef alone dares to imagine new weapons and tactics with which to carve out a kingdom - and threaten the holy power of Rome itself!
:nod: :nod: