King and Emperor

Paperback

Main Details

Title King and Emperor
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Harry Harrison
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback
Pages:452
Dimensions(mm): Height 178,Width 110
Category/GenreScience fiction
ISBN/Barcode 9780099303091
ClassificationsDewey:813.54
Audience
General
Illustrations 1 map

Publishing Details

Publisher Little, Brown Book Group
Imprint Legend
Publication Date 20 March 1997
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

The last part of a trilogy. Shef Sigvarthsson has turned England and the Northlands into a great empire. But despite the help from King Arthur, the Norse priests of the Asgarth Way, and others (including his father, the Aesir god Rig), he remained the One King. Without him the empire would crumble.

Reviews

Kirkus Review US:The conclusion of Harrison's rousing, pulsating alternate-history trilogy (The Hammer and the Cross, 1993; One King's Way, 1995). One-eyed King Shef, master of England and Scandinavia, backed by the tolerant, inquisitive religious philosophers of the Way, now proposes to tackle three vastly greater and more powerful empires: Moorish Spain, Byzantium, and the Holy Roman Empire. The Moors are wealthy and learned but constantly at war with Roman Emperor Bruno, who carries the Holy spear and considers himself invulnerable; the Byzants, allied with Bruno, have a matchless navy. Bruno also covets the Holy Grail - actually the wooden ladder by which Christ was brought down from the cross - which he suspects has been hidden in a castle by a sect of heretics. Restless, curious, often touched by the Norse gods, Shef is warned by his patron deity, Rig, that Loki the fire-god has escaped his chains and that Ragnarok - the Viking Armageddon - approaches. But can Shef's small fleet, even though it's maneuverable and armed with catapults, defeat the terrifying Greek fire of the Byzantine navy? Can his fearless Viking warriors and canny English crossbowmen beat back Bruno's armored knights and the moorish hordes? Harrison, by way of thrilling battles and speculation informed by a wealth of historical detail, provides spellbinding and satisfying answers. A rip-roaring culmination to a magnificent trilogy. If you haven't yet made the acquaintance of this series, get the first volume and do so at once. (Kirkus Reviews)