Subject: Review: Harrison's THE HAMMER AND THE CROSS

From: [email-masked] (R.B. Schmunk)
Date: 29 Sep 93 00:57:33 GMT

THE HAMMER AND THE CROSS
                         By Harry Harrison and John Holm

                          A book review by R.B. Schmunk
                                (Copyright 1993)

THE HAMMER AND THE CROSS is a new alternate history novel by Harry Harrison, 
author of a few other well-known novels in that sub-genre, including A TRANS-
ATLANTIC TUNNEL, HURRAH! and WEST OF EDEN. This time around, he has apparently 
been joined by a collaborator, as the title and copyright pages reveal a co-
author named John Holm.

The setting of THE HAMMER AND THE CROSS is England in the years 865 and 866, 
when the land was divided into several kingdoms and Vikings were a serious 
threat looming over the eastern horizon. Though not explicitly stated, the tale 
apparently devolves from our own history right in the first chapter when King 
Aella (or Ella) of Northumbria captures a much-hated Viking named Ragnar 
Lothbrekes and at the urging of several churchmen has him executed in a 
snakepit. Soon after, Ragnar's four sons hear of it and swear fearsome oaths 
that they will lead a massive invasion of England and destroy its four kings.

But while THE HAMMER AND THE CROSS is the story of that invasion and its 
aftermath, it is primarily about the the rise of a young man from East Anglia. 
Named Shef, he is the bastard son of an English woman and a Viking who raided 
her husband's lands some years before. He first appears at Ragnar's execution, 
having accompanied his step-father on a visit north, and re-appears as the men 
of East Anglia prepare to meet the latest threat to their shore. Returning from 
his first battle, he finds that the family hold has been plundered and his 
step-sister Godive kidnaped. Rather than join the assembling English army, he 
sneaks off like all good heroes do on a private rescue mission. Soon he is in 
the camp of the Vikings and becomes a participant in great events. (Hmmm,
perhaps those last four words should be capitalized.)

I much enjoyed THE HAMMER AND THE CROSS for its evocation of the time and place 
in which it occurred. Though I know little about the era, the book felt right 
to me with its deadly battles and grimy peasants. However, I was not 
particularly comfortable with the characterization. The bad guys were almost 
uniformly bad (particularly Shef's step-brother and the four Ragnarssons), and 
the good guys were generally left undescribed. Only two characters seemed to 
come in shades of gray; one was a Viking leader and the other was...Shef. 
Perhaps this latter point is what disturbed me most about THE HAMMER AND THE 
CROSS. At several times, Shef is seen doing things that are not particularly 
admirable, and at a few others his motivation is unclear. Perhaps some of this
might have been cleared up if the authors had done a better job describing the
relationship between Shef and Godive, since several plot developments result 
from that relationship, but instead much has been left for the reader to 
assume. A final nit which disturbed my enjoyment of the book was Shef's 
inventiveness, a device apparently used so that several features of military 
technology could be introduced decades if not centuries before they actually 
appeared in our world. This point is not all that important, but it did detract 
from the book's success in portraying its setting.

Thus, while I warmly recommend THE HAMMER AND THE CROSS for its description of 
an invasion and subsequent events which never happened, I temper my comments 
with a warning about poorly drawn characters. Consequently, the reader 
interested in the tale may wish to wait until the book appears in paperback 
form, presumably in the summer of 1994.

%A      Harry Harrison
%A      John Holm
%B      THE HAMMER AND THE CROSS
%I      Tor
%C      New York City
%D      1993
%G      ISBN 0-312-85439-0
%O      hardback, US$23.95
%P      415 pp.
--
R.B. Schmunk
Email: [email-masked]
Smail: NASA/Goddard Institute, 2880 Broadway, New York, NY 10025 USA
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