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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Terrible Promise,
By
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This review is from: Golden Warrior (Hardcover)
Not a whole lot is known about English King Harold, the loser of the momentous battle of Hastings in 1066. After all, he was only king for about nine months, and, well, he lost. Not only do the winners write the history, as we know, but they often obliterate the histories of those they vanquished. However, what little is known makes for fascinating conjecture, and this great novel by Hope Muntz gives us a very convincing depiction of what very well may have been. It is easy to forget that history is made by men, not the other way around, and Ms. Muntz's novel rises above hundreds of others of its type because she understands that things happen in this world because of the characters of those involved. After meticulously painting the complex personalities of both Harold and William--and those who preceded them--their conflict becomes inevitable. What is fascinating is that the outcome of this conflict, this world-altering conflict, was in doubt almost to the bitter end. What is known is that heirless Edward, Harold's predecessor, promised the throne to William the Norman. He himself was raised by the Normans, was their friend, and was enamored of them. We also know that prior to Edward's death, Harold himself promised to support William's ascension, although there is some debate as to whether this promise was coerced. How did this come about? Harold would seem to have been the obvious successor. He was by the far the single most respected figure in fractious England, his was the largest earldom in the land, his sister was married to Edward, and, perhaps most importantly, he was English to his bones, unlike the Norman William. The die was initially cast by a weak and vacillating Edward, who foolishly promised the crown to William more than a decade earlier. But when it became obvious to Harold and the English nobility that he would be the most logical choice, Harold went to Normandy to undo this. Harold, you see, was a proud, powerful, generous man, motivated entirely by his desire to see a united and peaceful England. His mistake was that he naively assumed William's desires for the English were similar, and although unstated, it appears his motive in visiting Normandy was simply to convince William that he was the right man for the job. But William was far less altruistic, and in fact was unscrupulously motivated by wealth and power. After months of being feted, it became obvious to Harold that William was not going to let him go. When informed that civil strife had erupted in England, Harold determined to leave by using any means at his disposal. Thus the promise--nobly motivated to be sure--but a terrible promise nevertheless, and with his youngest brother Wulfnoth left behind as hostage to it. There then follows the inevitable. Edward dies, Harold succeeds him to the throne, and William vows revenge. Harold marries Aldyth, sister of an English rival, in order to facilitate peace, but in doing so breaks the promise he made to the mother of his children, Edith, his "hand-fast" wife. Again, a poor, but nobly-made decision. By this time the reader has been utterly swept up by the empathy he has been made to feel for the all-too-human Harold, and the tragic events we know must follow. Yes, tragedy is the word. The passages in the latter part of the novel are almost Shakespearian in their eloquence and power. On the eve of battle Harold is scorned and reviled by Aldyth, who was jealous over his inability to let Edith go; on the eve of battle his weeping, inconsolable mother berates him for losing her youngest son, the doomed Wulfnoth. Harold goes to his final confrontation tormented by these thoughts. William, in an enemy land and with dwindling supplies, knows he must force the battle with the weakened Harold immediately, and does so by ravaging the countryside, knowing that the good Harold can not abide the suffering of his poor peasants. Again, we see actions motivated by character. And then there is the battle itself, the horrific, day-long, bloody, hate-filled clash, the ebb and flow of which is recounted here in vivid, realistic detail. Both men fight valiantly, but in the end, a mortally wounded and practically blind Harold is informed that his brothers are dead, and that the Normans have broken through the right side of his line. The first part of this novel can be a little daunting. There is a large cast of unfamiliar, inter-related characters, with names like Leofwin, Alfgar, Siward and Gytha. But once the narrative begins to focus on Harold and William, the going gets a little easier, and the book becomes a powerful, irresistible force. This is truly a magnificent piece of work, the memory of which still haunts me weeks after finishing it. It will likely do so for many weeks to come.
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best Historical Fiction Ever,
By Stuart W. Mirsky "swm" (New York, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Golden Warrior (Hardcover)
I reviewed this book once some time back but amazon apparently cleared it off in one of their software retooling fits so the original text is now lost. Still, Hope Muntz' tale of Harold and William and their epic tug-of-war for the throne of England which ended in the bloody Battle of Hastings in 1066 is worth writing about again (though I haven't the patience or energy to attempt to recap the full text of that now lost review).I'm a lover of historical fiction and have never found any book in that vein better than this one. Written in a terse saga-style which evokes the original time and place of the events recounted, THE GOLDEN WARRIOR offers a time-warp experience which puts us directly in the medieval world on the eve of the final fall of the last of the English kings. Some have found the style of the text a bit off-putting and distant in its early stage but I have never found anyone who, once reading beyond the cool, objective saga like beginning, has failed to admire the book at the end. If there are failings, and there are, they revolve around Muntz' portrayal of Harold, Earl of Wessex and later King of the English, as a man who is almost too good, too perfect to be believed. And yet he is vividly brought to life here along with an entire cast of brilliantly rendered folk including his beloved common-law wife, Edith Swan Neck, and his relentless rival and, finally, foe, William of Normandy. In fact it is William who seems more fully shaped, though Harold, in the end, is the one we cry for. And we do, or at least I did, finding tears on my cheeks when I came to the final battle . . . and this more than once. There are not many books, I think, which can do this but here is one which does it over and over again. For those who love historical fiction, especially set in medieval England, and for those who admire the old sagas or tales of vikings and such, this book is to be sought and treasured. But it is less an adventure than a tale of real people in serious times. The tale of the fall of Harold has never been better told in my opinion than in this veritable English Iliad and I cannot urge it strongly enough. But if you've already read it or if you have no luck in finding it, you might try another which, while not quite as good (I regret to admit) may also be of interest to readers of this one. It's THE KING OF VINLAND'S SAGA, also available on-line and currently in print. Since I wrote it, I wouldn't mind if readers of this "page" wanted to take a look at it as well! Stuart W. Mirsky author of The King of Vinland's Saga P.S. Here are some other good ones in a similar (historical) vein but in no particular order: Saga: A Novel Of Medieval Iceland Eric Brighteyes Styrbiorn the Strong Hercules, My Shipmate Musashi The Fencing Master
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best Historical Novel I've Ever Encountered,
By Stuart W. Mirsky "swm" (New York, USA) - See all my reviews If there are failings, and there are, they revolve around Muntz' portrayal of Harold, Earl of Wessex and later King of the English, as a man who is almost too good, too perfect to be believed. And yet he is vividly brought to life here, along with an entire cast of brilliantly rendered folk including his beloved common-law wife, Edith Swan Neck, and his relentless rival and, finally, foe, William of Normandy. In fact it is William who seems more fully formed, though Harold, in the end, is the one we cry for. And cry we do, or at least I did, finding tears on my cheeks when I came to the final battle -- and this more than once. There are not many books, I think, which can do this but here is one which does it over and over again. For those who love historical fiction, especially set in medieval England, and those who admire the old sagas or tales of vikings and such, this book is worth nearly all the rest. But it's less an adventure than a tale of real people in serious times. The fall of Harold has never been better told than in this veritable English Iliad and I cannot urge it strongly enough. SWM Saga: A Novel Of Medieval Iceland Eric Brighteyes: The Works of H. Rider Haggard Styrbiorn the Strong Two Ravens The Greenlanders The King of Vinland's Saga
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