Rite of Conquest [Paperback]

Judith Tarr (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 5, 2004

For 500 years the Saxons ruled England, crushing the ancient powers. But a wave of change approaches. Across the Channel in Normandy, William is born-the bastard son of a duke and a magical woman of Druid descent.

As he grows to manhood, William's battle skills earn him respect, but his temper and disregard for his innate magical abilities hold him back. He needs a teacher, whether he wants one or not, and finds one in the beautiful French noblewoman Mathilda. But William is resistant to the very idea of magic, and unless he can accept Mathilda's help-and her love-his imperfectly controlled abilities may destroy him. In an epic battle that spans worlds and ages, magical forces and earthbound armies will be drawn together by William as he fights to achieve his destiny-and reign as King of England.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Romance reigns in Tarr's absorbing historical fantasy, in which William the Conqueror of Normandy, the reincarnation of King Arthur, must be taught to master his own magic by his witch-wife, Mathilda of Flanders. William's destiny is to throw down the "walls of iron" against the fey beings of the Otherworld, erected by the Saxons and Christianity. He fends off human enemies like Geoffrey of Anjou, while the couple's united magic allows them to travel through the Otherworld faster than mortal foes. In due course William sets sail for England, where Harold Godwineson sits on the throne, having broken his oath to support William for the succession. England's magical and material defenses are powerful, however. It takes two thunderous and marvelously depicted battles (the real-life contests of Stamford Bridge and Hastings) and the powers of William and Mathilda's witch-daughter Cecilia before William can come into his inheritance. Break-neck pacing and compelling historical detail help the reader suspend disbelief.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* How does Tarr do it? She writes scrupulously researched historical fiction that blends myth, mystery, historical fact, and page-turning-good action, producing one such critically acclaimed novel just about every year. As a reigning specialist in fiction of the ancient world, she has taken on settings ranging from dynastic Egypt to Camelot, and her work's fascination derives as much from the solidly grounded, multifaceted backdrop she weaves as from the magical elements, inspired by a masterful storyteller's imagination, that she injects into her scenarios. Rite of Conquest presents William the Conqueror as the bastard son of an earthly year-king and a druid goddess on an earth on which spirit-beings mix with mortals, and England as the scene of an earth-based paganism rebelliously stirring against centuries of Saxon-enforced Christianity. Sent by her nobleman father to the French court to perfect her magic and eventually become a Guardian, thereby fulfilling her destiny as ruler of worlds mortal and magical, Mathilda meets young Bastard William, who has fought in Normandy and resists his innate gifts. She sees him as the One Foretold, and with her powers he will risk synergizing seen and unseen forces to cross the Channel and rule England. Oh, this is irresistible! Whitney Scott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Roc Trade (October 5, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451460022
• ISBN-13: 978-0451460028
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,197,421 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I have a lot of academic credentials (PhD from Yale, MA from Cambridge University, AB from Mt. Holyoke) and taught writing and Latin at Wesleyan University in Connecticut--before I ran away from it all to live on a mesa in Arizona. I breed and ride Lipizzan horses, read and study history (and make up my own alternate and fantastical versions), and write--novels, short stories, articles. I teach writing online (details at http://capriole.smoe.org) and blog on the livejournals as dancinghorse. My alter ego is author Caitlin Brennan, who also has a plog on amazon.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Rite of Conquest, September 13, 2005

By 

Illg (Seattle, Washington) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rite of Conquest (Paperback)

Judith Tarr is an author I generally like. I've read a number of her books, and they are often quite interesting, even if you have to suspend disbelief. Rite of Conquest is well-written. Unfortunately, I don't think this book is one of her best. In order to make William "the Conqueror" "fit" her "Arthurian" image, she has to do a lot of "playing" with what is historically known, and the result is a tale that doesn't look like any histories I've ever seen of this period. That, in itself, is not bad; it's p ossible in fantasy and science fiction to play with historical "realities" to a certain extent. However, she plays so much with the realities of the time, that the characters simply become unbelievable. Their motivations are not rooted ini any actual context(which I think even a "historical fantasy" writer must accept), but in what she would "like", based on certaiin tropes popular among (some) fantasists: namely "happy pagans" and "magic practitioners". She comes up with some pretty odd practitioners of these arts, e.g. Lanfranc, who was later Archbishop of Canterbury. And she makes William a lot "nicer" than he probably actually was, ignoring the fact that the English probably considered him little more than a thug with a crown on his head. But as I said, she writes well, and if the reader is able to keep a very large grain of salt nearby, it is enjoyable.
Anne G

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a Bad Historical Fantasy about William the Conqueror & Matilda, September 1, 2005

By 

Kimberly Gelderman (Spring Lake, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rite of Conquest (Paperback)

This is the historical fantasy version of William and Matilda. They are both blessed/cursed with great magic. William is also the reincarnation of King Arthur (which I found extremely difficult to swallow). It follows William and Matilda from 1047-1066 in primarily Normandy & England. The overall story was ok but it was not riveting.

My biggest problem with this novel is the idea that William is actually King Arthur reincarnated. I find it difficult to believe that "William/Arthur" would have been able to justify the slaughter of his own "countrymen" to rightfully rule again.

I enjoyed Judith Tarr's "Pride of Kings" & "Kingdom of the Grail" much more. I guess that's because the stories were more realistic and grounded more in fact rather than so much fantasy/magic such as this one was.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars spellbinding historical fantasy, October 6, 2004

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rite of Conquest (Paperback)

Rite of Conquest
Judith Tarr
Roc, Oct 2004, $16.00, 384 pp.
ISBN: 0451460022

In 1047, William the Duke of Normandy tries to ignore the magic that flows through his veins as he battles pretenders and contenders who wish to replace him. The old magic thrives in Normandy with beneficial spirits who want to help mankind. Powerful sorceress Mathilda, daughter of the Count of Flanders, is sent to the French King's court where William has come after winning a decisive battle abetted by King Henry.

When William meets Mathilda, she lectures him on the use of his magic so that he does not inadvertently hurt himself or others. Fearing the magic that is the antithesis of Christianity, William flees to his Normandy, but cannot forget Mathilda. He proposes marriage and she accepts. They may forge a dynasty across the Channel where the Church has thrown out the magic, but William must first defeat King Harold.

The story of William's rise to power, consolidation of that power, and his marriage to Mathilda are part of the history books, but also cleverly interwoven into a spellbinding historical fantasy that once again shows why Judith Tarr is the mistress of the sub-genre. Her unique slant on the events leading to 1066 makes for a fun and fascinating read. The use of magic as a benign tool while the battles provide a more mundane (though interesting) look at William's claiming of the throne with church approval maks for a fascinating juxtaposition. RITE OF CONQUEST is a definite keeper.

Harriet Klausner