Customer Reviews

Siege of Tarr-Hostigos (Kalvan Series, Book 4)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In Siege of Tarr-Hostigos, John F. Carr continues his homage to H. Beam Piper's Paratime hero Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen, a.k.a. Corporal Calvin Morrison. Building on earlier Kalvan sequels co-authored with Roland Green, Great Kings War and Kalvan Kingmaker, Carr's Siege takes place after Great King Kalvan, the former Pennsylvania state trooper and unwilling cross-dimensional interloper, has successfully foiled an attempt by the forces of the theocratic Styphon's House to overrun his kingdom with hordes of Sastragathi tribes. Instead, Kalvan managed to forge an alliance with the neighboring Trygath and turned the Sastragathi back upon the Styphoni, dealing them a crushing defeat. Siege opens with Kalvan facing a new threat, as Styphon's House, under the de facto leadership of Roxthar the Holy Investigator, throws its might behind the Great Kingdom of Hos-Harphax, from which Kalvan had originally carved his own Great Kingdom of Hos-Hostigos. All the while, the events of Kalvan Time Line are monitored and manipulated by the First Level Paratimers responsible for Kalvan's accidental transposition to this alternate world. Paratime Police Chief Verkan Vall--disguised as "Trader Verkan" to Kalvan--faces ever increasing pressure from the Opposition which has begun to use events on Kalvan's Time Line as a cover for their efforts to discredit the Paratime Police and gain control of the First Level Government.

Carr, editor of four anthologies of Piper's work (Paratime, Federation, Empire, and The Worlds of H. Beam Piper) and described by long-time collaborator Jerry Pournelle as "a recognized authority on the life and works of H. Beam Piper," uses his extensive familiarity with Piper's Paratime setting to craft a compelling story that begins to move beyond Kalvan's ongoing struggle with Styphon's House to a brewing crisis at the very heart of First Level Paratime civilization.

John Carr has taken up the cause with Roland Green to continue the Otherwhen series created by deceased H. Beam Piper. King Kalvin (an American policeman lost in time)continues his struggle to save his adopted home in an alternate 1300s North America.

This book follows Carr's earlier effort in Kalvan Kingmaker in which King Kalvin had consolidated his power base in the new state of Hos Hostigos modernising the military and civil society (via commerce/education/land reform/political expansion. Roland Green has returned to add his considerable talents to a thought provoking and gritty series on an alternate world.

The battle scenes and overall plot development have improved with the return of Green working with his old partner Carr. The story itself follows in a logical order. The new characters have improved since The Kingmaker and the story catches one's attention quickly and holds it. Kalvin is under attack by a resurgent House of Styphon and is being battered on all fronts. His enemies have gotten their act together and even aid from the secretive Paratime police (of course unknown to Kalvin)is not enough...

You still have grand battles on the scale of the 100 Years War and wide spread strategies across the North American continent. Changes to society are in the making as old ways crumble in the face of Kalvan's efforts to mold a kingdom to resist Styphon's onslaught. Some of this is very PC (moves to let women enter the ranks of the fighting men,)but others have interesting ripple effects (orphans being raised as loyalists, roads, expanding the University, introducing the scientific method of investigation etc) on an entire world. New characters and societies are introduced and you see the pressures mounting on Kalvin's new country. Kalvin himself seems more human as self doubts pile on...

The weak point is the last chapter and ending, obviously it is set up for another book. Overall this is a better book than Kalvan Kingmaker and hopefully Mr. Carr and Green will continue their efforts to broaden the series strength. The book is worth purchasing, but the wait for the next in the series seems endless!

I first read H. Beam Piper's "Lord Kalvan Of Otherwhen" many years ago and always wondered how Kalvan fared after the end of that book. In this volume and in "Kalvan Kingmaker" John Carr has produced a totally satisfactory follow on to "Lord Kalvan". An outstanding development of the Kalvan story line, exceptional character development, and painstaking attention to detail, have all contributed to make an outstanding novel. Mr. Carr's handling of the details of the political interactions and his very realistic battle descriptions make this a book that will appeal to readers of all types. I look forward to more in this series from Mr. Carr.

I just finished reading Kalvan King Maker and would love to get to the next book, but it's not available in an electronic format. I would even pay the Premium $14 price. I don't buy dead tree versions anymore. I think I speak for a lot of others who are waiting for the Kindle version.

I would love to read this book but-- $50 or higher??! My local library doesn't have it. Why such a high price? Are there any plans to publish this at a reasonable price?