Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #435774 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-05
• Binding: Hardcover
• 400 pages

Synopsis
There is nothing soft or silken in the northlands, where for decades there has been bitter, bloody war between the Vikings, the Celts and the Anglo-Saxons. But times change, even in the north, and for a generation there has been peace...And yet, what has changed once can always change again...Alun ab Owyn, grieving for his brother's death at the hands of the raiders, leaves his lands to become embroiled in the politics of the great. Bern Thorkellson, punished for his father's sins, commits an act of vengeance that brings him face-to-face, across the seas, with a past he's been trying to leave behind. And the shrewd King Aeldred shores up his defences with alliances and diplomacy - and with swords and arrows. The death of a prince, the new life of an exile, and the dreams of a king will be the threads from which the tapestry is woven, and the world is changed forever...

Customer Reviews

Stock writing from Kay
This is a solid but unspectacular offering from Kay. It is set in the same alternate earth with which we are familiar from his other novels, and it benefits from many of the same familiar ingredients. In many ways this feels more familiar than normal, but this is perhaps because I have had greater exposure to British history than the various European regions in which his other novels are set.

He has a broad cast once again, which allows for some good characterisation, but also leads to a slightly staccato feel as the viewpoint changes frequently. Some of the characters are a little similar (to each other) and most of them are bog-standard archetypes, but perhaps the main issue is that I didn't feel any particular emotional engagement with any of them. Contrast that with Tigana in particular, but also the Sarantine Mosaic, where I felt genuinely moved as the stories unfolded.

So, once again Kay does a good job with his brand of historical fiction - well researched, reasonably evocative of the era, some very nice details - but on this occasion it doesn't soar as I have come to hope from Kay.

Excellent as always
A great book. Agree that geography was a little disorientating at times but not enough to put me off enjoying it.

Characters were very good as always and I really felt for them as usual. I personally like the 'chopping' style of the storyline as it is good to see how the multiple paths interact together. This is a fairly new direction for GGK and it was good that (unlike RJ's WOT series) there were no 'dull' paths which you felt were taking you away from the action you wanted to read about.

Emotionally speaking I felt more for the characters in Arbonne or AlRassan but those were different storys with different focuses so this is in no way a criticism of LLotS.

All in all an excellent read and throw in Vikings and Blood Eagles and in my book you have a winner ;)

Wonderful book
One of the best fantasy books. It is better than Tigana imho. Tigana was sort of epic fantasy with wizards, etc. This one is a dark fantasy reminding me of Black Company by Glen Cook but in some ways it is even better. I am not very good at reviews, so I can only say that I really really liked the book. I would most definitely recommend this one. Love, death, heroes, loyalty, battles, ugliness of the war, unpredictable events and mystery. I am stunned. I never expected so much from a single volume fantasy work. 10 out of 10 without a cloud of doubt. The only slight drawback is a missing map.