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carolhoggart's review
4.0
I was reading late into the night with this one. A fast-moving historical thriller situated both in an atmospheric 1930s English university town - it's not called Oxford but it may as well be - and the endless Germanic forests of the eighth century. What I loved most about this story (apart from the compulsive plot) was the vivid evocation of 1930s university life and of the wider British landscape. Strangely enough, the narratorial asides (such as upon tea as one of the fundamental engines of British life) did not slow the story, but only added to its depth and interest. Unfortunately the author joined the venerable company of historical novelists who have medieval people eating potatoes (don't you know they weren't introduced into Europe until the 1500s?), and the monk's letters did not always have the ring of authenticity (were he really have used the word 'marines'?), but these were minor disruptions to an absorbing story. Thoroughly enjoyable.
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