Wednesday, March 07, 2012

Book review: Hawk Quest, by Robert Lyndon

Robert Lyndon’s impressive Hawk Quest shows what historical adventure novels can achieve when their world-building, action sequences, descriptive scenes, and characterizations are all written to the same high caliber.

The year is 1072, as William the Conqueror proceeds with his grim subjugation of northern England. Further south, Sir Walter, a Norman magnate’s son fighting for the Byzantine emperor, has been taken prisoner in Anatolia after the Battle of Manzikert. With his family unable to afford Emir Suleyman's other ransom terms, their only hope lies in finding four white gyrfalcons, to be captured from their eyries in the frozen North... and time is of the essence.

A diverse group of men sets out on a mission to catch and bring back the hawks. Each has his own reasons for signing on, though not all are revealed to their comrades.

Vallon, a Frankish soldier of fortune with a mysterious past, becomes the party's de facto leader. His fellows include idealistic Hero, a Sicilian Greek medical student; Wayland, a peasant and master falconer who was rendered mute after his family's murder; Richard, Walter's intelligent yet browbeaten stepbrother; and Raul, an expert crossbowman from Germany. Wayland’s huge nameless dog, a great character in his own right, proves to be an equally valuable member of their band.

The journey, which reaches to the far corners of the known world and back again, is the very definition of arduous. Imagine making your way from a hut in the Alps to the fens of East Anglia, thence to the rough, undeveloped Orkney Islands and to the wilds of distant Iceland and Greenland, on foot and by sea – the latter, by means of a creaky vessel held together by skill and luck, under the oversight of a disfigured, uncouth, possibly double-crossing shipbuilder. And from the moment they leave his family's castle, Walter’s jealous stepbrother Drogo pursues them, as eager to halt their quest as they are to finish it.

That’s only half the story. On the route back, Vallon and company contend with Vikings, Lapps, difficult waterways, treacherous guides, and other obstacles from the natural and human realms. Two women join the party at different stops, which adds romantic tension, but they're still interlopers in what's clearly a male domain. During this harsh age, strength is no guarantee of survival.

In this whopping 658-page novel, the final goal remains in view throughout, but the danger of the moment is frequently more pressing. Fortunately for the adventuresome reader, there’s plenty of it to keep the plot moving ahead, and the ties between the men strengthen as their trek continues. The ever-changing environment is presented with a fierce immediacy that makes you feel like you’re braving the elements (and the enemy) right along with them.

The novel opens with a hanging, and this dark and haunting image sets the stage for what’s to come. Lyndon describes sights with stark, visceral language: “Dawn broke like blood percolating through dirty water.” But then, just as you start to feel overwhelmed by bleakness, the beauty of these remote places will catch at your heart. He writes of the northern aurora: “Down from the top of the heavens scrolled a gossamer curtain of pale green, its shifting drapes fringed with bands of purple. The folds undulated with a kind of beckoning motion, fading and returning.”

Such is the dilemma offered by this thrilling yet lyrical epic. Though you may be tempted to speed on through, many scenes are worth lingering over and savoring. Hawk Quest demands commitment but is worth the time invested.  Billed as “the ultimate historical adventure,” it does a good job fulfilling that promise.

Hawk Quest was published by Sphere, an imprint of Little Brown UK, in January at £12.99 in hardcover and trade paperback (same price; take your pick).  And yep, this is another chunkster for that challenge.

26 comments:

  1. What an interesting choice for a review - I would love to find more good historical adventures novels, especially about the Norman Conquest. After reading this review, I immediately headed over to Amazon and sadly noted that it's a bit expensive and seems to have been published only in the UK.

    I'll definitely keep an eye out for a used copy as I think my father would enjoy this one as well.

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  2. Yes - I've been trying to read some outside my usual arena! For those who enjoy historical adventure, this would be an excellent choice. You're right - as it's published by Little Brown UK, it won't be on Amazon.com, but you might try Abebooks. Book Depository and other UK sellers have new editions available via that avenue, most of which are postage-free. Imho, and nobody's paying me to say this, but $20 for a huge trade paperback that took me over a week to read isn't bad at all :)

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  3. ps - 1066 and after does seem to be where it's at lately. There's a multitude of new novels out about Hereward the Wake, plus I just saw this publishing deal in booktrade.info this morning. I'd love to see more women's fiction set in this period too.

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  4. This sounds really interesting!

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  5. I am actually reading this book at the moment. Only just started, too soon to say but liking it so far. It is very different from my usual choice but I read so many rave reviews I had to try it. Someone mentioned the price, I bought it through Book Depository in the UK. The price I found very reasonable and postage is free.

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  6. That's why I opted for it too - there were so many stellar reviews. I understand why now. The quality of the writing is a cut above. Alas, for this one Book Depository isn't a direct option for those of us in the US. It's listed as unavailable. But if you buy from them via ABE, that works.

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  7. You made me wonder if I'd got it wrong so I looked up my history on Depository and it wasn't there. But when I looked on my history at Abe it was there, bought from Depository, and still postage free. I live in Canada not the UK so the same should be available for the US.

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  8. Yep - I'm seeing the same thing. It's an inconvenience to see so many UK titles unavailable on BD (it's happens so often that I rarely can buy from them direct) but getting it from ABE with free postage is very nice.

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  9. I happened to get a used copy (from the UK) several weeks ago and once started could not put it down. Although some nights I was exhausted by the tension and sheer physical scope of the novel and had to rest, my interest never flagged. And it is truly a Big book. so many pages! It gives you enough time to settle into Lyndon's world and feel what this magnificent adventure reveals. I wish our American publishers would print more big books like this. You just don't get the same experience in a 3 or 400 page novel.
    Judith Schara Caldwell

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  10. That's an excellent way of describing the experience, Judith! I agree. You're right, too, I don't see adventure novels on this scale coming out from American publishers.

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  11. Sarah,
    And I can't even remember how many people have commented to me that they love reading big books. And when you look at historical author interviews etc. Their favorite, most influential books are long series like Dorothy Dunnetts,Lymond series or the House of Nicollo. Although not Big books, I think they qualify - It's the long, rich, many layered stories that have influenced so many. And we yearn for them. I think that is part of the reason books like Ken Follett's medieval stories were so popular.
    Judith Schara Caldwell

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  12. Now that you mention it, all but one of the chunksters I've read in 2012 have been either from UK presses or US publishers outside the mainstream. I hear from authors all the time about how they're asked to condense, simplify, and cut rather than create a sprawling epic (which are expensive to produce) but it's often the epics such as those from Gabaldon and Follett which are the bestsellers. A lot of that's down to their storytelling ability, of course, but I believe you're right about people's desire for lengthier, meatier, multi-layered stories.

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  13. Oh this sounds wonderful. I have actually spent ALL DAY working on my research project about the Norman Conquest and then I see this and it actually brightened up my day. I will have to keep an eye out for it.

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  14. Pleased to see that you enjoyed this one, Sarah. As you say, it's a cut above the average, even though the central premise of the company of oddly assorted characters on a quest is a familiar one in both the fantasy and historical adventure genres. I had a bit of a rave about it in my review at the Historical Novels Info website.

    Robert Lyndon has said he's working on a sequel, though "Hawk Quest" will be a hard act to follow! It's interesting to read his blog post at Falcata Times -it was a hard slog for him and if no publisher had taken up the option to buy the rights to "Hawk Quest" he would have had to put his house on the market!

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  15. Heather, I hope your research project turned out well. This one has a different perspective on the Norman Conquest since it shows its aftermath in the northern part of the country rather than focusing on the usual battles or historical figures.

    Great review, Annis! Thanks for the link to Falcata Times - I hadn't seen his post before. 250,000 words... that's something. Fortunately, the novel was of such high quality that it didn't pose a problem in terms of sales, but most authors are advised to keep them below 100K! I didn't know about the sale to Orbit in the US either. Very nice.

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  16. You're right about the recent slew of novels set around the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. Unfortunately many of these historical adventures have a common tendency to degenerate into blood-fests rather than focusing on character development, and "Hawk Quest" makes a pleasing exception.

    Hereward is certainly making a come-back- I recently read James Wilde's "Hereward", which shows signs of promise and definitely improves as it goes along, but doesn't quite manage to rise above the swamp of gore galore. I don't feel that anyone has really portrayed Hereward the Wake to my satisfaction to date, though Jack Ogden's "Brainbiter" came close. Wilde's version is at least several notches above Stewart Binns' "Conquest", about which the least said the better ( acting on the principle if you can't say anything good, don't say anything at all).

    Wonder why Berwick Coates' series doesn't start with the Battle of Stamford Bridge, which came before the Battle of Hastings? Perhaps because few people are familiar with it and it wouldn't catch reader attention as readily.? And no HF author that I know of has covered the third significant battle of 1066 in the lead-up to Hastings (chronologically the first) - the Battle of Fulford Gate.

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    1. Anonymous3:19 AM

      Actually, it's my understanding that he has been commissioned to write three novels, the other two focussing on Stamford Bridge and the Battle of Fulford. It's hard to find out much but it looks as though the book centres around characterisation rather than just the blood and guts. The person I was talking to is in the book trade and I got the impression that this was going to be a big novel for next year. Does anyone know any more about it?

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    2. What you say sounds vaguely familiar, but I've only been able to find mention of a 2-book deal with S&S UK, to cover Hastings and Stamford Bridge. Per Amazon UK, At the Grey Apple Tree appears to have been retitled "The Last Conquest" with an April 2013 pub date. If you learn more about a 3rd novel, please drop a line! With his style being described as akin to Ken Follett's, I'm expecting more than an action saga too.

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  17. I agree. Gore-fests aren't my thing, which is why I stick to historical adventure novels that aren't so stereotypical. I haven't read many Hereward novels... seems there was another new one besides Binns and Wilde. Speaking of the 11th c (if not 1066 and all that), have you read Justin Hill's Shieldwall?

    I'm sure you're right about the organization of the volumes in Coates' series.

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  18. Yes- I loved "Shieldwall" - review here. Hill is the master of the evocative, and he captures an Anglo-Saxon warrior sensibilty beautifully- the whole novel echoes with the haunting cadences of heroic Englisc poetry.

    For me "Shieldwall" was in some ways reminiscent of Rosemary Sutcliff's Arthurian novel "Sword at Sunset", with its central partnership of two young sword-brothers and a warrior-prince trying to recreate an England united against an invading enemy, who is ultimately defeated by treachery. However Justin Hill tells me that while he loved "Eagle of the Ninth" as a youngster, he has never read "Sword at Sunset".

    Looking forward to the next in the series, and Godwin makes a great subject, generally neglected in HF.

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  19. Thanks for the info, and the link - I'd wondered from the description if his character Godwin was the future Earl of Wessex, who as you say doesn't come off well in history, or in the novels where he's a minor character.

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  20. ndbef heortimthemy lemparesGodwin was certainly ruthless- a necessary attribute for any man wanting to make his way in the 11th century- but I think it has to be remembered that our perceptions of historical figures are inevitably shaped by the agendas of those writing about them, and the Normans in particular had no reason to love Godwin.

    The Godwinssons are such a wonderful example of a powerful, disfunctional family (easily rivalling the much better-known Plantagenets), that it's always surprised me that more authors haven't taken advantage of their dramatic story as a subject.

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  21. Great review, Sarah. It made me want to read it, despite its daunting size. Do we know a US pub date? He mentioned an Orbit sale here but I can't seem to find an actual date for publication anywhere.

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  22. The sale must have been very recent because I wasn't able to find a date either. It's not a bad move, going with a sf/f publisher, even though this book isn't fantasy. Plenty of fantasy fans read HF, and they don't mind long books!

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  23. I thought I'd update anyone interested in this novel on US publication dates. I live in Washington, DC and just wandered into a used bookstore that sells advance review copies. To my delight, I found an ARC of "Hawk Quest." It's apparently going to be published in the U.S this April (2013) by a new imprint Redhook Books. I am SO excited to be able to read this!

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    1. Thanks for the update - that's great news for American readers. I hope it does well here.

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