Exclusive interview with author Cecelia Holland and a review of her new historical adventure fantasy about the 10th century Viking kings of England
Rating: 3 Stars
HOLLYWOOD: “I worked hard on figuring out how Viking ships worked and how they fought,” says Kings of the North author Cecelia Holland. “I’ve read the great Norse sagas all my life. I love Heimskringla and Burnt Njal and Egil Skallagrimsson and Arrow-Odd.”
Kings of the North is the sixth novel of Holland’s series about Vikings in the 10th century and the sequel to The High City. Raef Corbanson returns to his hometown in the Viking town of Jorvik in England. His former shipmate Sweyn Forkbeard is now king of Denmark and later becomes king of England. After Sweyn’s death, civil war breaks out as the sons of the two former kings fight to be crowned the next king of England. Raef is a “seer” or wizard, a Viking Merlin. He sees that the powerful witch Lady of Hedeby has taken possession of the Queen Emma and may have killed King Sweyn. Can he free the queen?
Holland’s writing is engaging, gripping the reader in the story as it moves forward. Her book is an unusual combination of straight historical, adventure and fantasy. Raef, who’s not an alpha male type, is a surprising choice for a hero in historical fiction. All Holland’s characters are well defined, particularly Raef’s companions, Lief the Icelander and Laissa, a young girl they rescued in Constantinople. Holland takes liberties with history.
“The book was very organic, grew wild and crazy,” says Holland. “I loved writing it, although I felt for a long time it was eating me alive. Because the book grew as it did, at some point I had 100,000 words and no end in sight. Finally I charted it and realized I had seven different plot lines each with its own cast. Fortunately, the charting also revealed that three of the plots were the same. Relieved, I managed to coax the three into one and things proceeded in a more manageable direction.”
At this time Kings of the North is not being adapted for film or television. “I’d like to see the people with the guts to try,” says Holland. She was “between agents” when she sold Kings of the North. Holland’s current agent is Susanna Einstein at Larry Kirschbaum in New York. Holland’s editor for this book was Beth Meacham at Tor. Holland says she received substantial advice from the late Charles Brown of Locus, a longtime close friend.
Cecelia Holland lives in Fortuna, a small town near the coast in northern California.
Kings of the North by Cecilia Holland. Hardcover, 416 pages, Publisher: Forge Books; First Edition Edition (July 6, 2010). Language: English, ISBN: 9780765321923 $ 27.99
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