jef@lbl-rtsg.arpa (09/20/85)
From: jef@lbl-rtsg.arpa The Hammer and the Horn is a new book by Michael Jan Friedman. First the surface details: it's a paperback, 297 pages, $2.95; no typographical errors, no annoying spoilers on the back cover; superb cover art by Rowena. So far so good. The plot of the book concerns Vidar, a bona-fide Norse God (a bastard son of Odin). Many thousands of years before the book opens, Ragnarok was fought, and the gods won, but at great cost. Vidar was one of the few survivors. Since that time, he has been living on Earth (Midgard). By the time the 20th century rolls around, he is living in Woodstock and working as a sculptor. He is more or less happy with his life. Suddenly he gets a call from Modi, another survivor of Ragnarok. Modi is in trouble and needs help. Reluctantly, Vidar helps him, and is thereby launched right into the middle of what looks to be a new Ragnarok. The ending is a cliffhanger, so obviously this is the first book in a series. This book is strongly reminiscent of Zelazny's Amber series - too strongly, some might say. I don't think so. For one thing, the norse sagas were one of the source-legends that went into Amber, so of course there are similarities. For another thing, Amber itself was a higher-quality ripoff of Phillip Jose Farmer's World of Tiers series, so it's only poetic justice that Amber gets ripped off in turn by a higher-quality clone. Anyway, I liked the book a lot, I recommend it to anyone who likes hard-edged fantasy, and I eagerly await the continuation of the series. --- (Three dashes on this line, please!) Jef