Werenight

Gerin the Fox #2

by Harry Turtledove, Eric Iverson (Pseudonym)

After an arduous and hazard filled journey, Gerin the Fox and his two companions, Van of the Strong Arm and the Lady Elise, had finally reached the fabulous City of Elabon. They hoped to find there a sorcerer capable of vanquishing the evil Balamung, who was laying waste the Empire to the North.

But instead of the solution they sought, they found even greater obstacles than they had previously encountered.

Gerin and Van would have to discover a different method of vanquishing the ravening werebeasts that awaited them at Fox Keep, or all would be lost!

Genres: Fantasy

140 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Dr Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced a sizeable number of works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.

Harry Turtledove attended UCLA, where he received a Ph.D. in Byzantine history in 1977.

Turtledove has been dubbed "The Master of Alternate History". Within this genre he is known both for creating original scenarios: such as survival of the Byzantine Empire; an alien invasion in the middle of the World War II; and for giving a fresh and original treatment to themes previously dealt with by other authors, such as the victory of the South in the American Civil War; and of Nazi Germany in the Second World War.

His novels have been credited with bringing alternate history into the mainstream. His style of alternate history has a strong military theme.

Reviews

[mark monday · Rating 2 out of 5]

these fantasy-action paperbacks from the 70s & 80s that are low on sense & sensibility but high on magic & fighting are usually guilty pleasures, and this piece of genre fluff is no exception. had to dock a star because the dialogue was so bad it made me feel nauseous - my God, the dunderheaded misuse of certain words - and since I am a rigorous and exacting critic of such misdeeds, the book must be punished. otherwise, this was pretty fun and there was a lot of creativity crammed into its 140 pages. hilarious that the whole story is Gerin the Fox and his barbarian buddy going to the big city to recruit a sorcerer for the battle back home, and to drop off a runaway Lady, and they end up finding a sorcerer who up & loses his powers in the very next chapter and the Lady decides she didn't want to get dropped off after all - the whole trip was a big waste of time. well at least they got to do a lot of drinking plus get massages from a flirty gay masseur. this is a world where blood-craving ghosts come out at night to unintelligibly whine, but are pretty ineffective so everyone just ignores them. also a world where apparently much of the population are were-people who don't transform unless all four moons are full at the same time, which is what happens on WERENIGHT and also right in the middle of a battle. nearly everyone turns into some kind of bloodthirsty fast-healing animal and they just start attacking and eating each other, regardless of which side they were on pre-transformation. that was wild, ultraviolent hilarity, but was sadly only a third of a chapter. sure do wish Werenights could happen in our world too!

[Luka Novak · Rating 2 out of 5]

This books takes and and continues where Wereblood. In this sense it's not so much sequel to Wereblood as much as part 2 of one book that was split in two. It's written in same style as well which means various issues are carried over. None of the characters are given much extra depth, political landscape is simple and simplistic. It's clear that Turledove draw inspiration from his studies of Byzantine and Roman history as Northlands are combination of Roman Rhine/Danube frontier with a dash of Britania thrown in for spice.

In that regard there are couple of things that don't make much sense. For example everybody uses chariots, which are probably the worst type of vehicle to use in heavily wooded, rugged/hilly terrain with minimal road infrastructure and where everybody is struggling and reluctant to maintain the one quasi-roman road that exists. Furthermore, when you think about it Elabon empire closing off one remaining open pass and cutting Northlands off makes absolutely no sense. It's alter explained and shown that Trokmoi have no siegecraft skills and taking even moderate keep is difficult. their options on taking them are either rushing it (and suffer casualties) or starve it out (for which they generally lack patience). So Elabon defending one heavily guarded pass should be easy, specially as Trokmoi are raiding further north and are looking for easier pickings. But I suppose that's just a plot device so Northlanders are left to their own devices, akin to Roman evacuation of Britain.

And after all the troubles Gerin goes to find a solution to his problem the ending is quite anticlimatic. I was expecting more in terms of confrontation between Gerin and wizard but entire thing is quickly wrapped up, almost as an afterthought.


It's still a fun read, if you can look beyond all this.

[Ethan Nahté · Rating 2 out of 5]

Werenight is the second book in the Fox series and continues where the first book left off. It's also one of Harry Turtledove's early works. (A publisher or agent had suggested a more Nordic name to help sell a sword and sorcery novel). Although I like Turtledove's work, this early offering is definitely not one of his best works. It almost reads as a narration of a role playing game and not until it gets to the final chapter does it really seem to have any heartfelt action. All the action prior to the final chapter seems to conveniently be taken care of and moments that should be life-threatening are no more than a failed attempt by the enemies and a D20 roll by the heroes to dispatch the enemy then move on down the road to something else that steps in the way only to be easily disposed of.

I generally enjoy book such as this, but I had a very difficult time getting into Werenight. Not to mention that the title only refers to a single night within the story with very little explanation of how or why people change into a variety of beasts. The fight scene wasn't bad, but just didn't draw me in.

[Blind Mapmaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Not exactly the greatest fantasy novel, but certainly a solid second novel (or more correctly second part of a first novel). Pacing picks up in this part and the extended ending is a bit of a surprise. Of course, there are fewer neat cultural bits and the thing is almost a complete sausage-fest (including summoned demons), but this was the seventies and you can't judge this by modern standards. At least the main character is a bit of a polymath instead of only a warrior of great brawn.

The world-building is still very nice, especially, the Roman-descended feudalism, nightly ghost apparitions and the four moons. And most of it is also used to make some good, atmospheric scenes and/or plot points.

[Dan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is rather lukewarm sword and fantasy. The sword element is tepid in that there is little real fighting or struggle. The fantasy element is almost nonexistent in that what sorcery that's performed is so underwhemingly portrayed. Come to think of it, the prior book this was a sequel for was no better.

[Dantegideon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, although it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Felt like he’d come up with the were-battle scene and had to jam it in there somehow.

[Bruce Hammond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gerin the Fox #2: Swords and sorcery.