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The Life and Times of Corban Loosestrife #3
The Serpent Dreamer
In The Soul Thief , and its spellbinding sequel, The Witches' Kitchen, celebrated historical novelist Cecilia Holland began an enthralling new tale of adventure, conflict, and passion set against the turbulent backdrop of the Viking invasions of Ireland in the ninth century. When Norse raiders slaughtered his family and abducted his sister, Corban Loosestrife set out on an odyssey that took him across half the world, from the Viking fortress of Jorvik to the wild and desolate shores of Vinland in the New World.
Now, with The Serpent Dreamer , Holland continues this powerful epic, as Corban struggles to make a new life alone in this strange land amid bloody clashes between warring native clans.
His service to the King of the Danes concluded, Corban returned to his new home in Vinland to find the colony destroyed, his beloved wife dead, and his twin sister Mav, with whom he shared a mystic bond, transfigured into a numinous being caught between this world and the next. Seeking shelter with a nearby tribe, Corban was shunned for his pale skin and dark, coarse hair, and feared for his strange powers to make fire and cut through the toughest skins with his magic blade.
Epashti, the tribe's healer, came to love Corban, and in time bear him children. But Miska, the proud and cunning chief of the Wolf clan, despised Corban - in part because of his strangeness, but more because of Corban's bond with his twin sister, who Miska loves. Mav gave Miska a daughter, but spurned him ever after.
Now, Mav's young daughter Ahanton has begun to show some of her mother's strange gifts. When her dream of a mighty army that worships a serpent convinces Miska that his old enemies, the Sun People, are approaching, he sets out to the east to unite the warring tribes into a force that may stand up to the invading army.
But another vision compels Corban to travel west, toward the home of the Sun People, taking Espashti and young Anhaton with him. Hailed as an incarnation of Ixewe, the White Buffalo god, and kept as a curiosity by Itza Balam, the Lord of the Serpent Wand,. ruler of the great city of Cibal, Corban will play a pivotal role in a great destiny that will forever alter the world he has come to know.
Now, with The Serpent Dreamer , Holland continues this powerful epic, as Corban struggles to make a new life alone in this strange land amid bloody clashes between warring native clans.
His service to the King of the Danes concluded, Corban returned to his new home in Vinland to find the colony destroyed, his beloved wife dead, and his twin sister Mav, with whom he shared a mystic bond, transfigured into a numinous being caught between this world and the next. Seeking shelter with a nearby tribe, Corban was shunned for his pale skin and dark, coarse hair, and feared for his strange powers to make fire and cut through the toughest skins with his magic blade.
Epashti, the tribe's healer, came to love Corban, and in time bear him children. But Miska, the proud and cunning chief of the Wolf clan, despised Corban - in part because of his strangeness, but more because of Corban's bond with his twin sister, who Miska loves. Mav gave Miska a daughter, but spurned him ever after.
Now, Mav's young daughter Ahanton has begun to show some of her mother's strange gifts. When her dream of a mighty army that worships a serpent convinces Miska that his old enemies, the Sun People, are approaching, he sets out to the east to unite the warring tribes into a force that may stand up to the invading army.
But another vision compels Corban to travel west, toward the home of the Sun People, taking Espashti and young Anhaton with him. Hailed as an incarnation of Ixewe, the White Buffalo god, and kept as a curiosity by Itza Balam, the Lord of the Serpent Wand,. ruler of the great city of Cibal, Corban will play a pivotal role in a great destiny that will forever alter the world he has come to know.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published November 29, 2005
6 people are currently reading
186 people want to read
About the author
Cecelia Holland
81 books211 followersPen name used by Elizabeth Eliot Carter.
Cecelia Holland is one of the world's most highly acclaimed and respected historical novelists, ranked by many alongside other giants in that field such as Mary Renault and Larry McMurtry. Over the span of her thirty year career, she's written almost thirty historical novels, including The Firedrake, Rakessy, Two Ravens, Ghost on the Steppe, Death of Attila, Hammer For Princes, The King's Road, Pillar of the Sky, The Lords of Vaumartin, Pacific Street, Sea Beggars, The Earl, The King in Winter, The Belt of Gold, The Serpent Dreamer, The High City, Kings of the North, and a series of fantasy novels, including The Soul Thief, The Witches Kitchen, The Serpent Dreamer, and Varanger. She also wrote the well-known science fiction novel Floating Worlds, which was nominated for a Locus Award in 1975. Her most recent book is a new fantasy novel, Dragon Heart.
Cecelia Holland is one of the world's most highly acclaimed and respected historical novelists, ranked by many alongside other giants in that field such as Mary Renault and Larry McMurtry. Over the span of her thirty year career, she's written almost thirty historical novels, including The Firedrake, Rakessy, Two Ravens, Ghost on the Steppe, Death of Attila, Hammer For Princes, The King's Road, Pillar of the Sky, The Lords of Vaumartin, Pacific Street, Sea Beggars, The Earl, The King in Winter, The Belt of Gold, The Serpent Dreamer, The High City, Kings of the North, and a series of fantasy novels, including The Soul Thief, The Witches Kitchen, The Serpent Dreamer, and Varanger. She also wrote the well-known science fiction novel Floating Worlds, which was nominated for a Locus Award in 1975. Her most recent book is a new fantasy novel, Dragon Heart.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 12, 2022
I have always loved Cecelia Holland's abiliy to take you down to the level of a five sense exploration of history. Her research is impeccable. But in this series she adds the sixth sense and takes us into the experiences of some of. the magical world views our ancestors may have experienced. Fascinating and unpredictrable. She takes us not only through the Viking world but to the first contact world of a Viking in north America. And I never knew where the plot was going next.
May 24, 2020
Not really in the same style as the 2 previous books - the story could just as well have been told as a standalone without having Corban Loosestrife in it. It's basically a lot of wandering aimlessly around North America in the 10th century, interspersed with a bit of fighting. Disappointing.
October 13, 2011
If you've read any of the other Corban Loosestrife novels, this one will be different, at least in setting and subject matter. If you've not read any of the others, you ought to be able to pick this one up pretty easily. Sadly this book is out of print, but hopefully an e-book edition will be available someday.
The story is set entirely in early medieval North America and the Corbanssons do not figure at all. The theme is a Native American story about how humanity began, and the reflection of this myth in a conflict between Corban and another main protagonist and in conflicts between various Native American tribes. Political and social intrigue and the presence of powerful spirit women figure here as in all the other novels. The most interesting part, in my view, is how Holland weaves myth into an adventure tale. The story is suspenseful and had me guessing right up until the end, which takes another surprising twist. Even though it's quite different in setting than the other novels, I ended up enjoying it simply as a good yarn.
The following part of the review will have heavy spoilers for the end of The Witches' Kitchen and mild spoilers for this book.
At the end of The Witches' Kitchen, Benna is dead and Raef and Conn have become retainers of Sweyn Tjugas. Their adventures continue in the fourth book, Varanger. In The Serpent Dreamer, Corban returns alone to the ruined site of his home on the eastern seacoast of North America. There, his sister Mav has helped elevate the outcast Miska into chief of his tribe, and Corban has found a new family among them, though he never really belongs to the tribe and is set in conflict against Miska. On Mav's direction, Corban and Miska both set off on a journey which brings them into contact with a ruthless but more technologically advanced Meso-American tribe. It's suggested that this encounter will have profound effects on the tribes back east.
You have to suspend a bit of disbelief. Distances seem very compressed and I am doubtful that the North American tribes had such overlap in language and culture. The incursions of the Itzen seem implausible. However, it makes for a good story, which with Holland's book is always the point I think. There is an interweaving of myth into the story of Corban vs. Miska that I find very subtle and clever. As always, there are heart-rending and touching moments. Fans of Cecelia Holland will enjoy this one, as long as they know not to expect Vikings and Celts.
The story is set entirely in early medieval North America and the Corbanssons do not figure at all. The theme is a Native American story about how humanity began, and the reflection of this myth in a conflict between Corban and another main protagonist and in conflicts between various Native American tribes. Political and social intrigue and the presence of powerful spirit women figure here as in all the other novels. The most interesting part, in my view, is how Holland weaves myth into an adventure tale. The story is suspenseful and had me guessing right up until the end, which takes another surprising twist. Even though it's quite different in setting than the other novels, I ended up enjoying it simply as a good yarn.
The following part of the review will have heavy spoilers for the end of The Witches' Kitchen and mild spoilers for this book.
At the end of The Witches' Kitchen, Benna is dead and Raef and Conn have become retainers of Sweyn Tjugas. Their adventures continue in the fourth book, Varanger. In The Serpent Dreamer, Corban returns alone to the ruined site of his home on the eastern seacoast of North America. There, his sister Mav has helped elevate the outcast Miska into chief of his tribe, and Corban has found a new family among them, though he never really belongs to the tribe and is set in conflict against Miska. On Mav's direction, Corban and Miska both set off on a journey which brings them into contact with a ruthless but more technologically advanced Meso-American tribe. It's suggested that this encounter will have profound effects on the tribes back east.
You have to suspend a bit of disbelief. Distances seem very compressed and I am doubtful that the North American tribes had such overlap in language and culture. The incursions of the Itzen seem implausible. However, it makes for a good story, which with Holland's book is always the point I think. There is an interweaving of myth into the story of Corban vs. Miska that I find very subtle and clever. As always, there are heart-rending and touching moments. Fans of Cecelia Holland will enjoy this one, as long as they know not to expect Vikings and Celts.
June 22, 2011
Narrative takes a confused turn into the New World, as Corban embeds with the Americans and involves himself in their bloodlines and tribal politics. In fact, the setting of the entire novel is the New World.
I have a high tolerance for creative license in historical fiction, and even for the blending of the latter with fantasy. I was willing to accept that Corban, Epashti, a young girl, Miska, and a band of Wolves traveled by foot from present-day Newfoundland to the Great Plains -- and back -- with no goal apart from a minor skirmish with some Aztecs. I was willing to accept that the same language is spoken all along the way of this two-thousand-mile route through pre-Columbian North America. I was willing to accept that the Aztec empire extended as far as the Great Plains. I figured that all this was suited for some dramatic or narrative purpose. But when I finished the novel, I realized that the Aztecs-of-the-Great-Plains interlude served no narrative purpose whatsoever. They just see the Aztecs, then trot on back to the vicinity of the eastern seaboard. Perhaps they will figure into the next novel?
Apart from the aforementioned Trek-of-Implausibility, historical aspects related to the Americans seem generally well handled. This is very much a departure from the earlier novels' historical context of widespread political, social, and economic upheaval, as well as from their overall tone and structure of there being numerous players with disparate goals and interests, which eventually all fold together. Serpent Dreamer, in contrast, features fewer interests, and the subplots don't all converge at the end; rather, the plot focus shifts completely in the third of three parts.
Finally, it was never adequately explained why Corban went to live with the Wolves, rather than riding the Dragonfly back to Norway.
I really hope later installments to the series return the setting to the Old World.
I have a high tolerance for creative license in historical fiction, and even for the blending of the latter with fantasy. I was willing to accept that Corban, Epashti, a young girl, Miska, and a band of Wolves traveled by foot from present-day Newfoundland to the Great Plains -- and back -- with no goal apart from a minor skirmish with some Aztecs. I was willing to accept that the same language is spoken all along the way of this two-thousand-mile route through pre-Columbian North America. I was willing to accept that the Aztec empire extended as far as the Great Plains. I figured that all this was suited for some dramatic or narrative purpose. But when I finished the novel, I realized that the Aztecs-of-the-Great-Plains interlude served no narrative purpose whatsoever. They just see the Aztecs, then trot on back to the vicinity of the eastern seaboard. Perhaps they will figure into the next novel?
Apart from the aforementioned Trek-of-Implausibility, historical aspects related to the Americans seem generally well handled. This is very much a departure from the earlier novels' historical context of widespread political, social, and economic upheaval, as well as from their overall tone and structure of there being numerous players with disparate goals and interests, which eventually all fold together. Serpent Dreamer, in contrast, features fewer interests, and the subplots don't all converge at the end; rather, the plot focus shifts completely in the third of three parts.
Finally, it was never adequately explained why Corban went to live with the Wolves, rather than riding the Dragonfly back to Norway.
I really hope later installments to the series return the setting to the Old World.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 5, 2017
Story: 5 (repetitive and fragmentary with unsatisfying resolution)
Characters: 6 (distinct if not always relatable)
Accuracy: who knows? but plausible
This book contains many excellent elements, yet jumbles them together in an unsatisfying way. The book is divided into three parts. The first sets up the village of the Wolves and Miska and Corban's place in it. The second is all about the raid to attack the Sun people, a Meso-American civilization that drove the Wolves from their homes a generation ago. The final part is Corban seeking revenge on Miska for basically being a douche.
So right away we run into the same problem as Soul Thief: the book starts an epic journey but then ends right back where it started for the last third or so. It's anticlimactic and feels like going backwards. Because it is going backwards. If the middle section wasn't so interesting and unexpected I'd have been less interested but also less annoyed at the incongruity. Because the giant raid halfway across America is irrelevant to the story. Irrelevant. How does one do that for such a major quest? There's no point where I actually considered putting the book down, but I really wish the story's climax and the emotional climax could have been brought together.
Characters: 6 (distinct if not always relatable)
Accuracy: who knows? but plausible
This book contains many excellent elements, yet jumbles them together in an unsatisfying way. The book is divided into three parts. The first sets up the village of the Wolves and Miska and Corban's place in it. The second is all about the raid to attack the Sun people, a Meso-American civilization that drove the Wolves from their homes a generation ago. The final part is Corban seeking revenge on Miska for basically being a douche.
So right away we run into the same problem as Soul Thief: the book starts an epic journey but then ends right back where it started for the last third or so. It's anticlimactic and feels like going backwards. Because it is going backwards. If the middle section wasn't so interesting and unexpected I'd have been less interested but also less annoyed at the incongruity. Because the giant raid halfway across America is irrelevant to the story. Irrelevant. How does one do that for such a major quest? There's no point where I actually considered putting the book down, but I really wish the story's climax and the emotional climax could have been brought together.
October 23, 2022
It has been a while since I read the book, but all Holland’s books flow easily, grab and hold your interest. Angel and the Sword was the first that I read, then I continued to read with enjoyment all her other books that our library had available.
If you like Bernard Cornwell, such as his Saxon Series/The Last Kingdom — then you’ll enjoy Hollands.
If you like Bernard Cornwell, such as his Saxon Series/The Last Kingdom — then you’ll enjoy Hollands.
October 29, 2009
More complex then most historical novels I have read. Closer to fantasy, I suppose.
This book attempts to understand a bygone people in a way they might have understood themselves and the world around them.
This book attempts to understand a bygone people in a way they might have understood themselves and the world around them.
March 3, 2008
A Viking living amongst native peoples in the New World. Lots of violence, interesting native rituals and lore. Suprised it was written by a woman...
October 26, 2013
Well done.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews