What do you think?
Rate this book
For King & Country
SAS Captain Trevor Stirling journeys back in time to A.D. 500 to prevent a Northern Irish fanatic from carrying out his plan to assassinate Artorius, the Brittanic Lord of Battle, before his greatest military victory, a crime that will cause the space-time continuum to fracture, destroying Britain and the rest of the world. Reprint.
544 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 1, 2002
8 people are currently reading
191 people want to read
About the author
Robert Lynn Asprin
224 books1,067 followersRobert (Lynn) Asprin was born in 1946. While he wrote some stand alone novels such as The Cold Cash War, Tambu, and The Bug Wars and also the Duncan & Mallory Illustrated stories, Bob is best known for his series fantasy, such as the Myth Adventures of Aahz and Skeeve, the Phule's Company novels, and the Time Scout novels written with Linda Evans. He also edited the groundbreaking Thieves' World anthology series with Lynn Abbey. Other collaborations include License Invoked (set in the French Quarter of New Orleans) and several Myth Adventures novels, all written with Jody Lynn Nye.
Bob's final solo work was a contemporary fantasy series called Dragons, again set in New Orleans.
Bob passed away suddenly on May 22, 2008. He is survived by his daughter and son, his mother and his sister.
Bob's final solo work was a contemporary fantasy series called Dragons, again set in New Orleans.
Bob passed away suddenly on May 22, 2008. He is survived by his daughter and son, his mother and his sister.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 28, 2008
A time traveling treat that takes us back to 500 AD in Ireland. I like Robert Asperin's books.
June 7, 2025
I've had this book on my shelf for quite some time to read. I was really into Arthurian legend for a while and so was time to read something that was one and done - love my series books but needed a break. This combines Arthurian legend for the fantasy lover and a bit of science fiction with time travel. Mystery ensues and crime solving, along with the battle/argument of what happens if you change the past.
March 17, 2016
In this interesting take on time travel, only the time-traveler's mind can move back through time. On arrival, the time-shifted person provides guidance to (or takes over) a person in the destination era, in a schizophrenic guest/host relationship.
The story is driven by an IRA terrorist who is known to have acquired a place on the time-exploration team, and complicated by uncertainty about his (or her) precise identity. The terrorist's goal is to assassinate King Arthur, and so prevent the ascendancy of Britain over Ireland.
But how will the terrorist, who is after all unable to carry modern weaponry back to Arthurian times, manage to create this mayhem? The answer is the terrorist's knowledge of a bio-weapon, available anywhere (even today), and a plan to "weaponize" and deliver it to the best effect.
This is not a riveting novel; it is easy to put down and just as easy to pick up again later and read on from that stopping point. It is enjoyable and well-written, with engaging characters and a diverting story, worth reading for the plot twists and sense of everyday life in Arthurian Britain and Ireland.
Liner Note:
The outcome from deploying the bio-weapon used in this story will appall anyone, yet it is equally accessible today for use by any terrorist. After you've encountered it in this novel, you will never again casually slide a used knife into the slot of a knife-stand without sterilizing it.
The story is driven by an IRA terrorist who is known to have acquired a place on the time-exploration team, and complicated by uncertainty about his (or her) precise identity. The terrorist's goal is to assassinate King Arthur, and so prevent the ascendancy of Britain over Ireland.
But how will the terrorist, who is after all unable to carry modern weaponry back to Arthurian times, manage to create this mayhem? The answer is the terrorist's knowledge of a bio-weapon, available anywhere (even today), and a plan to "weaponize" and deliver it to the best effect.
This is not a riveting novel; it is easy to put down and just as easy to pick up again later and read on from that stopping point. It is enjoyable and well-written, with engaging characters and a diverting story, worth reading for the plot twists and sense of everyday life in Arthurian Britain and Ireland.
Liner Note:
The outcome from deploying the bio-weapon used in this story will appall anyone, yet it is equally accessible today for use by any terrorist. After you've encountered it in this novel, you will never again casually slide a used knife into the slot of a knife-stand without sterilizing it.
June 29, 2013
This was my first Asprin/Evans collaboration. Although the story's concept was interesting, I found myself trying to distinguish between what I thought Asprin's contribution was vs. Evans, which was a distraction to the actual reading of the book. The reason for this was because some parts were straight forward with little or no gushing hyperbole and hackneyed, adjectival description while other parts were downright trite, to the point the the writing difference from one scene to the next was noticeable. Most of the battle scenes were very straight forward while many of the scenes involving women sounded like something from a formulaic romance novel.
This is not to say that the historic rendering and battle scenes were without their moments, either. There is a lot or repitition, in case the reader is not too savvy, I guess. For example, at one point in the big denouement, were are told there are three score and nine archers. In case you are not aware of a 'score' in the next paragraph the authors say there are sixty and nine..and again, a little farther down, nine and sixty!! Really?
Just couldn't help wondering the whole time how the collaboration worked. DId anyone edit this? Does one person write and the other one rewrite? Hmmm........
This is not to say that the historic rendering and battle scenes were without their moments, either. There is a lot or repitition, in case the reader is not too savvy, I guess. For example, at one point in the big denouement, were are told there are three score and nine archers. In case you are not aware of a 'score' in the next paragraph the authors say there are sixty and nine..and again, a little farther down, nine and sixty!! Really?
Just couldn't help wondering the whole time how the collaboration worked. DId anyone edit this? Does one person write and the other one rewrite? Hmmm........
June 24, 2015
Usually I connote Aspirin with very tongue in cheek material. His Myth and Phule series. Here, however, there is little tongue and cheek but a intrigue, adventure, and battle. A much different tale then we have seen before, but the premise begins a little off, and then later, it is hard to swallow as well, for we have time travel, but our main characters must do so into host bodies of the time and we meet a much different Lancelot and Morgan le Fey than we are used to in the tales of King Arthur.
Here, Asprin and Evans combine the tale, with historical supposition to weave their intrigue with actual historical events thrown in to give us some meaning, as well as events that are created to seem historical in this telling of later Briton, early Saxon England.
The sharing of hosts though seems very convenient when our true heroes of the tale enter and share the bodies of key people to the time and tale, while the villain enters a non-entity. The ending that tries to tie up some loose ends also leaves a little too pat to one interpretation of the legend trying to make it work becoming forced. But when we take things like that and put them aside and allow our hero to be part Lancelot and part himself, then we have a very fun yarn to take part of.
Here, Asprin and Evans combine the tale, with historical supposition to weave their intrigue with actual historical events thrown in to give us some meaning, as well as events that are created to seem historical in this telling of later Briton, early Saxon England.
The sharing of hosts though seems very convenient when our true heroes of the tale enter and share the bodies of key people to the time and tale, while the villain enters a non-entity. The ending that tries to tie up some loose ends also leaves a little too pat to one interpretation of the legend trying to make it work becoming forced. But when we take things like that and put them aside and allow our hero to be part Lancelot and part himself, then we have a very fun yarn to take part of.
May 21, 2012
Asprin and Evans do time traveling well. This is my first time reading anything remotely in depth about 6th century Britain and King Arthur. A postscript with a big picture timeline of the interactions among the Britons, Irish, Saxons, Picts, etc. between the Roman departure and Norman arrival and a summary of best-guess histories of the principle characters would have been appreciated.
April 8, 2012
I loved Asprin and Evans "Time Scout" series, so I eagerly picked this book up at a local used book store. What a disappointment! It's boring, slow-paced, and depressing. The characters are flat and bland. In the end, I couldn't force myself to continue.
Read
January 9, 2010baen ebook
May 4, 2021
The story weaves Arthurian legend seamlessly into the plot but never gives away the story.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews