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Opening of the World #1
Beyond the Gap
Count Hamnet Thyssen is a minor noble of the drowsy old Raumsdalian Empire. Its capital city, Nidaros, began as a mammoth hunters' camp at the edge of the great Glacier. But that was centuries ago, and as everyone knows, it's the nature of the great Glacier to withdraw a few feet every year. Now Nidaros is an old and many-spired city; and though they still feel the breath of the great Glacier in every winter's winds, the ice cap itself has retreated beyond the horizon.
Trasamund, a clan chief of the mammoth-herding Bizogots, the next tribe north, has come to town with strange news. A narrow gap has opened in what they'd always thought was an endless and impregnable wall of ice. The great Glacier does not go on forever—and on its other side are new lands, new animals, and possibly new people. Ancient legend says that on the other side is the Golden Shrine, put there by the gods to guard the people of their world. Now, perhaps, the road to the legendary Golden Shrine is open. Who could resist the urge to go see?
For Count Hamnet and his several companions, the glacier has always been the boundary of the world. Now they'll be traveling beyond it into a world that's bigger than anyone knew. Adventures will surely be had...
Trasamund, a clan chief of the mammoth-herding Bizogots, the next tribe north, has come to town with strange news. A narrow gap has opened in what they'd always thought was an endless and impregnable wall of ice. The great Glacier does not go on forever—and on its other side are new lands, new animals, and possibly new people. Ancient legend says that on the other side is the Golden Shrine, put there by the gods to guard the people of their world. Now, perhaps, the road to the legendary Golden Shrine is open. Who could resist the urge to go see?
For Count Hamnet and his several companions, the glacier has always been the boundary of the world. Now they'll be traveling beyond it into a world that's bigger than anyone knew. Adventures will surely be had...
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First published January 1, 2007
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About the author
Harry Turtledove
566 books1,974 followersDr 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
October 16, 2016
Clark Griswald and Eddie Johnson walk through the grocery store, shopping and talking about Harry Turtledove’s 2007 novel Beyond the Gap.
Eddie: So it’s not about that fancy clothing store after all?
Clark: No, Ed, usually Turtledove – what he is famous for – is alternate history. And this one may be, but it’s deep pre-history, back when there were still glaciers and mammoths and saber toothed tigers and what not.
Eddie: I thought that was weird, last time I read anything about cave folks was that Daryl Hannah flik, the one where she does it with the neandetthals?
Clark: Clan of the Cave Bear, yes, I noticed some similarities, but what Turtledove has done here, and it may just pure fantasy and not alternate history is drawn one race of more or less civilized people, kind of like Romans, and then a second group of barbarians who live near the glacier.
Eddie: Ha! Yeah I liked those northern people, the barbarians, living free out past the laws and the city folk. Just like me and Catherine out on the road, in our RV, But, don't you go falling in love with it now, because, we're taking it with us when we leave here next month.
Clark: Yeah.
Eddie: But what was all that journey they took, up past the glacier.
Clark: Right, Ed, that was the central conflict of the story, this huge glacier that had been a part of everyone’s life for centuries, was beginning to recede and a gap had formed between two parts of the glacier and the group traveled north of the glacier.
Eddie: And that’s where they run into those others, the “Rulers”.
Clark: Right, Turtledove described them almost like Mongols and suggested a more centralized government structure.
Eddie: And what was all that shaman business, magic?
Clark: It seemed like it, Ed, Turtledove introduced elements of magic. Another thing that was interesting was his exclusive description of monotheism when a mythic or pantheistic system would be more expected.
Eddie: Well, I liked all the winter and cold, that was pretty cool. Going sledding, Yahoo! Course, I don't know if I oughta go sailin' down no hill with nothin' between the ground and my brains but a piece of government plastic.
Clark: Do you really think it matters, Eddie?
Eddie: Well, the winter setting and Turtledove’s world building also reminded me of Poul Anderson’s novel The Winter of the World. There was some fine barbarian women in that one!
Clark: Um, yeah.
Eddie: And while we’re on the subject, I need to get Catherine and the kids some Christmas presents, I’d sure appreciate some help Clark, here’s a list and you got any money left over, buy yourself something REAL nice, Clark.
Eddie: So it’s not about that fancy clothing store after all?
Clark: No, Ed, usually Turtledove – what he is famous for – is alternate history. And this one may be, but it’s deep pre-history, back when there were still glaciers and mammoths and saber toothed tigers and what not.
Eddie: I thought that was weird, last time I read anything about cave folks was that Daryl Hannah flik, the one where she does it with the neandetthals?
Clark: Clan of the Cave Bear, yes, I noticed some similarities, but what Turtledove has done here, and it may just pure fantasy and not alternate history is drawn one race of more or less civilized people, kind of like Romans, and then a second group of barbarians who live near the glacier.
Eddie: Ha! Yeah I liked those northern people, the barbarians, living free out past the laws and the city folk. Just like me and Catherine out on the road, in our RV, But, don't you go falling in love with it now, because, we're taking it with us when we leave here next month.
Clark: Yeah.
Eddie: But what was all that journey they took, up past the glacier.
Clark: Right, Ed, that was the central conflict of the story, this huge glacier that had been a part of everyone’s life for centuries, was beginning to recede and a gap had formed between two parts of the glacier and the group traveled north of the glacier.
Eddie: And that’s where they run into those others, the “Rulers”.
Clark: Right, Turtledove described them almost like Mongols and suggested a more centralized government structure.
Eddie: And what was all that shaman business, magic?
Clark: It seemed like it, Ed, Turtledove introduced elements of magic. Another thing that was interesting was his exclusive description of monotheism when a mythic or pantheistic system would be more expected.
Eddie: Well, I liked all the winter and cold, that was pretty cool. Going sledding, Yahoo! Course, I don't know if I oughta go sailin' down no hill with nothin' between the ground and my brains but a piece of government plastic.
Clark: Do you really think it matters, Eddie?
Eddie: Well, the winter setting and Turtledove’s world building also reminded me of Poul Anderson’s novel The Winter of the World. There was some fine barbarian women in that one!
Clark: Um, yeah.
Eddie: And while we’re on the subject, I need to get Catherine and the kids some Christmas presents, I’d sure appreciate some help Clark, here’s a list and you got any money left over, buy yourself something REAL nice, Clark.
March 10, 2022
It says it has 63 reviews but i can't see any? Might it just be ratings? Anywho, I've enjoyed a few of Harry Turtledoves books before but haven't read any recently so decided to pick up another series. Very different from a lot of books i normally read and the plot was very interesting.
November 29, 2009
I have to admit that I'm not a Harry Turtledove connoisseur. I read a couple of his books when I was younger and have somehow retained romantic memories of how great a writer he was. This has motivated me to go back and read his oeuvre. I started with this series more by coincidence than anything: I noticed The Breath of God on my library's New Books shelf and took out both it and this book. Unfortunately, Beyond the Gap didn't live up to my expectations, and now I'm wondering if my fond memories of Turtledove are faulty.
The premise is interesting enough. To the north, a vast Glacier blocks any further travel—until a Gap opens up, through which a barbarian Bizogot by the name of Trasamund discovers that there's a world beyond the Glacier. And there are people in it, people who call themselves the Rulers and have a serious desire to invade every land they can and subjugate the people—whom they view as lesser animals or vermin—in those lands. Aside from Trasamund, most of our protagonists come from the more "civilized" empire to the south, Raumsdalia, which isn't in as much danger from the mammoth-riding Rulers—yet.
Like I said, the premise is cool. Turtledove has mixed elements of "traditional" medieval fantasy with Iron Age society and Ice Age climate. It was nice to see a quest-style, travel-based plot where the characters had to deal with such problems as lice, bed bugs, the sparse food in the northern lands, and the lack of wood. Aside from the somewhat interesting setting, however, Beyond the Gap does very little to make itself entertaining.
Take the Rulers, for instance. There's nothing really unique about them. Culturally they're distinct from the rough Bizogots and avaricious Raumsdalians; I'll give Turtledove that. But they're just the stock foreign invaders doped up on a manifest destiny. I can't help but feel that Turtledove took something with great potential, the idea of a gap in this great, impenetrable Glacier, and somehow made it feel . . . boring. Ordinary. Just another fantasy story with masculine heroes and evil invaders. There's so much he could have done with the land beyond the Glacier, so many things he could have chosen to populate it, and he chose what was perhaps the least interesting.
Not that we would ever know, for we spend precious little time in the land beyond the Glacier. It takes more than half the book to get there, and then when our protagonists arrive, they meet the Rulers, have dinner, and are promptly shown the way back to the Gap. The rest of the book consists of the group going south back to Raumsdalia, then coming back north toward the Gap. Following me? The long journey to the north the first time comes with a promise that we'll get to see something interesting beyond the Glacier. In my opinion, the Rulers don't live up to that promise. Even if they did, it doesn't justify the repetitive travel that comprises most of the second half of the book. Turtledove's characters spend most of their time talking and travelling and very little time actually doing something, probably because he's made the Rulers such a formidable threat that he can't have a group of five people beat them. That would, admittedly, be zany.
This roundabout plotting would be forgivable if we had some interesting character development to go with it. There is character development, but it's very tame and usually simmers rather than coming to a boil. The main character, Hamnet Thyssen, is obsessed with his adulterous wife (until he falls for a Bizogot shaman). She happens to be married to a scholar going on this quest up north, and she decides to come along just to torment Hamnet. Most of the relationship issues in the rest of the book centre around how horrible this woman, Gudrid, is to everyone, even the men who sleep with her. Apparently she wants only attention and acknowledgement of how much more attractive she is than other women, especially from her ex-husband, for some reason. Instead of shutting her up, however, Hamnet just banters with her in not-very-witty moments. If there's one reason to enjoy his relationship with Liv, it's that he finally feels good enough to begin moving past Gudrid. Most readers will have started this process several hundred pages before then and sigh with relief when Hamnet catches up.
Rather than constructing plausible reasons for ignoring the threat of the Rulers, Turtledove just breaks one of his characters, Sigvat the Emperor, turning him from discerning ruler into an idiot who cares more about sleeping with Gudrid than paying attention to possible threats from the north. So what does he do when Hamnet decides to go north and help the Bizogots organize a defence? Send an "imperial order" to recall Hamnet, an order that Hamnet eagerly ignores. The only duel in this book is a fistfight between Trasamund and a Ruler—and toward the end, we get a little bit of combat between the Bizogots and some Rulers. Other than this, there's plenty of talk about fighting, and Hamnet likes to mention he killed one of Gudrid's lovers in a duel, but very little fighting. I'm not a bloodthirsty person by nature, but if I ever thought a fantasy book without fighting would be interesting, Beyond the Gap has convinced me otherwise.
This is just bad, lazy storytelling. The characters and cultures and climates of Beyond the Gap are very well differentiated from each other. I like that Hamnet's noble and strong, Ulric's witty and wily, Trasamund's boastful but fair, etc. But everything is so bland. The conflicts are unremarkable, and the stakes, while high, never really seem to materialize until the very end of the book.
There's an oh-so-helpful blurb on the front cover from Publishers Weekly: "Vivid!" I'm wondering if they stuck to one word because of space limitations or because any specificity would belie the compliment. The only "vivid" thing that comes to mind are the relentless references to sex, adultery, and more sex. Every second page is, "the Bizogots often have sex in the same tent as others" or "Gudrid loved to spread her legs for men," etc. Meanwhile, all I'm thinking is, "And I don't really care. Can we return to the story now, please?" And the book replies, "No. Screw you, I'm going to talk at length about how Hamnet feels wounded by Gudrid's betrayal!" And I say, "Well fine then. I'm going to give you a poor review on Goodreads."
And then book tries to eat me, and I remind it that it is made of paper and I am made of opposable thumbs and digital watches, the former of which are great for closing the book and throwing it across the room. (Digital watches are just neat.)
Anyway, I digress. I did not enjoy this book. It is like an unflavoured meal: the structure and maybe even the nutrients are there, but without the spices and herbs to give it flavour, it's tasteless and hard to get down. Then again, I haven't tried roasting it over a dung fire, which the Bizogots claim will infuse food with a "unique taste." Not that I'm advocating book-burning, mind you. That would be silly (not to mention a bad idea in my case, since this is a library book). If you happen to own a copy, do the sensible thing and sell it to a used bookstore so you can profit from somebody else's poor taste.
The premise is interesting enough. To the north, a vast Glacier blocks any further travel—until a Gap opens up, through which a barbarian Bizogot by the name of Trasamund discovers that there's a world beyond the Glacier. And there are people in it, people who call themselves the Rulers and have a serious desire to invade every land they can and subjugate the people—whom they view as lesser animals or vermin—in those lands. Aside from Trasamund, most of our protagonists come from the more "civilized" empire to the south, Raumsdalia, which isn't in as much danger from the mammoth-riding Rulers—yet.
Like I said, the premise is cool. Turtledove has mixed elements of "traditional" medieval fantasy with Iron Age society and Ice Age climate. It was nice to see a quest-style, travel-based plot where the characters had to deal with such problems as lice, bed bugs, the sparse food in the northern lands, and the lack of wood. Aside from the somewhat interesting setting, however, Beyond the Gap does very little to make itself entertaining.
Take the Rulers, for instance. There's nothing really unique about them. Culturally they're distinct from the rough Bizogots and avaricious Raumsdalians; I'll give Turtledove that. But they're just the stock foreign invaders doped up on a manifest destiny. I can't help but feel that Turtledove took something with great potential, the idea of a gap in this great, impenetrable Glacier, and somehow made it feel . . . boring. Ordinary. Just another fantasy story with masculine heroes and evil invaders. There's so much he could have done with the land beyond the Glacier, so many things he could have chosen to populate it, and he chose what was perhaps the least interesting.
Not that we would ever know, for we spend precious little time in the land beyond the Glacier. It takes more than half the book to get there, and then when our protagonists arrive, they meet the Rulers, have dinner, and are promptly shown the way back to the Gap. The rest of the book consists of the group going south back to Raumsdalia, then coming back north toward the Gap. Following me? The long journey to the north the first time comes with a promise that we'll get to see something interesting beyond the Glacier. In my opinion, the Rulers don't live up to that promise. Even if they did, it doesn't justify the repetitive travel that comprises most of the second half of the book. Turtledove's characters spend most of their time talking and travelling and very little time actually doing something, probably because he's made the Rulers such a formidable threat that he can't have a group of five people beat them. That would, admittedly, be zany.
This roundabout plotting would be forgivable if we had some interesting character development to go with it. There is character development, but it's very tame and usually simmers rather than coming to a boil. The main character, Hamnet Thyssen, is obsessed with his adulterous wife (until he falls for a Bizogot shaman). She happens to be married to a scholar going on this quest up north, and she decides to come along just to torment Hamnet. Most of the relationship issues in the rest of the book centre around how horrible this woman, Gudrid, is to everyone, even the men who sleep with her. Apparently she wants only attention and acknowledgement of how much more attractive she is than other women, especially from her ex-husband, for some reason. Instead of shutting her up, however, Hamnet just banters with her in not-very-witty moments. If there's one reason to enjoy his relationship with Liv, it's that he finally feels good enough to begin moving past Gudrid. Most readers will have started this process several hundred pages before then and sigh with relief when Hamnet catches up.
Rather than constructing plausible reasons for ignoring the threat of the Rulers, Turtledove just breaks one of his characters, Sigvat the Emperor, turning him from discerning ruler into an idiot who cares more about sleeping with Gudrid than paying attention to possible threats from the north. So what does he do when Hamnet decides to go north and help the Bizogots organize a defence? Send an "imperial order" to recall Hamnet, an order that Hamnet eagerly ignores. The only duel in this book is a fistfight between Trasamund and a Ruler—and toward the end, we get a little bit of combat between the Bizogots and some Rulers. Other than this, there's plenty of talk about fighting, and Hamnet likes to mention he killed one of Gudrid's lovers in a duel, but very little fighting. I'm not a bloodthirsty person by nature, but if I ever thought a fantasy book without fighting would be interesting, Beyond the Gap has convinced me otherwise.
This is just bad, lazy storytelling. The characters and cultures and climates of Beyond the Gap are very well differentiated from each other. I like that Hamnet's noble and strong, Ulric's witty and wily, Trasamund's boastful but fair, etc. But everything is so bland. The conflicts are unremarkable, and the stakes, while high, never really seem to materialize until the very end of the book.
There's an oh-so-helpful blurb on the front cover from Publishers Weekly: "Vivid!" I'm wondering if they stuck to one word because of space limitations or because any specificity would belie the compliment. The only "vivid" thing that comes to mind are the relentless references to sex, adultery, and more sex. Every second page is, "the Bizogots often have sex in the same tent as others" or "Gudrid loved to spread her legs for men," etc. Meanwhile, all I'm thinking is, "And I don't really care. Can we return to the story now, please?" And the book replies, "No. Screw you, I'm going to talk at length about how Hamnet feels wounded by Gudrid's betrayal!" And I say, "Well fine then. I'm going to give you a poor review on Goodreads."
And then book tries to eat me, and I remind it that it is made of paper and I am made of opposable thumbs and digital watches, the former of which are great for closing the book and throwing it across the room. (Digital watches are just neat.)
Anyway, I digress. I did not enjoy this book. It is like an unflavoured meal: the structure and maybe even the nutrients are there, but without the spices and herbs to give it flavour, it's tasteless and hard to get down. Then again, I haven't tried roasting it over a dung fire, which the Bizogots claim will infuse food with a "unique taste." Not that I'm advocating book-burning, mind you. That would be silly (not to mention a bad idea in my case, since this is a library book). If you happen to own a copy, do the sensible thing and sell it to a used bookstore so you can profit from somebody else's poor taste.
June 3, 2011
The big idea underlying this book is excellent - the giant glacier that dominates the north has retreated just far enough to create an opening to the previously inaccessible (and practically unimaginable) world beyond. I've read a number of fantasy novels with expanding glaciers dominating the horizon, but never encountered the reverse before; so kudos to Turtledove for identifying a genre cliche and turning it intelligently on its head.
My main complaint is that I found Gudrid, who was clearly intended to be obnoxious, so odious that I actually didn't want to keep reading when she turned up again. The men's reactions to her didn't help. They were so irritatingly, um, thinking with their lower brains? I don't know quite how to phrase my objections without insulting the male of the species, because I think they were not implausible but still infuriating.
My main complaint is that I found Gudrid, who was clearly intended to be obnoxious, so odious that I actually didn't want to keep reading when she turned up again. The men's reactions to her didn't help. They were so irritatingly, um, thinking with their lower brains? I don't know quite how to phrase my objections without insulting the male of the species, because I think they were not implausible but still infuriating.
December 30, 2014
This story of pre-modern man is refreshingly simple and calls attention to the dichotomy between the way things used to be and what we have allowed them to become as we have moved further and further away from the land and our own self-sufficiency. Looking forward to the other books in the series.
I like his style and attention to detail, without allowing the detail to overwhelm the story. My one caveat is that the one place this does not hold to be true is in his description of physical relationships which are really overly descriptive and distract from the story. If those were removed he would probably be one of my favorite authors.
I like his style and attention to detail, without allowing the detail to overwhelm the story. My one caveat is that the one place this does not hold to be true is in his description of physical relationships which are really overly descriptive and distract from the story. If those were removed he would probably be one of my favorite authors.
September 22, 2019
This book has a lot of walking in it. It reminds me of the Hobbit movie, they walked north some stuff happens then they walked south just to walk north again. I might continue the series at some point but it will be when I am low on material. Not a good Turtledove book.
January 2, 2012
This is my first Harry Turtledove book and I was disappointed.
The potential was there for a good book but there was too much conversation, too much focus on sex, too many fixations on characters making puns, too many typos and spacing issues (I read the electronic version so I don't know if these typos and spacing issues were a problem with the other editions, but they were definitely distracting in the ebook version).
I think Mr. Turtledove is probably a talented writer, but the talent is not being used in the right areas when he writes. I dislike so much conversation in a book, but it's certainly not because I want to have a book full of battle scenes and war themes; I'm not a fan of those either. I just think Mr. Turtledove's conversational scenes need to be more in proportion to descriptive scenes, traveling scenes, etc.
The potential was there for a good book but there was too much conversation, too much focus on sex, too many fixations on characters making puns, too many typos and spacing issues (I read the electronic version so I don't know if these typos and spacing issues were a problem with the other editions, but they were definitely distracting in the ebook version).
I think Mr. Turtledove is probably a talented writer, but the talent is not being used in the right areas when he writes. I dislike so much conversation in a book, but it's certainly not because I want to have a book full of battle scenes and war themes; I'm not a fan of those either. I just think Mr. Turtledove's conversational scenes need to be more in proportion to descriptive scenes, traveling scenes, etc.
March 15, 2013
The novel feels short and incomplete, making me wonder if there was an editorial decision to chop one book into three parts. (Damn you long ago publisher of Lord of the Rings!) And of all of the things to pad the book out, the choice of the protagonists obsesssion with his ex-wife was probably the most annoying thing that could have been chosen. (And I seem to be getting more prudish as I get older, his obsession seems to be more about missing having sex with her, and the loss of his honor via her infidelity, than feelings of lost love/ a broken heart. Which equates to: too many sex references.)
The only reason I may continue with this series is that there exists the possibility of interplay between different tech levels. Ranging from iron-age hunter gatherers to lower-end standard fantasy medieval.
The only reason I may continue with this series is that there exists the possibility of interplay between different tech levels. Ranging from iron-age hunter gatherers to lower-end standard fantasy medieval.
July 3, 2012
Okay folks, I gave this 100+ pages and simply have to abandon it. Despite the slow plot development, it seemed to have some promise in an interesting tale of an alternate bronze age setting, with an intriguing quest narrative. BUT... after several tired "hardy-har" sexual pun/joke/dialogues between tribesmen, it seemed time to stop. This is book one of a trilogy, and had a few interesting initial characters, but I can't imagine stomaching another two books of this type of juvenile banter that does nothing to advance the story. Also, the author's style of writing seemed to be rather inconsistent, at once and the same fluidly written as well as choppy and stilted. On to something else...
June 23, 2016
Read about 15%. Gave up because the subplot about the main character, his exwife, and her new husband was too annoying.
Too bad, because the main plot sounded interesting. But I seriously started to wonder if the author had recently been through a nasty divorce shortly before writing this. Ugh.
Too bad, because the main plot sounded interesting. But I seriously started to wonder if the author had recently been through a nasty divorce shortly before writing this. Ugh.
January 1, 2018
3.5-3.75🌟// This read very much like a first book in a series. Nothing much happened and the looming sense of foreboding went on and on. This is not a fun and exciting read (for me, that is), but rather, a relaxing one that kind of reminded me of typical Japanese adventure lightnovels where the main character from the modern world is transported to a fantasy one. It has a slice-of-life feel to it with the constant description of the food they had to eat as they continued on in their long journey; the habitation and way of life of the different nomadic clans they passed by on their way; and the appreciation of the beauty and might of the country tney traversed to reach their goal.
Humour, mostly in the form of sexual innuendos and vulgar jokes as well as attacks on "manliness" (rolled my eyes so hard on these ones), was interpersed in almost every page that it got really annoying after reading 3/4 of the way through.
The ongoing assertion of cultural superiority of one race over another was interesting, though, especially, with how concrete the author presented the differences between the two in almost every cultural aspect. I liked how this particularly made me think of third-world and first-world relationships and interactions.
Most of the characters were made very much alive with how their quirks, backstories--sometimes scandalous ones-- and personalities were presented, some from the get-go, the others unravelled through bits and pieces of interactions and conversations throughout the book.
Relied a bit heavily on subtext to deliver meanings, especially in conversations. There's also bit too much description of landscapes (which I liked), the weather, the Bizogots' (nomads and tribes) way of life and "odd" habits, and how dung fuel is used to cook the food. Conversations, jokes, complaints, and internal monologues on the latter happened a lot more than I cared to count, honestly. The same point was made over and over about it, though-- when you're dying of hunger you'll eat whatever it is in front of you even if it was cooked in feces. I got that the first time, and on the second, as well as the third time it was mentioned. It didn't need to have to be repeated more than twice, honestly.
There were a couple more scenes, albeit shorter ones, that can be considered as fillers that dragged the whole thing more , even though the plot was already at a pretty relaxed pace.
The worldbuilding saved it for me, as well as 2 or 3 of the characters, and the ending where the conflict for the whole series was finally revealed.
I'm going to continue on with Book 2 at least.
*************
p.s. It's annoying how there's only 2 female characters whose personalities are so different from each other that, if you dumbed it down, can be depicted simply as one "good female" and "one bad female". I liked Liv a lot. In some ways, I liked Gudrid, too, but damn, she's annoying.
Humour, mostly in the form of sexual innuendos and vulgar jokes as well as attacks on "manliness" (rolled my eyes so hard on these ones), was interpersed in almost every page that it got really annoying after reading 3/4 of the way through.
The ongoing assertion of cultural superiority of one race over another was interesting, though, especially, with how concrete the author presented the differences between the two in almost every cultural aspect. I liked how this particularly made me think of third-world and first-world relationships and interactions.
Most of the characters were made very much alive with how their quirks, backstories--sometimes scandalous ones-- and personalities were presented, some from the get-go, the others unravelled through bits and pieces of interactions and conversations throughout the book.
Relied a bit heavily on subtext to deliver meanings, especially in conversations. There's also bit too much description of landscapes (which I liked), the weather, the Bizogots' (nomads and tribes) way of life and "odd" habits, and how dung fuel is used to cook the food. Conversations, jokes, complaints, and internal monologues on the latter happened a lot more than I cared to count, honestly. The same point was made over and over about it, though-- when you're dying of hunger you'll eat whatever it is in front of you even if it was cooked in feces. I got that the first time, and on the second, as well as the third time it was mentioned. It didn't need to have to be repeated more than twice, honestly.
There were a couple more scenes, albeit shorter ones, that can be considered as fillers that dragged the whole thing more , even though the plot was already at a pretty relaxed pace.
The worldbuilding saved it for me, as well as 2 or 3 of the characters, and the ending where the conflict for the whole series was finally revealed.
I'm going to continue on with Book 2 at least.
*************
p.s. It's annoying how there's only 2 female characters whose personalities are so different from each other that, if you dumbed it down, can be depicted simply as one "good female" and "one bad female". I liked Liv a lot. In some ways, I liked Gudrid, too, but damn, she's annoying.
February 4, 2017
To the north of the Raumsdalian Empire are the frozen tundra lands and then the glacier. When Count Hamnet is summoned to court, he learns that a jarl of the Bizogots brings news that the glacier has retreated far enough that there's a gap leading beyond, to lands never explored by anyone. Count Hamnet is sent on a journey to explore, and see if he can even find the legendary Golden Shrine. After recruiting a band consisting of a hardened adventurer, a drunk sorcerer, a scholar of the Golden Shrine, and the Bizogtoh jarl Trassmund, they set off. Unfortunately for Count Hamnet, one more joins their party, against his wishes, his ex-wife Gudrid, who even years later, loves to twist the knife in his back after cheating on him repeatedly.
Along the way, Turtledove depicts a stunningly realistic world set at the end of their ice age, detailing customs, technology, philosophy, and natural history of multiple environments. In addition to crafting a world so real it seems lifted out of actual history (which in many ways it is, as Turtledove know his history, and weaves in details from real world cultures ), he makes engaging characters who have real hopes, fears, and dreams, and are entertaining enough that reading about even their idle thoughts and day to day conversations is engaging. Once they finally make it through the gap and into unexplored lands, the tension mounts, as well as the wonder of discovery. What they find there is world changing, and how they deal with it will set them on an even more challenging mission...getting their countrymen to believe the tales they bring back.
As a long time fan of Harry Turtledove, I'm always excited to read a new series by him, in particular one of his fantasies. They have the same level of detail as his alternate history books, but also have a fun and realistic magic system which draws from real world beliefs, and applies a dash of pragmatism not often found in fantasy stories. My only complaint about this book is that as much fun as the characters and setting is, it moves a bit slow. Even when things finally start happening with the main plot, there's a bit less action than I anticipated. I expect in the remainder of the trilogy, events will pick up and the action will increase to move the plot forward, which I look forward to.
Along the way, Turtledove depicts a stunningly realistic world set at the end of their ice age, detailing customs, technology, philosophy, and natural history of multiple environments. In addition to crafting a world so real it seems lifted out of actual history (which in many ways it is, as Turtledove know his history, and weaves in details from real world cultures ), he makes engaging characters who have real hopes, fears, and dreams, and are entertaining enough that reading about even their idle thoughts and day to day conversations is engaging. Once they finally make it through the gap and into unexplored lands, the tension mounts, as well as the wonder of discovery. What they find there is world changing, and how they deal with it will set them on an even more challenging mission...getting their countrymen to believe the tales they bring back.
As a long time fan of Harry Turtledove, I'm always excited to read a new series by him, in particular one of his fantasies. They have the same level of detail as his alternate history books, but also have a fun and realistic magic system which draws from real world beliefs, and applies a dash of pragmatism not often found in fantasy stories. My only complaint about this book is that as much fun as the characters and setting is, it moves a bit slow. Even when things finally start happening with the main plot, there's a bit less action than I anticipated. I expect in the remainder of the trilogy, events will pick up and the action will increase to move the plot forward, which I look forward to.
August 21, 2017
I've been reading Turtledove since The Guns of the South I tend to enjoy his alternative histories, but his work does get formulaic, his characters can become tiresome cliches, and frankly his depictions of women are problematic as they tend to run the gamut between angry shrews, sluts, and dream girls.
While all of these problems are on display in this book (particularly in the character of Gudrid), they are muted, and take a backseat to a fascinating fantasy narrative.
We find ourselves in the Raumsadalian Empire, a vast sprawling, and not terribly well run nation lying at the edge of a massive glacier. This glacier has been retreating for generations but word arrives at the capital, Nidaros that the glacier has suddenly parted, and there is land beyond it. A nobleman, Count Hamnet Thyssen, is sent north with a band of adventurers (and Gudrid, his scheming, venomous and malevolent ex-wife) to explore, and they find a new world and new threats that will change their world forever.
Yes, it's a plot we've all heard before, but it's skillfully told, and with the exception of Gudrid and at times Trasamund, the characters are engaging and the worldbuilding, while minimal in comparison to Martin, Jordan or Sanderson manages to fire the imagination and make me want to make a return visit to see what happens next. But next time Count Thyssen, leave Gudrid at home.
While all of these problems are on display in this book (particularly in the character of Gudrid), they are muted, and take a backseat to a fascinating fantasy narrative.
We find ourselves in the Raumsadalian Empire, a vast sprawling, and not terribly well run nation lying at the edge of a massive glacier. This glacier has been retreating for generations but word arrives at the capital, Nidaros that the glacier has suddenly parted, and there is land beyond it. A nobleman, Count Hamnet Thyssen, is sent north with a band of adventurers (and Gudrid, his scheming, venomous and malevolent ex-wife) to explore, and they find a new world and new threats that will change their world forever.
Yes, it's a plot we've all heard before, but it's skillfully told, and with the exception of Gudrid and at times Trasamund, the characters are engaging and the worldbuilding, while minimal in comparison to Martin, Jordan or Sanderson manages to fire the imagination and make me want to make a return visit to see what happens next. But next time Count Thyssen, leave Gudrid at home.
October 28, 2023
This was a strange book. I really loved the interesting setting, especially all of the extinct megafauna and ice age setting. I thought the characters were great - likable, funny, brave, intelligent - with believable motives and actions. However, I can only give it 3 stars because it feels like only a piece of a book. Obviously, it’s a part of a trilogy, so the story will go on, but it really takes forever to get going and not much happens in the book.
I’ll also mention the awful ex wife obsession. Was the author going through a divorce as he wrote this? The main character is fanatically obsessed with his ex wife, and she exists simply to torment him through 90% of the story. She accompanies the adventure party on a wildly perilous journey just to torture him. Bizarre.
Despite these complaints, I quite liked the concept and i am a fan of ice age-related storytelling, so I’ll continue with the trilogy at some point.
I’ll also mention the awful ex wife obsession. Was the author going through a divorce as he wrote this? The main character is fanatically obsessed with his ex wife, and she exists simply to torment him through 90% of the story. She accompanies the adventure party on a wildly perilous journey just to torture him. Bizarre.
Despite these complaints, I quite liked the concept and i am a fan of ice age-related storytelling, so I’ll continue with the trilogy at some point.
August 28, 2020
I finally have to give up on Turtledove. I had loved his series as a teenager but haven't been able to finish one of his books in 10+ years. Every few years I try another series hoping to recapture the magic of the "Darkness" and "Great War" series but alas... nope. The writing is full of useless filler, constantly repeats itself, and the characters are simple caricatures of a personality type with no depth. This book in particular spends the first 30 pages going on and on about the main character being cuckolded by his wife yet having to deal with all her lovers, very strange and not compelling.
August 13, 2017
What the heck?!?!?!? This book is based on a really cool concept but then the story just devolves more and more until I'm sitting there scratching my head wondering why in the world any of the characters are making the decisions that they are.
The last 2 pages of the book have this climax that doesn't even feel important in the slightest. It also seems like the book ends on a cliffhanger that would be appropriate to put at the end of a chapter, not the whole book!
I'm not going to keep rambling, but it wasn't great. Boo!!
The last 2 pages of the book have this climax that doesn't even feel important in the slightest. It also seems like the book ends on a cliffhanger that would be appropriate to put at the end of a chapter, not the whole book!
I'm not going to keep rambling, but it wasn't great. Boo!!
November 23, 2019
Interesting enough concept: a bronze age civilization that arose during an ice age - instead of after it - is confronted by the beginning of the aforementioned end (that was a clumsy sentence). It's the sort of story that Turtledove usually does well. This time? He took a promising setting and used it as the backdrop for a glacial march across the landscape, accompanied by endless conversation, bad puns, and a female character who reads like badly executed literary revenge on an ex-partner. This was painful to slog through.
December 22, 2019
In a rather confused line of history, half barbarous monarchies from somewhere between Byzantium and Kievan Rus, and half an imagined Ice Age Sami, our heroes discover that the impenetrable glaciers in the Far North have parted and there is a (very, very windy) Gap through to the ice beyond.
Nothing very surprising happens in the novel. There is a ludicrous profusion of puns and some decidedly irritating wizard characters.
Nothing very surprising happens in the novel. There is a ludicrous profusion of puns and some decidedly irritating wizard characters.
March 26, 2021
I read this one because I wanted to read a book in this setting - and it's a testament to how much I wanted to read that book that I finished this one at all. Perhaps I just wasn't the intended audience, but I simply found no interest in a collection of contrived, thoroughly modern archetypes traveling back and forth across a barely explored world making lewd remarks.
January 8, 2023
Overall, the story is relatively boring and draws on. I think that this book should've had a little more to chew on to make you want to read the rest of the series. Character development was odd, maybe more is revealed in the second and third books about the constant relationship battles with Gudrid.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 22, 2023
It’s not life-changing, but it holds your attention. If you’re into Turtledove’s writing style and usual plots, you’ll pass the time pleasurably with this book. Now that I think about it, this could be said for all of his books.
I got more of a kick out of them in high school, but I still come back to them every now and then.
I got more of a kick out of them in high school, but I still come back to them every now and then.
August 27, 2023
This whole book seems to be an introduction with very little plot. The story, from my perspective, doesn’t even start until the very end of the book. I’m very hesitant to start the second book. I want to know what happens now that the story has actually started, but I can’t take a whole book of nothing.
August 3, 2018
I generally don't mind cliche characters and their antics in these types of books as long as the world they exist in keeps my imagination fed. This story didn't do that for me. The world building/fanasty stuff takes too much of a backseat to mundane and tiresome character drama for my taste.
November 30, 2018
One I hadn't heard of before, or had skipped over. But another great Turtledove book. Alternate history, but you could imagine it fitting into our timeline. Interesting characters, great descriptions of the environment, surprising storylines.
October 15, 2017
the book was very descriptive and very detail oriented. that makes it a vey slow read, however, Trasamund made lt very interesting.
January 16, 2020
Neat ideas that I really wanted to see more of but the writing and characters were not there.
January 15, 2021
Cool premise. Boring story. Weak dialogue. No action. Way too much time spent on jealous internal monologues about who the main character’s ex-wife was sleeping with.
July 27, 2023
This book was just okay. The ending was terrible. I had a rough time reading it, but the part where Liv was able to go and experience where Hamnet came from was worth it somewhat.
January 27, 2025
not up to speed
Repetitious and predictable. In his other books you wanted to keep on reading, in this one it was difficult to finish.
Repetitious and predictable. In his other books you wanted to keep on reading, in this one it was difficult to finish.
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