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Harkfast!: The Making of the King
The time is the mysterious twiligt age between the fall of Rome and the long night of the Dark Ages. The place is primitive Britain, where a magic power with roots in the dimmest reaches of the past makes its final stand against the forces of bloody barbarism and ravaging conquest. It is then and there that Harkfast, last of the great druid priests, must find the youth destined to be King of the Celts and mold him with magic and with might into the hero foretold by prophecy and threatened by every danger in a world sliding in to the abyss
224 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1976
26 people want to read
About the author
Hugh C. Rae
20 books4 followersHugh Crauford Rae, aka James Albany, Robert Crawford, R.B. Houston, Caroline Crosby, Stuart Stern (with S. Ungar), Jessica Stirling (with Margaret M. Coghlan)
Hugh Crauford Rae was a son of Isobel and Robert Rae. His father was a riviter. He published his first stories aged 11 in the Robin comic, winning a cricket bat the same year in a children’s writing competition. After graduating from secondary school, he worked as an assistant in the antiquarian department of John Smith's bookshop. At work, he met his future wife, Elizabeth. Published since 1963, he started to wrote suspense novels as Hugh C. Rae, but he also used the pseudonyms of Robert Crawford, R.B. Houston, Stuart Stern (with S. Ungar) and James Albany. On 1973, his novel The Shooting Gallery was nominee by the Edgar Award. On 1974, he wrote the first few romance novels with Peggie Coghlan, using the popular pseudonym Jessica Stirling. However, when she retired 7 years after the first book was published, he continued writing more than 30 on his own, and also as Caroline Crosby. His female pseudonyms first became widely known in 1999, when The Wind from the Hills
Hugh Crauford Rae was a son of Isobel and Robert Rae. His father was a riviter. He published his first stories aged 11 in the Robin comic, winning a cricket bat the same year in a children’s writing competition. After graduating from secondary school, he worked as an assistant in the antiquarian department of John Smith's bookshop. At work, he met his future wife, Elizabeth. Published since 1963, he started to wrote suspense novels as Hugh C. Rae, but he also used the pseudonyms of Robert Crawford, R.B. Houston, Stuart Stern (with S. Ungar) and James Albany. On 1973, his novel The Shooting Gallery was nominee by the Edgar Award. On 1974, he wrote the first few romance novels with Peggie Coghlan, using the popular pseudonym Jessica Stirling. However, when she retired 7 years after the first book was published, he continued writing more than 30 on his own, and also as Caroline Crosby. His female pseudonyms first became widely known in 1999, when The Wind from the Hills
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 6, 2014
Why on earth is this rollicking yarn so obscure? If Hugh C. Rae had continued the saga of Harkfast the druid, and his protege Ruan the warrior king it would certainly be regarded as one of the all-time great works of Historical fantasy. It is such a shame that so many sublime works of fiction like 'Harkfast: The making of The king are currently out of print; or released solely in perfunctorily edited Kindle versions. If you enjoy Leiber, Vance, Moorcock, or the bravura, unsung wordsmithery of Karl Edward Wagner, this rumbustious tale of dark magic and should prove to be time well spent. The premise for an ostensible part II is literally mouthwatering! Ahhhhhhhhhhh! Harkfast is a truly magnificent creation I need more; his mastery of Gnostic power is quite devastating; and his Clark Aston Smith-esque showdown with the monstrous amphibian deity Volsas expresses his esoteric art in an especially blunt, and most efficacious manner. Gadzooks! it be exhilarating stuff and no mistake!
Without belaboring the point I genuinely can't imagine why this heady, epic tale should still reside within the dank, cloying cave of literary obscurity? Some stout-hearted publisher should swiftly exhume this mildewed parchment, and make it available for the discerning reader post haste!
The prose is clear, lucid, and engenders a spectacularly vivid and wholly realistic vista; and all his character's have a delightful piquancy that raises it effortlessly above the mere trickery of pulp (I have nothing against pulp, mind you) but this is simply damn good tale-spinning by an author whose talent, and vision are as clear and uncluttered as the glassy, fathomless skies of ancient Britain.
(the Sphere cover is a cracker! And somewhat eerily, considering the subject matter, the rendering of Harkfast as a stern, leonine-bearded Alan Moore double is darn appropriate)
I most certainly echo the Financial Times astute endorsement of said novel being "Strongly Written and Vivid" Quite so!
So, resound the Battle Horns! BRAHHHHHHHUEEEEEEEEEEERGHHHHHHHHHH! (a poor rendering of such a stirring note, I grant you, but this is the kind of broiling tome that warms one's blood like a potent, and well-mulled libation; thereby causing a great tumult of emotions, adding a delicious endorphin or fifty into one's reeling system!)
Without belaboring the point I genuinely can't imagine why this heady, epic tale should still reside within the dank, cloying cave of literary obscurity? Some stout-hearted publisher should swiftly exhume this mildewed parchment, and make it available for the discerning reader post haste!
The prose is clear, lucid, and engenders a spectacularly vivid and wholly realistic vista; and all his character's have a delightful piquancy that raises it effortlessly above the mere trickery of pulp (I have nothing against pulp, mind you) but this is simply damn good tale-spinning by an author whose talent, and vision are as clear and uncluttered as the glassy, fathomless skies of ancient Britain.
(the Sphere cover is a cracker! And somewhat eerily, considering the subject matter, the rendering of Harkfast as a stern, leonine-bearded Alan Moore double is darn appropriate)
I most certainly echo the Financial Times astute endorsement of said novel being "Strongly Written and Vivid" Quite so!
So, resound the Battle Horns! BRAHHHHHHHUEEEEEEEEEEERGHHHHHHHHHH! (a poor rendering of such a stirring note, I grant you, but this is the kind of broiling tome that warms one's blood like a potent, and well-mulled libation; thereby causing a great tumult of emotions, adding a delicious endorphin or fifty into one's reeling system!)
May 1, 2014
Overall, I really enjoyed this Dark Ages fantasy. In other reviews, comparisons to Clark Ashton Smith and Karl Edward Wagner were implied, but of the two, I would lean more to KEW. The story of a young boy chosen by the gods (and a certain Druid) to become the true leader and king of the splintered Celtic tribes is pretty straight-forward and entertaining; Rae really captures the dark, mist-soaked age of post-Roman Britian with good writing that is not too "purple prose", but very descriptive. There is little in the way of sorcery, but when it comes, it is pretty cool. There is a fair amount of blood spilled, and the book can be brutal at times, but is a fair representation of a brutal and bloody age. My only issue with the story is that the young hero never really does anything major; he is not even in the final battle! And the story is really just getting going when it ends rather abruptly-this feels like the first book of a trilogy that was never completed. Are there more books? I would love to read more...
April 12, 2014
Pagans, Celtic history lovers, Rosemary Sutcliffe fans and adventure story enthusiasts: what are you waiting for? There are plenty of inexpensive copies of this book available. Now is the time to read it. Just don't be too heartbroken that the story never continues after this book.
August 31, 2017
Pretty killer and criminally unknown Historical Fantasy.
I can't figure out why this isn't known to fans of Robert E. Howard's Bran Mak Morn/Pictish stories. While disappointing that it ends before the main conflict really even begins to be resolved, this is a well crafted Pre-Historical view of a fallen-Roman Britain, complete with feuding Celtic tribes and Druid rites. None of the mystical elements (and there's a couple loopy ones) seem eye-rollingly fantastical within the novel's grounded and vividly described, but ultimately unknowable Historical era. (Much more along the lines of The Once and Future King, than Wallace Breem, or Cornwell's Arthur stuff.)
I agree with other reviewers that it feels like a snippet of a larger arc, and the rushed ending leaves a ton unresolved. A bunch of pretty fully-developed characters are tossed aside after a couple pages of action, and there are intriguing allusions to many other deities/tribes, that we never get to see. The tone is bloody and dirty, but without brazen violence or sexuality (except for one very strange later development). Overall, a recommended and easily digested obscure Quest tale, that should easily appeal to fans of Michael Moorcock's earlier Von Bek stories, Fritz Leiber, Robert E. Howard, and Arthurian buffs in general. It's refreshing to read a Fantasy novel of this ilk, clearly without influence of either Tolkien or Gygax.
P.S. - The author has a quite a broad catalog, but it appears not to feature anything else along these lines, and certainly no continuation of this story. Total Bummer.
I can't figure out why this isn't known to fans of Robert E. Howard's Bran Mak Morn/Pictish stories. While disappointing that it ends before the main conflict really even begins to be resolved, this is a well crafted Pre-Historical view of a fallen-Roman Britain, complete with feuding Celtic tribes and Druid rites. None of the mystical elements (and there's a couple loopy ones) seem eye-rollingly fantastical within the novel's grounded and vividly described, but ultimately unknowable Historical era. (Much more along the lines of The Once and Future King, than Wallace Breem, or Cornwell's Arthur stuff.)
I agree with other reviewers that it feels like a snippet of a larger arc, and the rushed ending leaves a ton unresolved. A bunch of pretty fully-developed characters are tossed aside after a couple pages of action, and there are intriguing allusions to many other deities/tribes, that we never get to see. The tone is bloody and dirty, but without brazen violence or sexuality (except for one very strange later development). Overall, a recommended and easily digested obscure Quest tale, that should easily appeal to fans of Michael Moorcock's earlier Von Bek stories, Fritz Leiber, Robert E. Howard, and Arthurian buffs in general. It's refreshing to read a Fantasy novel of this ilk, clearly without influence of either Tolkien or Gygax.
P.S. - The author has a quite a broad catalog, but it appears not to feature anything else along these lines, and certainly no continuation of this story. Total Bummer.
October 29, 2023
It is very disappointingly frustrating to know that this story will never be continued... I enjoyed so much reading it! The plot is not the most original - a druid trains a young boy who was chosen to become the king that will save his people - but it is told in a way that makes this one of the best historical fantasy books I have read. The author really takes his time to set the scene and characters, but when the story starts to get going, it is truly epic. It is dark, violent and gritty, filled with myth and magic, a vivid visualisation of a historical age we do not know much about, post-Roman Britain. The pace accelerates and things get really interesting towards the last quarter of the book, but nothing is resolved - this was obviously meant to be just the first volume in a series. Too bad there wont be a next one.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews