Hawk Quest

Starred review from April 15, 2013

In the year 1072, the known world is at war, hunger and disease are widespread, Viking raids are still common, and explorers are just beginning to investigate beyond the confines of Europe. Into this turbulence Vallon, a minor nobleman, escapes from a Moorish prison, becoming the leader of a motley crew of adventurers who travel thousands of miles from continental Europe to Iceland, across the steppes of Russia, to ransom Sir Walter, captive of the Turkish leader Suleyman. Ten years in the making, this nearly 700-page novel is replete with historically accurate details of medieval warfare, falconry (which plays a central role in the plot), and the hardships of travel by land and sea. In spite of the era's prevailing disregard for the sanctity of life and human dignity, the small band of men and women forge an uncommon fellowship of love and honor. VERDICT Lyndon is a debut author worth watching and will be appreciated by readers of Bernard Cornwell and Steven Pressfield. Let's hope we won't have to wait another ten years for his next book. [Redhook is the Hachette Book Group's new commercial fiction imprint.--Ed.]--Jane Henriksen Baird, Anchorage P.L., AK

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from April 15, 2013
Readers who settle into this utterly engrossing historical adventure thinking it's going to be about the Norman Conquest are in for a surprise. Yes, it begins in 1072, and several of the major characters are Normans, but its reach extends far beyond the shores of England. Vallon is a Frankish soldier of fortune who stumbles reluctantly into a quest of unimaginable proportions when he rescues a Sicilian medical student who needs help: a Norman leader's son has been captured by an emir in distant Anatolia, who has set a seemingly impossible ransom: bring the emir four pure-white gyrfalcons, and the prisoner will go free. Vallon accepts the challenge for reasons of his own and embarks on a journey that takes his motley crew from England to Iceland, Greenland (home of the gyrfalcons), and on to Russia and Anatolia (now part of Turkey). Transportation being what it was in the eleventh century, that is some journey. And the distance to be traversed is only the beginning: along the way, the intrepid adventurers must fend off piratical Vikings, angry Laplanders, even angrier Russians, and the double-dealing Anatolians (not to mention the occasional rampaging polar bear). One might think that the parade of adversaries and climatological disasters could grow repetitive, but first-novelist Lyndon never loses control of his material, mixing fascinating descriptions of the inhospitable landscape with full-bodied portrayals of the principal characters (including a bit of romance), all the while ratcheting the tension and sense of danger to ever-higher levels. For readers who relish high-concept adventure well grounded in historical detail, this remarkably well-orchestrated epic delivers the goods.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)