The Hammer and the Cross

By: Harry Harrison

Narrated by: Julian Elfer

865 A.D. Warring kings rule over the British Isles, but the Church rules over the kings, threatening all who oppose them with damnation. Only the dreaded Vikings of Scandinavia do not fear the priests. Shef, the bastard son of a Norse raider and a captive English lady, is torn by divided loyalties and driven by strange visions that seem to come from Odin himself. A smith and warrior, he alone dares to imagine new weapons and tactics with which to carve out a kingdom - and launch an all-out war between... The Hammer and the Cross.

©1993 Harry Harrison and John Holm (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Couldn't finish it

My son and I began listening to this in the car on a trip. He finished it on his own before I got around to it. He told me not to bother, so I didn't.

From the amount I read, I found that it's told with little emotion. The character is superficial and has no emotional depth. People die, he risks his life to rescue a girl, but he does it out of rote. The author doesn't show us his feelings, so we have no sympathy for his plight or goals.

The story is told at a distant third person, so it's hard to feel any tension.