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 Miscellaneous
Blood Eagle: A Stroy of Vikings in America
 by Brian Cherry
$19.95 / AmErica House / 2001
After the author describes
a "blood eagle,"a particularly gruesome method of torture,
I expected to dislike this book. But I was surprised to find
that Blood Eagle is a funny, clever, and engrossing book,
in which the main character, known variously as Hakon and Harald,
keeps a sort of journal in which he records the events of his
adventurous life.
Hakon leaves home as a boy and stows away on the first European
ship ever to land in America, witnesses the mutiny that follows,
and finds sanctuary with a kindly man named Rik, who not only
teaches him to fight, but also converts him to Christianity-
a rather surprising twist in a book which seems to be all whimsy
and Monty Pythonesque nonsequiturs. Indeed, the first part of
the book can only be described as droll. Cherry's unexpected
way with words is a pleasure, and keeps the reader embarking
on each new sentence with a delightful sense of expectation.
Even in the more serious second part of the book, Cherry's writing
is a treat. The brutality of some of the descriptive passages
strikes a discordant note, jarring the reader out of his mellow
daydream, and Cherry's humorous, unabashedly 21stcentury take
on medieval life is cracked wide open to reveal the not-so-amusing
underbelly. But through it all, Cherry's tale is nothing if not
satisfying, especially when the villainous characters (for the
most part) receive their comeuppances.
Read it for the atmosphere, read it for the laughs, read it for-oh,
just read it! It's a most entertaining book.
–Anjuli MacDonald
of Clanranald
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