But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only
I finished The Sword and the Satchel this afternoon. It was not bad.
This is a book that came out in the late 70’s/early 80’s glut of Tolkein “inspired” fantasy novels following a resurgence in interest in the originals. It’s your basic fantasy adventure story, set in a distinctly Scandinavian locale. I don’t recognize any specific locations based on the real world , but humans are often called “children of Ask and Embla”, and the main bad guy, a fellow named Surt, is trying to bring the Fimbul Winter to the land. The story itself is fairly generic; a group of people travel across the countryside in order to defeat Surt, who’s a kind of ghost who has taken over the bodies of many leaders in the past in attempt to further his winter-related plans.
The hero of our tale, a young man named Kilgore, has the chance to fully kill this ghost because he has a magical Alfar (elf) sword that he earned by being the only one who could pull it from a tree (not kidding). He goes on this adventure with a kindly old wizard and an ancient queen whom he rescues from a spell cast on her by the previous incarnation of Surt. They have Many Exciting Adventures, and finally defeat the villain, leaving the queen to rule her newly-freed land, while Kilgore heads back home.
There are 3 more books in this series, so I presume they will have more fun and adventures. I’m now reading Ian McDonald’s Speaking in Tongues, a collection of short stories. I really like McDonald, I’ve read almost all of the rest of his work, and I’m looking forward to this one as well.