Virtually unreadable. While the setting is intriguing, the dialogue and characters are anything but. I love historical fiction, especially with some fantasy thrown in. Unfortunately, there is simply nothing here. We get glimpses of a much larger world, but again nothing comes of it. There is no character building other than a few pathetic attempts at introduction. There are so many proper names and titles thrown around with no definitions to clear things up that it makes following any of the main characters quite confusing. Try Thomas Harlan's "Oath of the Empire" series for a much better result.
What do You think about A Mankind Witch (2007)?
As the only single-author entry into the alternative 16th-century Heirs of Alexandria series, Dave Freer's A Mankind Witch isn't quite as rich as the rest of the collaborations between Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint and Dave Freer, but it's a vivid and entertaining side story in an previously unexplored area of their map: Scandinavia. Freer is fantastic with historical and mythological details in the region, with especially fun kobolds and dwarves. He gives a few grin-worthy vignettes about familiar characters Manfred and Erik, although the main protagonists are an unlikely pair (a local princess and a shipwrecked Barbary pirate). The central romance is shaky ((view spoiler)[it's pretty much instalove on one hand and obliviousness on the other (hide spoiler)]
—Janet
