Conqueror

by Stephen Baxter

Book Overview

The second novel in a thrilling alternate-history series. A young girl lives in tranquility, until the Vikings come, deliberately destroying the final copies of The Prophecys scroll. But the text remains in her memory, and the fate of the land rests in those age-old words.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0441017428
• ISBN13: 9780441017423
• Release Date: July 2009
• Publisher: Ace Books
• Length: 337 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.2" x 7.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

As advertised

The book came as advertised. Quick delivery and response. Joe in Mobile

Conqueror: Time Tapestry Book 2

Good stoeymade me go and look up history of that time Hope for a new books by author

A sideline seat at the Battle of Hastings

I enjoyed this book, filled with historical detail about the time period of the Viking age leading up to the Norman Conquest. The book is a collection of novelettes with different generations of characters, all fulfilling an obscure prophecy foretelling events that are heralded by each appearance of what will be known as Halley's Comet. The book concludes with what one of the most famous appearances of Halley's Comet, during the time when William the Conqueror defeated King Harold at the Battle of Hastings, establishing the Norman dominance of Britain. The author deftly weaves characters through interactions with Harold and William, allowing us a ringside seat during this epic battle. The book also weaves the characters into another actual historic occurrence, a Viking chieftan's funeral and ship burial as recorded by a contemporary Arab observer. (This burial did occur and was also adapted into a scene in the movie "The 13th Warrior" with Antonio Banderas.) The only downside to this book is that each of the novelettes is a separate story, so that the reader becomes engaged with the characters only to come to the end of their particular saga, moving on to the next century's descendants and their life and times. In the process, however, one gains a consciousness of how time unceasingly marches forward in one's own ancestry, as we each have our brief time upon the stage of history. (I believe this is the best book of the four-part series. In fact, it could be read/appreciated alone.)

Really very good!

This installment is really very good ... excellent fun. Baxter's well researched narrative of the 2nd half of the first millennium is as good as any author (ScFi or otherwise) writing about this lost time. He uses the historical `dark age' society to weave the mysterious tale of time's apparent, subtle manipulation from the future. The mixing of accurate history with the ScFi expectation is an addictive read. I look forward to the final installment of the Tapestry series.

a fabulous fictionalized account

As predicted by the the Menologium of the Blessed Isolde Prophecy, invincible Rome is no more especially in the remote areas like Britannia (see EMPEROR); gone by AD 409. These nine stanzas, written on parchment in the Old English, predict the rise and fall of the powerful when the comet comes as treachery, avarice and wars are the norm. Although they know the Roman legions left their island two centuries ago, in AD 607 young Saxon Wuffa and the Norse warrior Ulf travel together seeking the last Roman who they believe possesses the parchment. They believe possession of the parchment will bring them power even if it means death to the current guardian. Late in the eighth century, a girl disguised as a boy holds the parchment while residing at Lindisfarne Monastery until the Vikings attack in AD 793 seeking to destroy all known copies of the parchment, but they failed to destroy her memory of the words. Almost a century later, Alfred the Great retakes London. Finally in AD 1066 William the Conqueror defeats Saxon King Harold at Hastings. All predicted by the Prophesy in its stanzas. The second book in the Time's Tapestry, CONQUEROR is a fabulous fictionalized account of four bloody pivotal periods in English history (spanning just less than five centuries). The current saga is broken into four segments, which makes for easier reading over a few days. Each entry enables the audience to see deeply how people lived and tried to survive during tumultuous violent periods while the enigmatic Weaver lurks in an apparent futuristic background. Fans will appreciate Stephen Baxter's fine epic tale that can stand alone, but enhanced by reading EMPEROR first and look forward to the next cycle NAVIGATOR that will take us to 1492. Harriet Klausner