| Epona guards her herd of horses and they guard her. She is the last in a long line of women from
before the Druids. She can communicate
with all non-carnivorous animals and they will do her bidding. As she feels her gift fading, she knows she has
to bear a girl-child to carry on the gift. The
Saxon King Alfred arrives wanting to purchase some horses from her - she will only sell her horses to men that care
for them and learn to guide them with touch only. She
does not want her horses involved in battle or hurt in any way. Thinking the young king will be a strong and
satisfactory father for her unborn child, she agrees to sleep with him as well as sell him
the horses. Valgar was an outcast and a mercenary. He must prove his allegiance to his own people and
the Viking ruler, Guthrum. He
challenges him to give him a feat to prove his loyalty.
He is told to hold his hand into the fire until a signal is given. The pain is excruciating and his hand is bubbling
and blackened like cooked meat but Val meets the test and is sent with his men to defeat
Osrick and his Saxon band. They are in
need of horses; he kidnaps Epona (Pony) so that the horses will follow. He is so weakened that Pony is given the task of
caring for him. She sees a very different
side to the Viking. She perceives that he
cares for the weak and is against murder and rape.
She also realizes that Osrick and the Saxons will soon arrive to do
battle against the Viking conqueror.
Pony thought that her life’s plan was to have a girl-child and
thereby pass on her gift but attraction to the Viking leaves her with many doubts. She decides she must travel to find her destiny. Val is also searching for meaning to his life. Their pursuits lead them a long way before
they can come together.
DANELAW is a very unusual and original book and one that is
difficult to put down. It is a wondrous
novel of the dark ages when primitive carnivorous people meet the last of the magical
plant-eating inhabitant of the Saxons. The
hero and heroine are people that have been hurt by life and it takes them awhile to find
solace in love. All the secondary
characters are poignant to further the story and Osrick is particularly ambitious and
evil. It is beautifully written and
certainly not a book you will want to skim through. You
will want to read every delicious word. Susan
Squires has burst on the scene with her first book, DANEGELD and has followed it with
another marvelous reading experience in DANELAW. This
is an author to watch and her books are ones to savor.
DANELAW is an incredible reading experience.
Another book by Susan Squires is the unique and magical
contemporary, BODY ELECTRIC, which is also highly recommended (see review).
Reviewed by Marilyn Heyman for The Road to Romance
January 2, 2003
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