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Keith McArdle
CreateSpace
May 11, 2012 / ISBN 13: 978-1466444867
Paperback (Reviewed from the Kindle e-book)
Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Amazon
Reviewed
by Beverly J. Rowe
Let me start by saying that I don't read Sci-Fi or Fantasy...just
not my cup of tea. Having said that, I have to contradict myself
by saying that The Forgotten Land may be the best book I have read
this year. Keith McArdle is a genius at characterization and plot.
Sergeant Steve Golburn is the leader of a five man Australian Special
Air Service patrol that is sent into Iraq on a United Nation's mission,
to find and capture an enemy general. They don't manage to capture
the General, but kill him almost accidentally. They get pinned down
by the enemy, and while fighting them off, and waiting for assistance,
they get inadvertently sucked into a time portal and sent to the
land of the Vikings in the tenth century. They are met by skeptical
Norse War Lords, but taken into the village and finally accepted.
The Norse men and women are always at battle with Vikings and the
Aussie SAS boys get caught up in their battles, using the modern
weapons that came through the time portal with them. The two cultures
complement each other in unexpected ways.
McArdle flawlessly meshes the thoughts, actions, and modern weaponry
with the routine lives of the ancient communities, and their warfare
with battle axes, swords, and archery. The characters are fully
developed and compelling. The plot and action scenes are exciting
and believable. McArdle's research into both modern warfare and
the ancient Norse civilization had to be extensive to portray both
with such credibility.
This is a time-travel yarn with a can't-put-it-down difference,
and I can't wait for McArdle's next offering.
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