I recently read A Night of Flames, by Matthew Harffy. This is the sequel to A Time for Swords, which is Harffy’s latest historical fiction series, set in the early viking age.
For those who haven’t read it, A Time for Swords is the tale of a monk, Hunlaf, who finds his life taking a completely different course after he becomes one of the few survivors of the Norse raid on Lindisfarne. In the first book, Hunlaf finds an unexpected ally and friend in one of the captured Norsemen, Runolf, and they work together to defend against a subsequent raid. Each of these heroes have their own personal quests. Hunlaf is determined to rescue one of his kin, who he witnessed being taken away by the Norsemen during the Lindisfarne raid. Runolf has his own mission of vengeance and may be the only hope Hunlaf has in finding his loved one.
It is these complimentary goals that take us into the second book, where the story begins with Runolf expertly crafting a longship in which he, Hunlaf and their warrior companions will sail to the land of the Norsemen. Constructing a longship is an expensive process, and the heroes find themselves reliant on the support of King Aethelred, who, of course, imposes his own conditions upon them. Aethelred is happy to provide the funds from his coffers, provided the heroes negotiate a peace treaty and trade agreement with the King of Rogaland. He is, after all, desperate to prevent any further raids.
I try to avoid sharing too much of the plot in my reviews, for I feel this is something best experienced by reading the book first-hand. I will say, however, that the perilous voyage across the whale-road is nothing compared to the challenges the heroes face when they get to Rogaland, and what ensues is a gripping, gritty adventure.
As was the case in the first book, A Night of Flames provides a diverse host of exceptionally well-built characters. Shield by shield, they face the given challenges together, and on many occasions the shield-brothers demonstrate that they are prepared to risk their own lives for each other. Whilst the story is retrospectively narrated by Hunlaf as an old man, revealing that his demise does not lie within these pages, the story conveys a level of risk and peril that often left me wondering how he could possibly survive – although no member of the crew is safe.
The book is filled with the action and adventure we have come to expect from Harffy with expertly crafted verse describing all the blood-curdling brutality. This book is composed how I would imagine Runolf building his longship – intricately, from hands well-experienced in their craft – and with just as fierce a result. Throughout, Hunlaf hints at his other adventures yet untold, and I absolutely cannot wait to hear about them.
Thanks for another amazing read, Matthew. I eagerly await the next instalment!
