"Here's hell's broth and no pepper for it." ( )

Really first rate fantasy; it should be better known. I think the cover by the Brothers Hildebrandt does not do the book justice; the cover seems appropriate for a juvenile fantasy, which this is not. There is a blurb on the front cover from Lester del Rey that this is "The best epic fantasy every written". That may be a big strong but its certainly in the same league as the best. ( )

An anti-Magic Nordic style fantasy. It was remarkable to those seeking in Fantasy a world that was simple and clearly formed of good and Evil. Very grown up, and made me a Pratt fan, when I could find it. ( )

A young man is dispossessed of his family land and sets out to seek his fortune, then gets caught up in a war between a mean king and his overtaxed and unhappy subjects. He's a wizard, sort of, and 'helps' in that way, and then becomes a leader in the war.
Yeah, this one was pretty awful. The characters have absolutely no dimension whatsoever, and the plot of the rebellion and war is set out in absolutely painful dead-horse-beating detail. Just, NOPE. ( )

This is my father's first edition of the novel by Fletcher Pratt, originally published as by George U. Fletcher,. I regard it as one of the greatest fantasy novels of the pre-LOTR era. It begins with young Airar being taxed out of the family homestead by the oppressive Vulkings, and ends with Airar emerging as the successful leader of a revolt against the Vulkings, Duke of Dalarna in his own right and husband of an imperial princess. The world in which this takes place is meticulously detailed, and the plot owes something to the career of Gustav I Vasa of Sweden, though the technology and social structure is more late medieval than eary modern (no guns), and some of the cultures are more ancient than medieval --the Vulkings themselves are in some ways a negative reflection of the Romans, while the Carrhoene mercenaries suggest classical Greek aristocrats --but somehow it all fits together very smoothly. Pratt provides a back history linking his story to Dunsany's King Argimenes and the Unknown Warrior (Argimenes is said to be an ancestor of the imperial dynasty of Pratt's society) but the "feel" of Dunsany's play is more a slightly satirtc version of a Biblical kingdom, complete with prophet, while Pratt's as noted has a later feel. Pratt's stry also has significant philosophical depth; the sacred well never appears 'on stage' but all the tals about it somehow suggest the peace and love that drinking from it provides are somehow less than what is promised; also, the magic which Airar (as a beginner) and his would-be patron Meliboe (as a master) sometimes practice is always difficult to do and often has unpredictable negative effects.
One bonus te frst editi0n has whch later b reprints lack is that while bit versions ave an overall map of the world, the first edition has little close-up maps of the scene of each chapter ( )