Tale of the Fox

The fox was a welcome break from recent books by Mr. Turtledove. Do not get me wrong -- I enjoy his recent alternate reality series, especially Darkness and Worldwar/Colonization. Nevertheless i was pleasantly surprised with the Fox. When I opened the Fox's pages i was soon immersed in a almost familiar mediaeval world - Suserens and vassals, serfs and nobles... and no One Church, as happened in our world :) Also unlike many other books the Fox is not bound to A Quest (like, say Dragonlance - go get the Lance), the Fox is about life of a feudal lord with it's everyday worries and joys. And when the quest comes along, it feels natural, not full of it :-) But no spoilers for you, my friend. If you like Turtledove, and if you like a good reading, hit the "add to shopping cart" button and you won't regret it -- I don't.

Harry turtledove's book about the Fox are excellent. However, don't buy this thinking you are getting the lastest episode of this story. This is a compliation of two previously published works. If you haven't read all the Fox books, get this one. If you have, don't duplicate your library unless you really want to.

Yes, this and its predecessor, "Wisdom of the Fox" are consolidations of past "Gerin the Fox" novels. But I think that's been covered already. This review will be about the book. The decision to reprint these books in two volumes rather than four (and if Wereblood and Werenight weren't already previously combined, it would have been five parts) was great. It would not be a big re-print, pushing out four novels at once, but it also gave the readers a chance to re-obtain their now worn-out and tattered copies of the older Gerin books. It's also very nice for people who have little enough space on their bookshelves as it is (incl. yours truly).Gerin is, as usual, a fascinating monarch in his lands north of the High Kirs and the Empire of Elabon. He and his troupe (which includes a demi-god who has the body and maturity of a four year old but the voice of a 40-year-old baritone and enjoys piddling on people from upon high, a barbarian giant of a man whose origins are respectfully hidden, Gerin's own sons, his wife -- a former Oracle and quite the insatiable) are tumbled into war not once, but TWICE (okay, so it's two books. So what! It reads like one great big saga) in order to protect their homes. They call on magic and brawn to defeat their enemies. Whether savages to the North or Imperialists to the South, Gerin has to yet again fight for what he holds dear: the independence of his people and the right of sovereignty over his own land.Set in a bronze-age environment instead of a medieval one, the Gerin novels are a different sort of fantasy, which deal in magic, yes, and warriors, yes. Good and evil, yes. Monsters, yes. Telepathy and the supernatural, y--. Whah? Hold on...those are sci-fi traits! Maybe that's why fantasy and sci-fi are always grouped together. Oh, well. It's all great fun. Three moons there may be, but there is only ONE Gerin the Fox!

A must read of Turtledove fans, great story and both books story lines flow into each other very well.