Prince of the North

Gerin the Fox #3

by Harry Turtledove (writing as)

Gerin the Fox, self-styled Prince of the North, gathers his liegemen to battle the feuding tyrants and bandit chiefs of the northlands and to establish some semblance of civilization.

Genres: Fantasy, Alternate History

Paperback

First published June 1, 1994

About the author

Dr Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced a sizeable number of works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.

Harry Turtledove attended UCLA, where he received a Ph.D. in Byzantine history in 1977.

Turtledove has been dubbed "The Master of Alternate History". Within this genre he is known both for creating original scenarios: such as survival of the Byzantine Empire; an alien invasion in the middle of the World War II; and for giving a fresh and original treatment to themes previously dealt with by other authors, such as the victory of the South in the American Civil War; and of Nazi Germany in the Second World War.

His novels have been credited with bringing alternate history into the mainstream. His style of alternate history has a strong military theme.

Reviews

[Luka Novak · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is written in similar style as previous ones in the series. Given the time gap between publishing and time jump in the story it feels like Turledove didn't plan on these further books but then changed his mind, maybe to cash in on his increased recognition in mainstream audience.

In that way book doesn't really depart from previous ones in many ways. There is a problem Fox needs to solve, he tries different means, some initially fail until he finds something that works. Characters and political landscape are the same as earlier. My main gripe is that Turledove develops a plot then drops it because something else comes along only to resurect it later on without feeling it organic and fluid.

Still a fun read if you enjoyed previous books.

[Blind Mapmaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Still quite an enjoyable read nowadays and has some interesting bits that must have been quite original at the time. The ending is a little too much dei-ex-machina, but the main characters are getting more believable - even if the love-story is a bit rushed. Also bonus points for writing out an ex-wife out of the story without killing her and without making her sound evil, selfish or stupid. People just growing apart after the first flush of passion and realising later that they did not put enough work into a relationship is something you don't really see in fantasy often enough.

[Dantegideon · Rating 1 out of 5]

A dire joy-sucker. Gerin’s the most boring, humourless git in the whole of the north, and all he does is sit about drinking and complaining. Occasionally he trudges off, through endless peasant villages and forests, to have a pointless battle. What happened to his son? He doesn’t seem to care. Frankly I’m not surprised that most of the other lords can’t stand him.

[Kent Hartsoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fairly good Turtledove book. He didn't tell the characters life history over and over ad nauseum like he has in some of his books. The characters were interesting and a world where ghosts, Gods, warlocks ect. were an everyday fact of life made for an interesting read. I have read around twenty of Turtledoves books and I think that this one would be in the upper third of that number. It is worth the read.

[Helle · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the plus side: very colorful characters and interesting scenery. But also a bit slow, and I thought the abduction of Gerin’s son Duren, which at first seems pivotal, was actually almost an afterthought, so it was like Gerin hardly cares for his son. Better and more mature than the first two books, but not worth 4 stars.

[bluetyson]

Prince of the North by Harry Turtledove (1994)

[Brentman99 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gerin the Fox is a great character that Turtledove has created. I've enjoyed following the series and it was a good read.

[Pam Bales · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gerin the Fox is still dealing with shape shifters i this awesome alternate reality series.