A review by ianbanks
The Hawk Eternal by David Gemmell

3.0

Entertaining sequel to Ironhand's Daughter with more timey-wimey shenanigans. Sigarni features as a very minor character in this one as it is set several generations prior to that book, using characters and settings mentioned fleetingly there.

It tells a similar story, too: the Lowlanders are replaced by ersatz Vikings who are building an empire for themselves. They are portrayed in a way that doesn't generate much sympathy for them and their backstory is dealt with far too perfunctorily to make them feel like real characters.

That's really a problem across the whole book, to be honest: the main storyline and characters are portrayed in a way that makes you are about them and become invested in them, but the time travel and alt-universe subplots - which are really important to how the story is constructed - feel rushed and incomplete and I didn't understand why such crucial elements were being dealt with so abruptly.

But the adventure story, the growth of people over the several years of this story, as well as the sense of community you get from the characters, are vintage Gemmell.