Book excerpt: In this rich and exciting alternate history, a Science Fiction Hall of Famer “evokes the spirit and atmosphere of the so-called Dark Ages” (Publishers Weekly). 865 A.D. Warring kings rule over the British Isles, but the Church rules over the kings, threatening all who oppose them with damnation. Only the dreaded Vikings of Scandinavia do not fear the priests. Shef, the bastard son of a Norse raider and a captive English lady, is torn by divided loyalties and driven by strange visions that seem to come from Odin himself. A blacksmith and warrior, he alone dares to imagine new weapons and tactics with which to carve out a kingdom—and launch an all-out war between. . . . The Hammer and the Cross. “Savage, inventive, compelling.” —Piers Anthony, New York Times–bestselling author of the Xanth series “Few historicals are as powerfully evocative of time and place as Harrison’s tremendous saga.” —Kirkus Reviews