Warrior of the Altaii - Robert Jordan

   2019; 352 pages.  New Author? : No.  Military Fantasy, Action & Adventure; Sword & Sorcery.  Overall Rating : 8*/10.

 

    Meet Wulfgar, the book’s titular "Warrior of the Altaii".  Actually, it would be more apt to call him an Altaii warlord, since he commands one of the tribal raiding hordes.  He answers directly to the present Altaii king, Bohemund, and is a close friend of Bohemund’s son Harald, who leads another Altaii force.

 

    The rulers of the great city of Lanta would add still another title to Wulfgar: barbarian.  Then again, they’d apply that to any Altaii, and for that matter, to any of the tribes that roam the great plains, where water is scarce and death is always close at hand.  Only the very strong survive out there and those that do always pose a threat to the cities along the edge of the Plain.  Including Lanta.

 

    The Morassa are another barbarian tribe of the Plain, and rivals of the Altaii.  Perhaps the rulers of Lanta can talk them into joining them in a war against the Altaii.  Two against one, so to speak.  To be even more sure of victory though, it would be prudent to take Wulfgar out of the action.  Let's see if he can be lured into Lanta and taken captive.  It’s risky but well worth the gamble.

 

    If it doesn't work, it's safe to say that Wulfgar will be very displeased with everyone involved.

 

What’s To Like...

    Warrior of the Altaii is an early effort by the late, great Robert Jordan, who reportedly (per Wikipedia) wrote it in just 13 days back in 1978, a full 12 years before the first book of his fabulous Wheel of Time series was published.

 

     The tale is told in the first-person POV (Wulfgar’s) and chronicles the  fighting and intrigue of Wulfgar and his band of Altaii against the Lantans and the Morassa.  There’s lots of action, lots of skullduggery, lots of bloodshed, and lots of magic.  There’s also a fair amount of nudity, at least one instance of aphrodisiac usage, and a little bit of B&D, although all of it is tastefully done.  This is first a foremost a sword-&-sorcery fantasy novel, with a hint of multiverses thrown in to give it a unique slant.  Those prospective parallel dimensions don't figure in to any major extent.  Yet.

 

    I liked crossing paths with the Wanderers and not crossing paths with the Runners.  There is gender equality here – both men and women can “own” personal slaves of either sex for the sake of work or entertainment, and something called “Women’s Justice” overrides “Men’s Law”.

 

    My book was the hardcover version, and included a full-color map on the inside of both the front and back covers, plus a simple-but-relevant vignette at the start of each of the 34 chapters.  The geographic place names were a curious mixture of made-up and historically real ones, the latter included Hyksos, Asmara, and Varangia.

 

    There's a five-page Foreword by Robert Jordan’s widow at the very beginning, giving the backstory of his writing and marketing this novel.  I found it interesting that the manuscript was twice picked up by publishing agencies in the early going, yet both times failing to make it into print.

 

    The ending is very WoT-ish, with a protracted action-packed battle (actually, three successive-but-separate battles), and our heroes overcoming desperate odds to win the day.  Or did they?  The final chapter is an evocative epilogue, and sets up further adventures for Wulfgar in a sequel which, sadly, was never written.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Chivvied (v.) : encouraged someone to do something they do not want to do.

Others: Spavined (adj.)

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.5/5 based on 232 ratings.

    Goodreads: 3.70/5 based on 1,582 ratings and 252 reviews

 

Excerpts...

    “This girl, Talva.  I want to buy her.  How much?”

    “Buy me!” Elspeth interrupted.

    She cast an eye over Elspeth, ignoring the outburst, and pursed her lips.  “One hundred imperials,” she said finally.  “Gold imperials.”

    “One hundred-?  Does she look like a graduate of the training pens of Asmara?”

    “I’m right here,” said Elspeth, but we continued to negotiate over her voice.  (pg. 71)

 

    “Don’t look surprised, my barbarian.  It’s the way Sayene taught me when I was a child.  Punish hard when your orders are disobeyed, even in the slightest detail.  In that way, you ensure that your orders will always be obeyed to the letter.  Punish twice as hard when the wishes you haven’t expressed aren’t carried out.  In that way everyone will constantly search for ways to please you.”  (pg. 127)

 

“Fare you well, warrior.  We will drink together in the Lands of the Dead.  We will eat lamb in the Tents of Death.”  (pg. 90 )

    There are a couple nits to pick, but most of them are simply due to this book never being developed into a series.

 

    For instance there are a bunch of loose ends that are never tied up: a.) who are the Wanderers and how do they fit in?; b.) who’s  destroying the waterholes?; c.) will the Altaii become soft and weak (Wulfgar fears this) as they inevitably begin to become more civilized?; and d.) what does the future hold for Wulfgar and Elspeth?  I’m sure Robert Jordan intended to address all of these in subsequent books.

 

    Despite all the thrills and spills, the plot development is somewhat slow.  Up until the lengthy final battle (and I mean that in a positive way), most of the fighting seemed like it was “action for the sake of action”.  Finally, and most nitpicky, while the map was masterfully done, it appears one of the cities on it was misnamed.  Cerdu somehow became Cidra.  Wowza, first time I’ve seen that type of typo.

 

    8 Stars.  I hear you wondering: how does Warrior of the Altaii compare to the Wheel of Time?  Unsurprisingly, the latter is more polished, more epic, more complex, and obviously a lot longer.  That’s to be expected.  I think I’d have been bummed if this book had turned out to be better than WoT.

 

    But this doesn't mean that Warrior of the Altaii book was in any way a disappointment.  It’s entertaining throughout, each character is unique and interesting, and there's ample action and intrigue.  In short, it's a fine first effort by one of the best epic fantasy writers ever.  What would be really great now is for Robert Jordan’s estate to commission someone to develop this into a series.  Maybe Brandon Sanderson is available to be rehired.