The Soul Thief is the first in a six-volume series published between 2002 and 2010, taking us back to Ireland in the 10th century, beginning on the eve of a Viking raid...

Corban Loosestrife has argued with his father and, having been threatened with banishment, has gone off to sleep outdoors in the hope that he will be forgiven the next day. However, when the sun rises in the morning and he heads back home, he finds the family farm burning to the ground, his parents’ dead bodies amongst the ruins and no sign at all of his twin sister, Mav. Making his way to the Viking settlement at Dubh Linn (Dublin), Corban learns that Mav may have been transported across the sea to Jorvik with the other healthy young women to be sold as slaves. Determined to do whatever is necessary to bring her home, Corban sets out on his sister’s trail – a trail that will take him first to Jorvik and then further afield to the Danish trading post of Hedeby.

I know from my earlier experience of Cecelia Holland’s novels that her ‘heroes’ are usually not particularly heroic – and in fact are often very unlikeable. Corban is easier to like than some, but he is also another imperfect character. He makes mistakes, he lacks courage at times, and he is often easily distracted from his quest. There’s a lot of scope for character development, yet I felt that there was very little in this book; maybe as this is only the first of six novels we will see Corban grow and change as a person later in the series, although at this point I’m not sure whether I will be continuing. I enjoyed parts of Corban’s story, but this novel had neither the depth nor the level of emotional engagement I prefer and I don’t think I really liked it enough to want to commit to another five books.

I did find Mav’s story intriguing: after being captured during the Viking raid, she falls into the hands of the mysterious Lady of Hedeby, a sort of witch or sorceress who decides to use Mav’s psychic connection with her twin Corban for her own purposes. With this storyline, the novel begins to cross from straight historical fiction into the realms of historical fantasy – although the supernatural elements are really quite subtle and not fully explained (again, maybe this is developed further later in the series). Mav and the Lady interested me much more than Corban did and I would have preferred to have had more of the novel devoted to them.

My knowledge of this period of history is very limited, so I can’t really comment on the historical accuracy of anything that is described in the book. The focus is mainly on the fictional characters, but Corban does cross paths with some of the historical figures of the time, particularly in Jorvik (York), where he is drawn into the court of the Viking king, Eric Bloodaxe, and his wife, Gunnhild. Meanwhile, the Lady of Hedeby plots and schemes with another king, Harald Bluetooth (yes, the one Bluetooth technology is named after). I didn’t feel that I learned a lot about these historical men and women, although they have important roles in the plot, but as this is very much Corban’s story – the series is called The Life and Times of Corban Loosestrife – it’s understandable that he is given most of the attention.

As I’ve said, I’m probably not going to read the second Corban book, but I will continue to read Cecelia Holland’s standalone novels.

This book both intrigued and infuriated me in almost equal measure. I was looking forward to reading it because it was described as a historical fantasy and I very much like another author who marries the two different genres very well and writes excellent novels.
Basically it's the story of a brother and sister (twins) who survive a Viking raid on their Irish village, Corban survives because he's away from the village when it's raided and Mav is captured, to be sold as a slave. Once Corban realises that Mav is still alive he goes in search of her (they have twins intuition and Mav has the gift of second sight, so both are aware of each other, even though they are separated). Eventually both end up in York where Mav has ended up in the hands of a witch.
As a native of Yorkshire and a lover of York, I have always been aware of Eric Bloodaxe and didn't like the way he's been portrayed in this novel, or the way historical facts have been ignored or distorted. According to the old Norse Sagas he was a bloodthirsty pirate, yet in this novel that doesn't really come across - his wife Gunnhild seems to be the one in charge and he plays second fiddle. Eric was killed in an ambush but other Northern noblemen were killed in the same ambush, and his slayer is documented, so Corban slaying him (aided by a few peasants from York who were armed with stones) just annoyed me.
Having said all that, if you ignore the historical inaccuracies there are parts of the book that are quite good. Will I read the next in the series? I'm not sure!

Of Vikings, Vinland and Witches

I have enjoyed Cecelia Holland’s historical novels since I was a boy, but had not read any of this series written in more recent years. The Soul Thief is the first of a series set in the Dark Ages and centred around a pair of Irish twins, ne’er do well Corban and his prescient sister Mav. When Corban’s home in Ireland is destroyed by Viking raiders and his sister enslaved, Corban is doggedly determined to win her back and sets out on a long and difficult odyssey to recover her.

I enjoyed the novel a lot, so much so that I will actively seek out and read the others in the series (of which there are at least another four). Harsh realism and unexpected kindnesses (traits of Holland’s earlier novels) are here wedded to magical, fairy-tale elements. If the fantasy occasionally jars, the real temptations and difficulties Corban faces more than compensate.