Ironfoot

Dave Duncan

2017

Ratings1

Average rating4

Medieval magic, murder, and mayhem! It is 1164, and for a hundred years England has been ruled by the Normans. A young Saxon boy named Durwin, crippled by a childhood accident, had caught the eye of a Norman sage teaching at a rural school of magic. Realizing that the boy had promise, Durwin was made stable boy, and eventually allowed to attend classes. Now twenty, Durwin is proficient enough that he is assigned to teach, but the other sages refuse to promote him and he is hassled by the Norman juniors for his disability. But those troubles turn out to be the least of his worries when he manages to corrects errors in an ancient corrupted spell, which promptly prophesies murder. Sure enough, word soon reaches the school that one of the local count's house sage has died, perhaps slain by black magic. Durwin is whisked away to the family's castle, only to find that one death was only the beginning. The young sage quickly learns of a dizzying plot to assassinate King Henry. Dropped into the middle of the complex politics of England's royal courts, can Durwin stop them in time?

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3 primary books

#1 in The Enchanter General

The Enchanter General is a 3-book series with 3 released primary works first released in 2017 with contributions by Dave Duncan.

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Metaphorosis Reviews

3.5 stars, Metaphorosis Reviews

Summary
Durwin, lame since youth, and a Saxon among Norman conquerors, has few options. He jumps at the opportunity to work among, and eventually study among, sages, and when other chances arise, he seizes them as well, even when they come with a brutal Norman companion, and among a flood of mysterious murders.

Review

I'm not usually a fan of alternate history; I prefer my fantasy more fantastic. An earlier attempt by Dave Duncan, the Maestro Nostradamus series, didn't intrigue me. The start of this series, though it has a similar light-magic/alchemical premise, worked much better for me.

In particular, Duncan, though he rushes through things a bit, does a great job of capturing Durwin's character as a smart but disadvantaged and lame young Saxon living among Norman conquerors. There are bits and bobs of history here and there, but the personal story is what drives the book, and the historical element is more color than intrusive substance.

The plot becomes somewhat convoluted, but the general outlines are always clear. The use of magic is not entirely consistent (it seems to have much more power early in the book), but that's okay too. In many ways, I found the story reminiscent of Mary Stewart's The Crystal Cave, in a very positive way. I'm looking forward to the sequel.