Of Vikings and Christians: A TRC Emeritus Post

I came out of semi-retirement just to put you on the scent of a remarkable author, the intrepid Lutheran (ya listenin’ Sam?) Lars Walker. I already posted about him at TAS and Southern Appeal, but I couldn’t bear thinking any of the TRCers might miss out.

It happens every once in a while. You discover something that is really special, that should be incredibly successful, but unaccountably, isn’t. A very well read friend made me aware of the fiction of Lars Walker. He writes mostly about Vikings during the period when Christianity contended with pagan religions, but he also has a contemporary novel (which happens to deal with Viking lore!).

I cannot give a high enough recommendation to Lars Walker’s The Year of the Warrior. I had to wait for it, but it was completely worth the wait. The narrator of the story is a young Irishman taken captive to sell as a slave by Vikings. They give him a tonsure to make him look like a priest so he’ll fetch a higher price. A newly converted Viking nobleman buys him because he needs a priest for his village. The Irishman decides to play the part of the priest in order to survive and the action flows from there.

Wonderful historical saga. Interesting insights about the Christian faith and its relationship to political power. Some beautiful battle sequences, too. Fully developed characters. Worth reading in every way.

So why the lack of bestseller status? I have a guess. The Lars Walker novels are published by Baen, which really specializes in sword and sorcery/science fiction. The covers of the Walker books have that look to them, but they are actually much deeper. I think the normal Baen reader is disappointed by the lack of standard genre stuff when they buy the book. But you, dear reader, will not be disappointed. You shall be blessed.

The Decline of the University Press

After finishing an article, I once decided to treat myself to a visit to the local Borders to buy a book. But I was so dismayed at what Borders had up in their entryway, that I turned around and left. Most appalling to me were the “hack books,” the partisan political books that deserve little more than a good pulping. (Think Al Franken, Bill O’Reilly, and, yes, Ann Coulter). So it’s pretty dismaying to me that Princeton University Press has decided to publish Sidney Blumenthal’s book How Bush Rules: Chronicles of a Radical Regime, which is little more (according to the book description) than a collection of his columns for Britain’s Guardian newspaper. It’s dismaying because UPs are supposed to be a bit different, they’re supposed to be publishing scholarship. Now, I know that there’s plenty of hackery disguised as scholarship – and most of it of a rather unthinking lefty bent – but this seems like a real step down for a University Press. Princeton can – and should – do better.

Georgetown Rejects Evangelical Groups

Inside Higher Ed reports that Georgetown has told six evangelical groups, including InterVarsity Fellowship, that they have lost their recognized status on campus, meaning that they can’t organize Bible studies, hold worship services, participiate in student organization fairs, etc. Georgetown says that it’s just an “administrative” move designed to streamline ministries on campus, but I don’t believe it for a minute. Most university chaplaincies don’t much like evangelical groups, staffed as they are (on the Protestant side, at least) by liberals. As an alum, I’ve sent a note to the chaplain involved and I’ll let you know what she says.