Indrek Hargla

A terrific mashup of Vikings, Game of Thrones and Sherlock Holmes in an Estonia that never was.

It is sometime in the 11th century and ancient Estonia and Latvia is a realm by the name of Kuningavald (King’s Realm) which is ruled by King Uljas, an overlord king in his seat of power called Veelinde (site of present day Viljandi) central to the country. Various lesser kings in locations such as Kaali (on Saaremaa Island), Härjapää and Hirvelinde (present day Tallinn) and Taarantare show more (present day central Latvia, south of the Daugava River) have sworn fealty to Uljas and together they defend against raids by sea or land from the Ruotsid (location of present-day Sweden) overseas to the West, the Svea from Ruusimaa in the East and the Lithuanians in the South. The kings each have their “taretargad" (wiseman i.e. advisor/Hand to the King), “tooneeided" (healers), “arpujad" (soothsayers) and “malevad" (soldiers) to assist them. The Ruotsid and Saaremaa regularly pillage each other for treasure and slaves.

Mostly this is in a physical world not unlike the real 11th century, but some magical/fantasy elements exist, especially in the female world of the healers. Literally “tooneeit” is “underworld woman”, likely derived from the Finnish word “Tuonela” (Underworld), signifying their power over the world between life and death. Aside from the mastery of healing knowledge, one of the signifiers to being a healer is the ability to “take the iron” (Estonian: “võtab rauda”). This is the power to hold a red-hot iron rod in their hands without being burned. Mortal men are also judged in trials by ordeal with this same method, with the qualifier that an innocent man will still be burned, but his wounds will heal whereas the wounds of the guilty will fester and putrefy.

But all is not well in the kingdom and Koiola Autõiv, the advisor to the king in Veelinde, is called upon to make various diplomatic or secretive missions to the forts and towns of the lesser kings. All of these missions end up involving murder as well and Autõiv also ends up being the detective seeking the murderers and their motives.

Autõiv's companions are often his spearmen Ahas and Valev. Valev (a name he is later given) is intriguingly a skreeling (from the Norse: skraeling, name for the inhabitants of North America and Greenland) who was originally captured as a slave by Danish vikings and who Autõiv meets in his early adventures. Valev doesn’t have much to say in “maakeel” (the estonian speech of the land), but he is extremely proficient with a bow and arrow, so perhaps a proto-Canadian aboriginal makes an appearance in ancient Estonia in this way?

Hargla has done a terrific mashup here of various contemporary 21st century cult-lit/TV genres, including his own popular sleuth Apothecary Melchior from the 16th century. Autõiv’s detection skills involve the same type of careful listening and attention as those displayed by Melchior. Indeed, the solutions to many of the crimes involve the culprit saying a single sentence that betrays knowledge they wouldn’t have if they were innocent. That isn’t a spoiler, as those sentences were easily overlooked by me when I read them.

This is an adult novel with very explicit violence and sex, so it is definitely not your young adult fiction.

I read "Raudrästiku aeg" in the original Estonian. There are no international translations yet available.

Notes
English translation of the blurb for "Raudrästiku aeg" (The Age of the Iron Viper):
"The new crime novel by Indrek Hargla, the author of the popular Apothecary Melchior stories, takes place in an alternative historical version of ancient Estonia. The country’s name is Kuningavald and the kingdom of Veelinde, the name of ancient Viljandi, is ruled by the young king Uljas. The main character of the novel is the king's advisor Koiola Aotõiv whose sharp instincts and wisdom help him to solve several mysterious murders. Aotõiv’s travels will take him to Kaali Castle on the island of Saaremaa, where a secretive traveler from Greece has arrived, and to the site of present-day Tallinn, where Iru, the capital of ancient Rävala, and its rival fortress of Härjapää are located. It is time of a thousand years ago, when distant Põhjala was believed to be the home of the gods and sailors travelled along the rivers for trading in southern markets; a time when Kuningavald was attacked from the east and the west by fierce Vikings and Christian missionaries arrived from Europe proclaiming damnation as the wages of sin and salvation through the God Jesus. The stakes are high and the intrigues are deadly. It is the age of the Iron Viper." show less

„Doanizarre udulaam“ on lühiromaan, mille hoogne tegevus liigub väga erinevate alamžanrite vahel, jäädes seejuures siiski terviklikuks ja loogiliseks. Esimeste lehekülgede lugemise järel tekib kange soov lahterdada lugu aurupungi või kellapungi riiulisse. Maailm, millesse Asger ärkab, omab teatavaid sarnasusi meie keskaegse või pigem ehk isegi uusaegse ühiskonnakorraldusega, milles on suur annus aurupunki ja kellapunki. Mehhaaniliselt üleskeeratavalt ning hammasrataste peal show more töötavaid tehnikaimesid leiab raamatus palju – iseliikuv tõld, üheliigilisi abitöid tegevad robotilaadsed abilised. Tehnika pole mitte vähe arenenud, vaid veidra arengusuuna võtnud ning seda ühel väga lihtsalt põhjusel – maailmas, mida meile tutvustatakse, pole elektrit. Jah, pole elektrit, isegi mitte äikest. Ometi on seal valgus ja värvid.
See lugu räägib noormehest nimega Asger, kes on kirjanik ja elab Doanizarre-nimelises linnas. Doanizarre on rahulik ja vanamoodne koht Skaaria kuningriigis, kus inimesed elavad vähemalt saja aasta vanuseks, kus liigutakse üleskeeratavate tõldadega ning taibukamad meistrid ehitavad mehaanilisi inimesi. Seda maailma ähvardab aga kummaline pealetungiv udulaam, mida läheb uurima teaduslik ekspeditsioon. Ka kirjanik Asger kutsutakse kaasa, sest ta on ju võõramaalane ja tulnud kusagilt udulaama-tagusest riigist. Mida lähemale jõutakse udulaamale, seda rohkem hakkab avanema ka Asgeri päritolu kohutav saladus. Ja just Asgerist peab saama kangelane, kelle maagilised teadmised võivad Doanizarre hävingust päästa. show less

Set in fifteenth-century Tallinn, this murder mystery sees the town apothecary Melchior Wakenstede turn sleuth as he tries to solve the brutal murder of a visiting Teutonic Knight. Indrek Hargla writes with clear knowledge of Tallinn's history and legends and an affection for the city, and this in many ways this is quite a readable yarn. But as a novel, Apothecary Melchior is marred by a shockingly sloppy translation into English, a whydunnit that didn't really convince me, and one truly show more bizarre interlude that made me deeply dubious about Hargla's attitude towards women. We're told that the Wakenstede men suffer from some kind of "curse" that manifests itself as... some kind of depressive migraine, judging by the symptoms? A curse which is why they're insistent on always making a good choice of wife, because it seems the one thing that provides respite is oral sex, as we find out in a very explicit scene which is tonally completely inconsistent with the rest of the book.

I wouldn't point blank refuse to ever read another book in this series, but I'm not going to rush to seek out another one, either. show less

Indrek Hargla koostatud alternatiivajaloo antoloogia «Eestid, mida ei olnud» on põnev kirjanduslik mõttemäng, kus ulmekirjanikud on ette võtnud ülesande kirjutada ümber kodumaa ajalugu alates ürgajast kuni moodsa meediaajastuni välja. Siin on kaksteist juttu, mis uurivad, et milliseks oleks võinud Eesti lugu kujuneda, kui mõned sündmused oleks läinud teisiti. Mis oleks saanud eestlastest, kui Saksamaa oleks võitnud II Maailmasõja? Või kui eestlased oleksid juba muinasajal show more vastu võtnud ristiusu ja saanud oma kuninga? Kui Napoleon oleks vallutanud Eesti või kui Põhjasõja aegu oleks sortsid ja nõiad Tartu linna hävingust päästnud? show less