Raudrästiku aeg : Muinas-Eesti kriminaalromaan

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 (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 show more 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

Väärt lugemine eesti kirjanduse riiulilt. Lugu või õigem oleks öelda lood, mis on suure loo sees, on müsitliselt haaravad ja lõpuni põnevad. Koiola Aotõiv - Eesti oma Sherlock, kes lahendab alternatiivajaloolises muinasajas põnevaid juhtumeid. Mõnus ja fantaasiarikas lugu, kuhu on sisse põimitud parajalt romatnikat, piisavalt põnevust ja see kõik läbi segatud müsitlise muinasajalooga. Soovitan soojalt :-)

Menukate apteeker Melchiori lugude autori Indrek Hargla uue kriminaalromaani tegevus toimub alternatiivajaloolises muinasaja Eestis. Selle riigi nimi on Kuningavald ning muistses Viljandis, mida siis Veelindeks kutsuti, valitseb noor kuningas Uljas. Romaani peategelaseks on kuninga nõunik Koiola Aotõiv, kelle terav vaist ja nutikus aitavad tal lahendada mitu mõrvamõistatust. Aotõivi retked viivad teda ka Saaremaale Kaali linnusesse, kuhu on saabunud saladuslik rändur Kreekast, ning tänapäeva Tallinna asukohta, kus muistse Rävala pealinn Iru rivaalitseb Härjapää linnusega. See on tuhande aasta tagune aeg, mil kaugel Põhjalas usutakse olevat jumalate koda ja laevamehed käivad mööda jõgesid kauplemas lõunamaaturgudel; show more aeg, mil idast ja läänest ründavad Kuningavalda raevukad show less