Saxon: The Emperor's Elephant - Tim Severin

Published by Pan Books/Maxmillan: London, England, 2014 (2013).

Like its predecessor, The Emperor's Elephant follows the adventures of Sigwulf, a Saxon serving in the court of King Carolus of the Franks, who would become Charlemagne. This time around, Sigwulf and his former servant Osric are tasked with tracking down a number of exotic creatures and presenting them as gifts to the Caliph of Baghdad. They are helped in this task by Walo, a simple young man who has a gift of caring for animals.

This book, by nature of the plot, is far more episodic than the previous one. We get a journey to the north to collect various animals, then the journey south stopping at various locations, an arrival at Baghdad, and then another journey resulting from a meeting with the Caliph. In each of these 'episodes', it feels as though the author is seeking to show what the world was like at this time, and that perhaps the plot is secondary to this task.

Once again, I found myself enjoying the book and simultaneously acknowledging that it is not 'great' literature by any means. There is a mystery involving the identity of a saboteur, and once again there are passing references to prophetic dreams, but it still feels as though certain elements of the plot are fairly superfluous to the story itself. Even a final twist involving Osric and his post-quest decisions don't land with a lot of impact, but are just something I found myself shrugging at and moving on.

An okay read, with an okay adventure story.

Completed 20 October 2020.

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