Favorite HAC Novel
What is your favorite Covington book and why? If possible excluding the Northwest trilogy, although I know more people will have read those than The Master's other works. Post in comments section.
Update: for those of you who want to see some excerpts from the Northwest Trilogy and find out more info about those novels, check out
http://nwtrilogy.blogspot.com
"Political Soldier" is posting some good passages from the Three there.
posted by Jack Torrance @ 1:08 AM
40 comments
40 Comments:
I have to admit I've always been partial to The Black Flame. It's just a ripping roaring good swashbuckler, almost up to Conan the Barbarian standards.
The first HAC book I ever read was Fire and Rain, and I was a Matt and Heather addict from that moment on. We all need to get together and blackmail Harold into writing more Matt and Heathers.
EXCLUDING the Northwest novels? That's not really fair, but excluding them, I'd say the Fire and Rain/Slow Coming Dark twin set.
Black Flame. I've read my copy so many times it's falling apart.
I liked Vindictus myself. It's the first novel I read and it really instilled a sense of Irish and English history in me, as well as being a fascinating and very action-packed read.
I don't think it's fair to exclude the Northwest novels either. They're not only HAC's best work, they are probably the most significant things he'll write in his life, the books he will be remembered for.
For just being a sheer nice little book to read, The Stars in Their Path. But it's kind of depressing tho.
I've only read the Northwest novels and Fire and Rain/Slow Coming Dark. I was really wowed by them. Going to order more.
You know, I actually rather liked Bonnie Blue Murder. I am a detective story fan from way back and I cut my teeth on Sherlock Holmes, and I think Covington's Southern detective Colonel Legare is one of the closest approaches to a genuinely Holmesian character in any fiction I've read. Plus the plot was just intricate enough to fool the reader but not so complex as to be ridiculous. The anti-Jew message wasn't bad either, of course. All told, I think BBM is one of the more underestimated of HAC's books.
I am a confirmed Matt & Heather addict and I wish that HAC could be persuaded to write some more, like fill in their adventures when M & H finally decided to take the gap to the Northwest Homeland.
Black Flame. My favorite medieval chop-'em-up.
For depth of character and basic message (excluding the Northwest Trilogy)--after some thought, Vindictus. I read one review that called Vindictus "en evil Three Musketeers" but it's more than that. Vindictus is almost Hamlet-like in its study of a man obsessed by a vengeance which is or seems supernaturally ordained. I think it's one of the best books I have ever read, period. Vindictus, definitely.
FIRE AND RAIN, for sure!
That's a tough one if you exclude the Northwest Novels..hmm, okay, after a little thought, I'll have to go with Fire and Rain/Slow Coming Dark (the two need to go together) but personally I always like Revelation 9, myself, except for some of the typos. HAC might have done a better job proofing that one, but it was still damned scary.
I was always very impressed by Black Flame, much more so than by the weak attempts at medieval mysteries by such people as P.C. Doherty or the assorted sappy women who attempt to re-write the history of the Middle Ages as a feminist epic. Covington's 15th century rings grittily true and I wish to hell there was some way we could get some more Thomas Clave mysteries out of him.
I think The Stars In Their Path is a really sweet and sad little book. I liked it a lot. I have not read any of Mr. Covington's other works except for Fire and Rain and that was good too in a kind of thriller vein.
HAC himself once said that he considered his best work to be "The Madman and Marina" which is the closing novella in "Other Voices, Darker Rooms." I tend to agree. It's got that true Russian Tolstoyan or Dostoevskian (sp?) feel about it. Also, "Whisper Her Name On The Wind" successfully accomplishes Harold's stated goal to "fuck up Fiddler On The Roof" major league. I'd say OVDR all told is the most enjoyable Covington read due to its variety.
Stars In Their Path. It's both romantic and interesting to read. Better than a hundred Barbara Cartlands.
Fire and Rain. You always remember your first Covington novel, like you remember your first kiss.
Does ANYONE besides me like The Renegade, the Irish vampire novel? I think it's one of the best police procedurals I've ever read, Ed McBain meets Stephen King. I like all HAC's ghost and supernaturals, including the much-dissed Revelation 9 and "The Stranger" and "Mick The Cutler" from Other Voices, Darker Rooms.
The great thing about Harold Covington's novels is that they all have a little something in them somewhere that catches the attention, that makes you sit up and think. There isn't a book of his I've read that doesn't have a racial or political point in it somewhere, although sometimes like in Rose of Honor you have to look deeply. I don't know how many know this, but HAC did an extensive re-write on Rose of Honor before he published it with iUniverse, and those like me who have read the old 1980 version and then the new one have found a distinct improvement. Has anyone besides me read Rose?
Rose of Honor is pretty good, granted, but Vindictus and Black Flame and Bonnie Blue murder are all better as purely historical novels IMHO.
For just plain once-you-pick-it-up-you-can't-it-down-again-until-you've-finished, got to be Black Flame, followed closely by Fire and Rain and Slow Coming Dark.
I really think it's a mean trick excluding the Northwest Trilogy, since those are HAC's best books by far and without a doubt, but lacking those three, I'd say Slow Coming Dark. I like Mob stories as a rule.
Non-trilogy, I'd have to say Fire and Rain/SCD.
Bonnie Blue Murder is in many ways Harold's most cerebral work. I don't know if anyone except me has noticed, but there's almost no actual violence in it except for battle scenes at Fort Sumter and Bull Run, and the action is all very genteel. For action, action, action damned near from start to finish, Black Flame followed closely neck and neck bu Vindictus. For just plain BEST NOVEL as far as being a fine read goes, "A Distant Thunder" and screw your trying to exclude the Northwest Trilogy, Jack.
Yeah, I'm with Dr. J. Screw excluding the Trilogy. HAC's best book is A Distant Thunder and close runner-up is A Mighty Fortress. Viva Nightshade!
I'm with the Akhond. I think Renegade is a very underestimated novel, great Irish setting and one of the most readable of the lot. Covington has mastered the art of FLOW in his books, which some $50,000 per pound of manuscript writers have never mastered, plus it's a new and much more believable twist on all this vampire nonsense you see from Hollywood today.
Purely as a novel, based on best writing, best plot, best characters, and most page-turnability, I think Vindictus would take the prize here, followed very closely by Slow Coming Dark. SCD has an overt political message which somewhat takes it out of the realm of straight fiction.
Where can I buy HAC's novels other than Amazon and the usual outlets? Is there a way I could buy them directly from him? I ask this because I'd rather send the money to him than a middle man and also because I can't shell $20 per book like Amazon charges.
(BTW, my favorite is Rose of Honor)
Hello, Alan,
I bought most of my copies from Barnes and Noble online. If you are a member of their readers' club, which I am, you get a discount. I am not sure what arrangements HAC himself has going at the moment. Try e-mailing him at nwnet@earthlink.net and ask him. You may have to ask for him to get you onto his list; last time I tried that address I got a Spamblocker Notice. Or you can try harold_covington@hotmail.com.
And remember: all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
Another thing I want to point out. I have noticed something about Harold down through the years that impresses me immensely. Anything he writes or publishes, be it on the internet or on paper, he always SIGNS HIS NAME TO. I don't think I've ever come across a proven example of him using a phony ID (other than "Winston Smith," which doesn't count because everyone in the Movement knew perfectly well who "Winston Smith" was) or an anonymous e-mail re-mailer.
On the other hand, I have gotten a lot of nasty e-mail attacking Harold, some since this site opened a few weeks ago, and I have always noticed one thing about it: it's ALWAYS ANONYMOUS.
Harold Covington dares to sign his name to what he writes. The people who hate and revile him don't dare. What does that tell you?
I am a Matt and Heather fan from Day One; I got my first F & R before it was even published, in galley format autographed by HAC himself, which I am leaving to my kids as an heirloom.
What are the three books by HAC that make up the Northwest Trilogy?
That's a difficult choice, even without the Northwest Trilogy. My own personal favorite as just a really cool short novel to read is Stars in Their Path, but as far as actual heavy-literature merit goes? Well, few of Cov's books are really all that heavy, but I'd have to go with Vindictus. It's a great read but there's this really heavy atmosphere of depression and impending doom hanging over it. (I think somebody already said that.) It's one of those books that bums you out to where you can't sleep at night for a few nights afterward, thinking about it.
Check out http://nwtrilogy.blogspot.com
I just received a copy of The Stars In Their Path from a friend who sent me also to this site. I have to say I am completely enchanted with the first novel of Mr. Covington's I have read. I read the whole book in a single weekend, canceling my other plans I found it so un-put-downable. The author seems to have a deep sense of occult knowledge. I would like to meet him or at least e-mail him. Can you release Mr. Covington's e-mail address?
I have always felt that the two Matt and Heather novels, Fire and Rain and Slow Coming Dark, are two of the best books I've ever read. They're as good as anything Tom Clancy ever wrote, but they're not nearly so long and they don't drag like a lot of Clancy's stuff does.
How about more posts on what HAC is writing about these days? Also, is there a way to contact him? I'm sure he must be busy with political stuff but I'm a non-political reader of his (I simply happened to stumble upon "Rose of Honor" years ago and have enjoyed his other fiction ever since) but maybe he would like the interaction with his readers.
Fire and Rain for the pain, and the glimmer of hope; Vindictus for the Spirit; OVDR for the truth behind the work; same for the Stars In Their Path.
Stars, especially, for the dedication behind it, and the dedication at the beginning of it.
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