The Wake

You will never read another book quite like The Wake. It's written in a "shadow tongue" of Old English, which may seem like unnecessary artifice, but following in the tradition of other novels written in "shadow tongues" - William T. Vollmann's Argall and Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange come to mind - Kingsnorth's use of pseudo Old English is in fact a brilliant feat of literary time-travel. Narrated by Buccmaster of Holland, it tells the story of one man's confrontation with himself, his people, his history and his enemies in the face of the Norman Conquest. It's perfect for fans of Anglo-Saxon epics, Arthurian romances, and more recent creations like the novels of Tolkien, Philip Pullman and George R.R. Martin. — Kenneth Loosli