Summary and Reviews of The Sterkarm Handshake by Susan Price

The Sterkarm Handshake by Susan Price

The Sterkarm Handshake

by Susan Price
  • Critics' Consensus (4):
  • Readers' Rating (6):
  • First Published:
  • Sep 1, 2000, 320 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Jan 2003, 576 pages
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About This Book

Book Summary

The Sterkarm Handshake is a stirring tale of a clash of two cultures, beautifully told by master storyteller Susan Price.

The Sterkarms have plundered the border between Scotland and England for generations. Suddenly intruders, calling themselves Elves, want the Sterkarms to stop their violent ways.

The Elves, time travelers from the 21st century, have found a way back to the 16th century and plan to do their own plundering of the land's rich natural resources. Their only mistake is foolishly underestimating the Sterkarms themselves.

For Andrea Mitchell, an anthropologist working among the Sterkarms, none of this matters. In love with Per -- a young Sterkarm warrior -- and feted as a beautiful Elf-May, she's never known such happiness in her own time.

But when Per receives a deadly injury, Andrea's decision to take him into the 21st century to save him has explosive results. Per, seeing how powerful and destructive the Elves truly are, swears to keep them from his land forever. And in the bloody battle that ensues, Andrea must finally choose whose side she is on.

The Sterkarm Handshake is a stirring tale of a clash of two cultures, beautifully told by master storyteller Susan Price.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

Times of London
Fusing the best sci-fi and history!

Booklist
A gripping story, filled with realistic details of sixteenth-century life.

Publishers Weekly
A ripping good tale [Winner of Britain's 1999 Guardian First Book Award]. . . Price's skill with language makes it all so believable.

School Library Journal
This dazzling story combines time travel, romance, and action, along with thought-provoking ideas and memorable characters.

Author Blurb Philip Pullman
Enthralling...A thunderous, driving, unstoppable yarn.

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