Sterkarm — (1998—2003) Young adult. According to Susan Price's website, a third volume is expected. Publisher: "Beware of shaking hands with a Sterkarm." For generations, the Sterkarms plundered the Scottish border. They were known for shaking on a bargain with a dagger clutched firmly in one hand — and for not keeping their promises. Now people from the 21st century have found a way to travel to the Sterkarms' time. The 16th century is rich in natural resources and historical detail, perfect for the modern investor or scholar. Anthropologist Andrea Mitchell finds more than research there, as she falls in love with a young Sterkarm warrior. But when he realizes how powerful and destructive the visitors truly are, he vows to keep them from his land forever. And in the bloody battle that ensues, Andrea must choose between her love and her world.
 
 The Sterkarm Handshake: "Elves Bless with One Hand, Blight with the Other..."
In the 21st century an invention has finally been perfected: The Time Tube, which allows contemporary scientists, researches and corporate moneymakers to travel back into the 16th century and mingle with the locals there. Think of the possibilities! Plentiful supplies of oil, gold and coal, an extraordinary opportunity to study ancient life, and a pollution-free resort for those wealthy enough to make the trip. The corporation FUP has already purchased the troublesome borderlands between 16th century Scotland and England in order to begin development.
But there's just one problem: the Sterkarms. This warrior tribe are those that lay claim to the land, and have a reputation that has gained themselves the saying: "Never shake hands with a Sterkarm." Since all the Sterkarms are left-handed, it is easy for them to conceal a dagger in their right hands whilst shaking with their left, and as such are utterly untrustworthy. They consider the 21st century people to be the "Elves" from their folklore, yet despite negotiations and bribes of the Elves "wee white pills" (that is, aspirin), the Sterkarms have no real interest in giving up their lands and way of life in order for the Elves to move in — in fact, their raids upon survey teams have begun to be a nuisance to the 21st-siders.
Andrea Mitchell is a young field-researcher, caught directly between the two sides. On the one hand is the needs/wants of her own world, and the demands of her superior Windsor who holds her career in the palm of her hand. On the other is the Sterkarms who have welcomed her into their lives like a guest and whom she has come to greatly respect and admire. On top of this she has developed feelings for the chieftain's son Per, and he for her, which makes her mediating role a lot more complicated.
Susan Price presents a wonderfully thought-provoking novel that deals with the inevitable discord between two opposing cultures when one wants something from the other. She is (thankfully) very gifted in presenting a case for both sides of the argument and paints rather a lot of grey within the situation. The Sterkarms are not presented as tree-hugging, circle-dancing New-Agers like many books that deal with such people do, but instead as warm, affectionate loving people who nevertheless engage in warfare, torture, bloodlust and selective memory whenever it suits them. On the other end of the scale is Windsor, who looks upon Sterkarms as "overgrown, rather dim and naughty children." This is to his own detriment considering the Sterkarms are more than capable of beheading him and displaying his head should it ever suit them. Both sides are so vividly portrayed that I felt myself switching alliances whenever the narrative moved: when the 21st century thugs were called in to exterminate the Sterkarms I hoped the Sterkarms would give them what was coming to them, but when the self-same men attempted an escape in the night, I was terrified for them that the Sterkarms would discover them.
As the story begins, the Sterkarms ride out to retrieve stolen sheep from an enemy tribe rather than allow the 21st-siders to take care of it, and end up returning with a severely injured Per. A distraught Andrea and a conniving Windsor take him through the Tube and into the future, with Windsor plotting to use the beloved son as a hostage for the chieftain Toorkild's good behaviour. From there the crisis escalates as the two sides declare war on each other, with both sides severely underestimating the other, and Andrea caught once more in the middle: should she help the men that the Sterkarms hold captive, knowing that they had come into the past to slaughter them all? Or should she side with the Sterkarms knowing that their way of life might be obliterated with the greed of Windsor and his corporation? And finally comes the ultimate decision: to stay with her love Per in a world of drudgery and peril, or to give him up and stay in the drab and somewhat meaningless world of the 21st century.
The Sterkarm Handshake is a dense, immensely complicated book in its themes of intolerance, misunderstanding and inability to communicate: perhaps the main causes of all bloodshed in invasions and colonisation in our history books. Ultimately of course, the conclusion is somewhat melancholy; given that no real solution exists either in the book or in the real world to reconcile such different groups that live in such radically different ways. Price brings these differences to light wonderfully, what with Per's experiences in "Elfland" and Windsor's growing realisation that the Sterkarms cannot be controlled so easily.
Furthermore, the use of the 21st century people as "Elves" is great to read if you are familiar with the folklore surrounding such beings, and the Sterkarm's interpretation of Andrea and the other's behaviour in terms of their limited knowledge. In fact, all of the Sterkarm's way of life is meticulously presented and realistic. The Sterkarm Handshake is a heavy read, but a rewarding one, and suitable for either gender above the age of ten, with enough ambiguity to keep one thinking for a very long time. Time-traveling stories usually leave me cross-eyed, but since the Time Tube actually takes our contemporaries to another dimension, as well as another time, then there are no difficulties in trying to puzzle out the ramifications of such a visitation — ie, Andrea doesn't end up being her own great-great-something-grandmother, or other such confusing elements. —Rebecca Fisher
 A Sterkarm Kiss: "For There's Sweeter Rest, on a True Love's Breast..."
The novel that preceded this, The Sterkarm Handshake was an explosive, riveting and nail-biting story based around the concept of the cultural clash that would follow 21st century time travelers attempting to exploit the riches and opportunities that the past had to offer. The corporation FUP had completed a Time Tube that would transport employees into the past of a different dimension, in order to explore the possibilities that the unspoilt land offered. Only one thing stood in their way; the fierce and treacherous Sterkarms who were not prepared to stop their feuding and troublemaking just because a bunch of "Elves" asked them to.
The scientific ramifications of a time traveling device was not the focus of the novel; instead Susan Price focused solely on the interactions between past and present, and the impossible odds that her protagonist Andrea Mitchell had to face in attempting to negotiate between such uncontrollable powers. As the winner of the Guardian's Children's Fiction Prize and short listed for the Carnegie Medal, The Sterkarm Handshake comes very highly recommended.
But how does the sequel live up to the original? Sadly, like most sequels, not as well. A Sterkarm Kiss begins about a year after the Time Tube was closed down. Andrea now works as a barmaid and has lost all hope of ever seeing Per, her 16th century love, again. But then the extraordinary happens; her old boss, the greedy, immoral and cowardly James Windsor approaches her and offers her back her old job as liaison to the Sterkarms. The Tube is up and running again, but this time the old mistakes won't be repeated. This time the Tube connects into a new dimension; where the "Elves" can begin afresh with their treatment of the Sterkarms.
This time, they can use their prior knowledge of the Sterkarm leaders to manipulate them and come across as peacemakers rather than an invading force. Brokering a marriage between the Sterkarms and their main foes, the Grannams, is their first step in securing peace and a stable environment in which to exploit the land. Andrea — despite some reservations — eventually accepts Windsor's offer; the chance of seeing Per (albeit one who has never met her before) too great. But as always, there is treachery at work...
The idea that they travel into a different dimension, to meet a whole "new" set of the same characters in the 16th century felt at first like a bit of a cheat, as if Price had given herself a clean slate in order to explore an entirely new scenario rather than build on the established situation of the previous book. However, by the end of the novel it becomes clear that there is a reason behind the change in dimension which eventually pays off — it may just be a little frustrating at first if you're eager to get updated on the Sterkarms of the first book.
The novel is geared toward teenagers, but whereas The Sterkarm Handshake could be read by younger readers as well as older ones, I'd be a little more hesitant to put this in the hands of a thirteen year old, as there are several scenes of violence, sex and language. These types of things were also present in Handshake, but not quite as graphically described, and there are also several deaths of established characters which come across as rather pointless (though perhaps this seeming pointlessness is precisely the point about death that Price is trying to make).
And then there's the end; to call it a cliffhanger is an understatement, as it seems to end mid-chapter. With this being the case, and without any third installment in place, it's difficult to understand the reasons behind writing a sequel, especially when The Sterkarm Handshake was wrapped up so neatly and poignantly. —Rebecca Fisher
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