xhaydenx's review against another edition
5.0
I was going through a viking/norse phase and this was exactly what I was looking for. Loved the story, the characters, all of it!
patremagne's review against another edition
3.0
http://abitterdraft.com/2013/08/swords-of-good-men-by-snorri-kristjansson.html
Jo Fletcher is a fairly new imprint for Quercus specializing in most of the speculative fiction genre. They started with a bang, and their list of authors includes some who’ve proven their mettle like Sarah Pinborough and Ian McDonald. They also have a slew of authors who have debuted within the last few years with success, like Aidan Harte, Mazarkis Williams, Tom Pollock, and David Hair. This year includes promising debut Snorri Kristjansson with Swords of Good Men, the first in the Valhalla Saga. After I’d found myself the victor of a giveaway for Aidan Harte’s Irenicon back in July, I decided to browse their catalog for authors of interest. After reading through all of the names, it was difficult to find one that didn’t catch my eye. I ended up requesting the one that stood out the most, and since I can’t resist a good Norse tale, they obliged and sent me Swords of Good Men.
After reading the first few chapters, I began to see that Kristjansson’s writing was very similar to Nathan Hawke’s and David Gemmell’s – there is no fluff. He tells the story how it is, without flattery and overbearing detail. But, more like Hawke than Gemmell, Kristjansson writes the violence with gory detail, making the action very fun to read – the kind of stuff you’d see on History’s new show, Vikings. Taking place in Norway, Swords of Good Men is much more historical fiction than it is fantasy, with the aspect of magic not appearing until the very end for the most part and in a supernatural way.
Swords begins with Ulfar Thormodsson and his cousin Geiri on their way to Stenvik, the last stop on a journey throughout the world before they can return home. Despite Kristjansson’s focus on the action rather than the world, he paints a very vivid picture of a Norse town in Stenvik. It feels real, down to the longhouse with barrel-chested men drinking mead and singing. A woman captures Ulfar’s heart with just a glance, and makes quite the enemy in the process. Ulfar and Geiri aren’t the only ones coming to Stenvik, though. The young King Olav Tryggvason, a Norse leader turned Christian, is moving west with his growing army in an attempt to bring the White Christ to the populace of Scandinavia. Skargrim has gathered a huge force of raiders and are advancing on Stenvik from the north with some kind of witch at the helm, and outlaws come out of the woodwork to harass the town as well.
Therein lies the biggest flaw of Swords of Good Men. Too many forces seem to be converging on this one small town. The book is split into many points of view, possibly too many, in order to help us keep track of all of these forces. Throughout the story we jump around from character to character, force to force, leading up to the penultimate siege – and the transition isn’t particularly smooth. If two of the main characters are in the same place, occasionally one paragraph would be spoken from one of them and the following one from the other, which made the story somewhat hard to follow.
Another problem with Swords was its length. It seems like a fairly standard story length for a debut at 352 pages, and it went smoothly until the last quarter. Shit hit the fan and had me turning page after page, the book glued to my hands. I buzzed through the last few pages and found the next page to be blank. The book was over. Too much had happened in the last 5 pages for me to wrap my head around immediately, and I think that the book, with the multiple point of view writing style, would have benefited from an extra 50 or so pages to smooth things out.
Despite what it may seem like by reading this review, I actually did enjoy Swords of Good Men because it had some very real characters and great action, though there were some flaws and those should be expected from a debut author. The choppiness did smooth out as the story moved along, and it’s clear that Snorri is steadily improving and the sequel looks to answer a lot of questions and I look forward to more action.
Jo Fletcher is a fairly new imprint for Quercus specializing in most of the speculative fiction genre. They started with a bang, and their list of authors includes some who’ve proven their mettle like Sarah Pinborough and Ian McDonald. They also have a slew of authors who have debuted within the last few years with success, like Aidan Harte, Mazarkis Williams, Tom Pollock, and David Hair. This year includes promising debut Snorri Kristjansson with Swords of Good Men, the first in the Valhalla Saga. After I’d found myself the victor of a giveaway for Aidan Harte’s Irenicon back in July, I decided to browse their catalog for authors of interest. After reading through all of the names, it was difficult to find one that didn’t catch my eye. I ended up requesting the one that stood out the most, and since I can’t resist a good Norse tale, they obliged and sent me Swords of Good Men.
After reading the first few chapters, I began to see that Kristjansson’s writing was very similar to Nathan Hawke’s and David Gemmell’s – there is no fluff. He tells the story how it is, without flattery and overbearing detail. But, more like Hawke than Gemmell, Kristjansson writes the violence with gory detail, making the action very fun to read – the kind of stuff you’d see on History’s new show, Vikings. Taking place in Norway, Swords of Good Men is much more historical fiction than it is fantasy, with the aspect of magic not appearing until the very end for the most part and in a supernatural way.
Swords begins with Ulfar Thormodsson and his cousin Geiri on their way to Stenvik, the last stop on a journey throughout the world before they can return home. Despite Kristjansson’s focus on the action rather than the world, he paints a very vivid picture of a Norse town in Stenvik. It feels real, down to the longhouse with barrel-chested men drinking mead and singing. A woman captures Ulfar’s heart with just a glance, and makes quite the enemy in the process. Ulfar and Geiri aren’t the only ones coming to Stenvik, though. The young King Olav Tryggvason, a Norse leader turned Christian, is moving west with his growing army in an attempt to bring the White Christ to the populace of Scandinavia. Skargrim has gathered a huge force of raiders and are advancing on Stenvik from the north with some kind of witch at the helm, and outlaws come out of the woodwork to harass the town as well.
Therein lies the biggest flaw of Swords of Good Men. Too many forces seem to be converging on this one small town. The book is split into many points of view, possibly too many, in order to help us keep track of all of these forces. Throughout the story we jump around from character to character, force to force, leading up to the penultimate siege – and the transition isn’t particularly smooth. If two of the main characters are in the same place, occasionally one paragraph would be spoken from one of them and the following one from the other, which made the story somewhat hard to follow.
Another problem with Swords was its length. It seems like a fairly standard story length for a debut at 352 pages, and it went smoothly until the last quarter. Shit hit the fan and had me turning page after page, the book glued to my hands. I buzzed through the last few pages and found the next page to be blank. The book was over. Too much had happened in the last 5 pages for me to wrap my head around immediately, and I think that the book, with the multiple point of view writing style, would have benefited from an extra 50 or so pages to smooth things out.
Despite what it may seem like by reading this review, I actually did enjoy Swords of Good Men because it had some very real characters and great action, though there were some flaws and those should be expected from a debut author. The choppiness did smooth out as the story moved along, and it’s clear that Snorri is steadily improving and the sequel looks to answer a lot of questions and I look forward to more action.
blackestclovers's review
4.0
Well that took a surprising turn towards the end. Didn't except a lot of the deaths, actually. Count me in for the second book.
ijprest's review against another edition
2.0
It had some decent battle scenes, but overall it was a mess. Poor character development (little or no reason to care about any of the characters, and unbelievable motivations). Horrible ending. Weird, out-of-place magic stuff, and its actual connection to Viking lore was not obvious (I only learned about it from the subsequent book-club discussion).
And it cut between scenes *way* too often; felt a bit like a Michael Bay movie in print form.
And it cut between scenes *way* too often; felt a bit like a Michael Bay movie in print form.
wally's review against another edition
4.0
a bit different
The writing style seems strange at first and took me almost half of the book to get used to the swapping around of pov characters trying to keep track of who was who . Maybe it was just my brain that found it hard to get a handle on the style , but when I did I found it a very enjoyable read and will look forward to the rest of the series
The writing style seems strange at first and took me almost half of the book to get used to the swapping around of pov characters trying to keep track of who was who . Maybe it was just my brain that found it hard to get a handle on the style , but when I did I found it a very enjoyable read and will look forward to the rest of the series
atomic_seashell's review against another edition
4.0
4*
Very conflicted about the rating I should give to this book. Until somewhere around the middle of it I was thinking of giving it 3 stars - I was having a bit of a hard time in understanding the story and connecting all of the characters. Also, the fantasy elements were almost absent from the story until this point. But the writing was pretty good and I still had interest in continuing reading the story.
I'm glad I did, because the book turned out to be really good - I was finally able to put all the characters into place and follow the plot, the fantasy elements started to appear more and in a very interesting and misterious way, and I found myself really intrigued about what was going to happen next, and I wasn't really anticipating that ending. It fully deserves 4 stars.
Looking forward to read the rest of the series!
Very conflicted about the rating I should give to this book. Until somewhere around the middle of it I was thinking of giving it 3 stars - I was having a bit of a hard time in understanding the story and connecting all of the characters. Also, the fantasy elements were almost absent from the story until this point. But the writing was pretty good and I still had interest in continuing reading the story.
I'm glad I did, because the book turned out to be really good - I was finally able to put all the characters into place and follow the plot, the fantasy elements started to appear more and in a very interesting and misterious way, and I found myself really intrigued about what was going to happen next, and I wasn't really anticipating that ending. It fully deserves 4 stars.
Looking forward to read the rest of the series!
cupiscent's review against another edition
3.0
This is basically the Viking version of 300, full of epic acts of manly cunning and violence and manliness. It's full of richly drawn characters set in opposition to each other, and nicely written (though I found the cinematic-style intercutting of sometimes very short scenes to be rather disruptive to a smooth reading experience). In that regard, it's probably a four-star book.
However, there are only three female characters in the entire book: a woman in a man's job who's out-manning the men at it, a battered wife who is being rescued by a newly arrived warrior, and an evil enchantress. Out of curiosity, I looked up the history of King Olav who brought Norway forcibly to Christianity, and there was a note about a woman who refused to marry him if it meant giving up her own gods, was smacked for her temerity, and then proceeded to unify Olav's enemies against him. That is a story I'm interested in reading. Just saying.
However, there are only three female characters in the entire book: a woman in a man's job who's out-manning the men at it, a battered wife who is being rescued by a newly arrived warrior, and an evil enchantress. Out of curiosity, I looked up the history of King Olav who brought Norway forcibly to Christianity, and there was a note about a woman who refused to marry him if it meant giving up her own gods, was smacked for her temerity, and then proceeded to unify Olav's enemies against him. That is a story I'm interested in reading. Just saying.
speesh's review against another edition
5.0
I live in Denmark, I have done the last ten years. I have learned Danish and I speak and understand it all day every day. I've read books in Danish. English-written translated into Danish and books written by Danish authors. And there's a difference. You can see, read and tell there's a difference. There's a different way of thinking and formulating a sentence or a paragraph. A different way of putting an idea over. I'm not going to say their world view is different from ours, but having been here for ten years now, I can safely say they often have a different view of what is - and perhaps more interestingly - what isn't important. What IS worth worrying about and what isn't, what can be left to sort itself out.
When I was only a little way into 'Swords of Good Men', I said to the wife (you ask her), that even if the name didn’t give the game away, I’d put a whole load of her money on Snorri Kristjansson being a Scandinavian. Well, he’s from Iceland and f you’re worrying over my definition of ’Scandinavia’; (Wikipedia) *Sometimes the term Scandinavia is also taken to include Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Finland, on account of their historical association with the Scandinavian countries."). It's in that historical background, the assumptions made of the reader, the way of telling the story...and it's written all over this absolutely superb book.
'Swords of Good Men’ is different. No doubt about it. Firstly, because the action stays in Scandinavia. Snorri’s saga doesn’t follow the otherwise well-trodden (if can ships can be said to tread) path, the 'Whale Road’, from Norway, Denmark etc, to Britain. Which is what, for most people I imagine, pretty much would actually characterise as being ‘Viking'. Here, neatly turning the 9th Century tables, it is Christianity which is the threat coming to the Vikings, from Vikings, in THEIR backyard. Their way of life is under threat from warriors emerging suddenly out of the mists. And they mean to defend it to the death. Get your head round that one for a start.
However, I don’t wish to get all 10th Century medieval on your asses here, with maybe making out like this is some sort of detailed allegorical study of paganism in retreat versus the onrush of Christianity (bringing the word of God ‘at the point of a sword and edge of axe’) that led to the end of the Viking era. It isn’t (really) and luckily for us readers, at least half of Snorri's characters don't know it’s the end and are ready to fight to the death. That’s what in essence is happening here. Odin and Thor and all the other Æsir don't intend giving up without a fight. They are cornered, gathering their forces and ready to strike back using any means they can, over-, or underhand. And the little town of Stenvik is going to get caught in the middle, whether the people of Stenvik like it or not.
The book starts slowly and builds its story - maybe like a film that opens with a long shot, far away, that comes in, slowly getting closer and closer, bringing the events, characters and story to focus. It also stays away from what I usually think of as the 'normal' way of opening, with a huge battle or suchlike. It assumes you're already with the story of the Vikings. That you know the world in which story is set. Yes, people know about Vikings, but the book is comfortable in assuming you’re NOT now thinking Tony Curtis, Kirk Douglas and Ernest Borgnine. It mentions for example, without further explanation other than the name, Hedeby and Trelleborg, both important centres in Viking-age Denmark, but, I think, I've only ever seen mentioned once before in Viking fiction. Two travellers arrive in the town, Ulfar and his cousin Geiri who are traders on their way home. They find the anticipation and foreboding is building amongst the people. What will happen and who will survive when the - unstoppable - storm breaks over them? And then, when the tension becomes nearly unbearable and the storm does break, the book really delivers on its built up promise. With a final battle the like of which I don’t think I’ve read before. A battle so vivid, that it not so much places you directly in the centre, rather that whilst reading, it has you looking over your shoulder and checking for where the next death-dealing, blood-dripping, breast-cleaving, axe-wielding, seven-foot tall marauding berserker Viking warrior is coming from! If it doesn't leave you breathless, get someone to hold a mirror in front of your mouth - you may be dead.
So, there are plenty excellently realised and memorable characters here. There are warriors and witches and where there are warriors and witches, there will be warfare. There are axes, broadswords and narrow escapes (you see what I did there?). There are characters to care about, to be worried about, to trust, to mistrust, to be afraid of, to be intrigued by. And characters you hope you're going to meet again. Soon. 'Swords of Good Men' is just about everything you could possibly want and then some, from a novel about the Vikings. I didn’t want to compare and contrast with other Vikings books I’ve read, or will be reading in the very near future, but this IS different. It’s powerful, wonderfully imagined and presented and I’ve got to admit; it feels like the real thing. If it isn’t in my top three best reads of the year come December, I’ll be more surprised than…well, it ain’t gonna not happen.
And, as I’ve said before, as one of the Vikings in 13th Warrior says: “It’s alright little brother - there are more..” The second in Snorri’s Valhalla Saga, ‘Blood Will Follow’, comes out in *casts runes* June.
When I was only a little way into 'Swords of Good Men', I said to the wife (you ask her), that even if the name didn’t give the game away, I’d put a whole load of her money on Snorri Kristjansson being a Scandinavian. Well, he’s from Iceland and f you’re worrying over my definition of ’Scandinavia’; (Wikipedia) *Sometimes the term Scandinavia is also taken to include Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Finland, on account of their historical association with the Scandinavian countries."). It's in that historical background, the assumptions made of the reader, the way of telling the story...and it's written all over this absolutely superb book.
'Swords of Good Men’ is different. No doubt about it. Firstly, because the action stays in Scandinavia. Snorri’s saga doesn’t follow the otherwise well-trodden (if can ships can be said to tread) path, the 'Whale Road’, from Norway, Denmark etc, to Britain. Which is what, for most people I imagine, pretty much would actually characterise as being ‘Viking'. Here, neatly turning the 9th Century tables, it is Christianity which is the threat coming to the Vikings, from Vikings, in THEIR backyard. Their way of life is under threat from warriors emerging suddenly out of the mists. And they mean to defend it to the death. Get your head round that one for a start.
However, I don’t wish to get all 10th Century medieval on your asses here, with maybe making out like this is some sort of detailed allegorical study of paganism in retreat versus the onrush of Christianity (bringing the word of God ‘at the point of a sword and edge of axe’) that led to the end of the Viking era. It isn’t (really) and luckily for us readers, at least half of Snorri's characters don't know it’s the end and are ready to fight to the death. That’s what in essence is happening here. Odin and Thor and all the other Æsir don't intend giving up without a fight. They are cornered, gathering their forces and ready to strike back using any means they can, over-, or underhand. And the little town of Stenvik is going to get caught in the middle, whether the people of Stenvik like it or not.
The book starts slowly and builds its story - maybe like a film that opens with a long shot, far away, that comes in, slowly getting closer and closer, bringing the events, characters and story to focus. It also stays away from what I usually think of as the 'normal' way of opening, with a huge battle or suchlike. It assumes you're already with the story of the Vikings. That you know the world in which story is set. Yes, people know about Vikings, but the book is comfortable in assuming you’re NOT now thinking Tony Curtis, Kirk Douglas and Ernest Borgnine. It mentions for example, without further explanation other than the name, Hedeby and Trelleborg, both important centres in Viking-age Denmark, but, I think, I've only ever seen mentioned once before in Viking fiction. Two travellers arrive in the town, Ulfar and his cousin Geiri who are traders on their way home. They find the anticipation and foreboding is building amongst the people. What will happen and who will survive when the - unstoppable - storm breaks over them? And then, when the tension becomes nearly unbearable and the storm does break, the book really delivers on its built up promise. With a final battle the like of which I don’t think I’ve read before. A battle so vivid, that it not so much places you directly in the centre, rather that whilst reading, it has you looking over your shoulder and checking for where the next death-dealing, blood-dripping, breast-cleaving, axe-wielding, seven-foot tall marauding berserker Viking warrior is coming from! If it doesn't leave you breathless, get someone to hold a mirror in front of your mouth - you may be dead.
So, there are plenty excellently realised and memorable characters here. There are warriors and witches and where there are warriors and witches, there will be warfare. There are axes, broadswords and narrow escapes (you see what I did there?). There are characters to care about, to be worried about, to trust, to mistrust, to be afraid of, to be intrigued by. And characters you hope you're going to meet again. Soon. 'Swords of Good Men' is just about everything you could possibly want and then some, from a novel about the Vikings. I didn’t want to compare and contrast with other Vikings books I’ve read, or will be reading in the very near future, but this IS different. It’s powerful, wonderfully imagined and presented and I’ve got to admit; it feels like the real thing. If it isn’t in my top three best reads of the year come December, I’ll be more surprised than…well, it ain’t gonna not happen.
And, as I’ve said before, as one of the Vikings in 13th Warrior says: “It’s alright little brother - there are more..” The second in Snorri’s Valhalla Saga, ‘Blood Will Follow’, comes out in *casts runes* June.
timrosolino's review against another edition
3.0
This is a bit of an odd duck of a book, it feels like it was written in a way to consciously jump from one theme to another, it's a buddy adventure, it's a siege book, it's a old gods vs new god story then at the end it goes off the rails (which was a nice surprise). The bulk of it though is a more or less straight forward siege story, a Viking version of Ironclad was the feeling I got. I liked the change of pace from the more standard western European setting/characters and the slight tease for a good portion of "Is that magic or just crazy people?". The ending sold me on giving the next book a chance.
cindyc's review against another edition
4.0
http://draumrkopablog.wordpress.com/2013/08/01/swords-of-good-men-valhalla-saga-1-snorri-kristjansson/
“Swords of Good Men” is Snorri Kristjansson’s debut and in my opinion a great start to the Valhalla Saga series. It sets a scorching pace, is packed with breathtaking action scenes, throws some unexpected twists in there and ends with a spectacular battle and an ending I didn’t see coming. In other words: this book hits the mark just right. It’s everything I expected it to be and more.
“Swords of Good Men” is the first Scandinavian/Viking themed book I’ve ever read and I’m pleased with how much I liked it. I had an inkling I would really like this book, but with new themes you never know. I’m a bit of a history and mythology freak, so anything involving ancient cultures and Gods is right up my alley. I’m also a big fan of a good battle in the books I read and let me tell you this: if there’s one thing Snorri Kristjansson is extremely good at, it’s describing a battle. The last 100 or so pages of the book are filled with blood, swords, axes, entrails flying around and skulls being smashed. I loved it! It was one of the most exhilarating battles I’ve read in a while. Kristjansson doesn’t fear a little gore and he’s certainly not shy to leave a pile of corpses littering the pages.
This mixed with the scattered hints at something ‘more’, something supernatural makes this a book you won’t be able to put down easily. Although his use of the godlike powers isn’t overwhelming it keeps you in its grip throughout the story. I still have a lot of questions about how the Gods are involved in all this and who is on who’s side.
The story is told in a distorted kind of way, changing perspective extremely fast, giving us an account from all possible POV’s about the events. It’s the first time I’ve read a book that’s written this way and it takes some getting used to. It’s a bit uncomfortable in the beginning, but as the story unfolded I began to appreciate this manner of storytelling. It fits perfectly with this kind of book and it brings the story alive in ways a usual approach wouldn’t have been able to.
There are quite a lot of POV’s which can be a bit confusing in the beginning, because at that point we’re just getting to know all the characters and their positions in the story. All I can say about this is: keep reading. The characters fall into place a lot easier once you’re past the first 100 pages and from there on it’s easy to keep track, even though there’s a lot going on.
The vast cast of characters are the cherry on top of this blood red cake. Although there are many, the author does a great job to give them all their own distinct personality and their own roles to play in the story. Some are evil, some are too good and some leave you wondering where they fit in in the whole.
The end caught me by surprise and it’s always great when a book can achieve this, I love it when I can’t anticipate an ending and it leaves me wondering about the next book. That’s a job well done, that’s how a suspenseful book should make me feel.
Snorri Kristjansson is definitely a powerful new voice in the Fantasy scene, with a strong debut that will please fans of Vikings, mythology, strategy and action.
I’m already looking forward to meeting Ulfar, King Olav, Valgard and the others in the second book.
You can read this review and others on my blog: http://draumrkopablog.wordpress.com/
“Swords of Good Men” is Snorri Kristjansson’s debut and in my opinion a great start to the Valhalla Saga series. It sets a scorching pace, is packed with breathtaking action scenes, throws some unexpected twists in there and ends with a spectacular battle and an ending I didn’t see coming. In other words: this book hits the mark just right. It’s everything I expected it to be and more.
“Swords of Good Men” is the first Scandinavian/Viking themed book I’ve ever read and I’m pleased with how much I liked it. I had an inkling I would really like this book, but with new themes you never know. I’m a bit of a history and mythology freak, so anything involving ancient cultures and Gods is right up my alley. I’m also a big fan of a good battle in the books I read and let me tell you this: if there’s one thing Snorri Kristjansson is extremely good at, it’s describing a battle. The last 100 or so pages of the book are filled with blood, swords, axes, entrails flying around and skulls being smashed. I loved it! It was one of the most exhilarating battles I’ve read in a while. Kristjansson doesn’t fear a little gore and he’s certainly not shy to leave a pile of corpses littering the pages.
This mixed with the scattered hints at something ‘more’, something supernatural makes this a book you won’t be able to put down easily. Although his use of the godlike powers isn’t overwhelming it keeps you in its grip throughout the story. I still have a lot of questions about how the Gods are involved in all this and who is on who’s side.
The story is told in a distorted kind of way, changing perspective extremely fast, giving us an account from all possible POV’s about the events. It’s the first time I’ve read a book that’s written this way and it takes some getting used to. It’s a bit uncomfortable in the beginning, but as the story unfolded I began to appreciate this manner of storytelling. It fits perfectly with this kind of book and it brings the story alive in ways a usual approach wouldn’t have been able to.
There are quite a lot of POV’s which can be a bit confusing in the beginning, because at that point we’re just getting to know all the characters and their positions in the story. All I can say about this is: keep reading. The characters fall into place a lot easier once you’re past the first 100 pages and from there on it’s easy to keep track, even though there’s a lot going on.
The vast cast of characters are the cherry on top of this blood red cake. Although there are many, the author does a great job to give them all their own distinct personality and their own roles to play in the story. Some are evil, some are too good and some leave you wondering where they fit in in the whole.
The end caught me by surprise and it’s always great when a book can achieve this, I love it when I can’t anticipate an ending and it leaves me wondering about the next book. That’s a job well done, that’s how a suspenseful book should make me feel.
Snorri Kristjansson is definitely a powerful new voice in the Fantasy scene, with a strong debut that will please fans of Vikings, mythology, strategy and action.
I’m already looking forward to meeting Ulfar, King Olav, Valgard and the others in the second book.
You can read this review and others on my blog: http://draumrkopablog.wordpress.com/