Reviews

God's Hammer by Eric Schumacher

rowena_m_andrews's review against another edition

2.0

This one borders on falling into the trap where it leans a little too heavily into the research and detail – which can be a good thing, when well-balanced with the narrative. In this case, it fell just on the right side, perhaps because some liberties were taken with the history and there was an attempt to develop at least the main character. However, overall this one fell flat, never quite reaching its potential across the board, and in some ways it felt as though the author was trying to do a little too much all at once through the character, and therefore not achieving it which is unfortunate because this did have promise and the writing had more of a punch to it, that also helped keep the narrative moving.

elysianfield's review

3.0

3,5 stars

When Hakon was a child he was sent to England into King Athelstan’s court where he was raised as a Christian. When his father Harald Fairhair dies, Hakon is sent back to home to capture the throne from his bloodthirsty brother Eric Bloodaxe. Being a Christian amidst the pagans, he was viewed with suspicion. He was horrified by the Viking practice of human sacrifice but knew he needed allies if he wanted the crown so he couldn't protest too much.

There were battles, blood and action and the story moved quickly. At first, Hakon was young, naïve, arrogant and lost among the Vikings after living so long away. He needs to learn how to be a Viking again to get support. At times I got the feeling he would have wanted to stay in England.

It was very enjoyable to read and I can’t wait to learn how he manages to hold on to the crown.