jlen's review
3.0
Ok, I will start with saying this book took me forever to read. I'm talking weeks, and usually I read books in a day or two. The beginning was slow, with a ton of information and foreign (to me) terms that took a lot of concentration and thinking to muddle through. The characters had double names, and there were so many characters talked about in a short period. Once the group of main characters broke off into their own adventure it was much easier. The story also got much more focused and interesting. However, Hervor was incredibly annoying to me. Her whole person was a huge hypocritical flaw and I was hoping she would die throughout the entire book. Spoiler, she lives. I liked her enemy much more, and find myself hoping he comes back and destroys her. I won't be reading any other books in the series, because Hervor will keep being her annoying self and I have no interest in following her life. However, I will say the book was well written. The details were amazing, I loved how we got different character perspectives, and there were other characters I did like despite their flaws. Hopefully the series gets better, and Hervor redeems herself in some way.
princessleopard's review
3.0
Preface: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
First off, this story was not for me, and it might not be for a lot of readers, purely because of how bleak it is. The novel takes place in a harsh world, with flawed, backstabbing characters who all have a lot of murder and possibly rape in their backstories. There are no heroes, there is no real victory, and death comes quickly and cheaply. Our main characters in particular are dark, bitter people with checkered pasts and likely checkered futures. Hervor in particular is frustrating, because she's always on the cusp of a larger revelation about her revenge, but continually ignores it to focus on her vengeance. There's no redemption or growth, just plodding onward into the mists.
All that being said, I did not want to rate this a purely 3 star book (as I often do for books that are not for me, but are middle-of-the-road in general) because there is some talent at work. The prose can be hackneyed and stumbling, but generally it is competent, even artful at times. The characters are three-dimensional despite their depressing lack of any real goodness or character arcs/growth. They feel like real people - they're just bad ones. The plot is clear, though it takes some weird diversions I could do with out (seal marriage was a weird choice). It is, overall, quite competent - it's just for a type of reader who decidedly isn't me.
I did have a problem besides the doom and gloom, however - this novel is apparently a spin-off of a larger series, and it shows. Starkad, one of our main characters, has a past that is constantly teased, but never fully explored. I thought we would get reveals on why he killed his brother and what happened with his lover (?) at some point, but we never did, and I can only assume these are explained in the series he comes from. This was quite disappointing to me, as there's not any real hint that this is a spin-off in the description, and I feel I shouldn't have to read an entire other series to understand a POV character in this one. Alternatively, the author might be planning on revealing it later in the series, which is also a bad choice, as it makes his motivations and behavior difficult to understand and kinda teases us without any real resolution to our questions. It was a peculiar decision, which is another reason I didn't rate the book more highly.
Overall, there's not much to say. If you like edgy fantasy, or are interested in Viking culture, you might enjoy this. Otherwise, it doesn't have much to offer you.
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First off, this story was not for me, and it might not be for a lot of readers, purely because of how bleak it is. The novel takes place in a harsh world, with flawed, backstabbing characters who all have a lot of murder and possibly rape in their backstories. There are no heroes, there is no real victory, and death comes quickly and cheaply. Our main characters in particular are dark, bitter people with checkered pasts and likely checkered futures. Hervor in particular is frustrating, because she's always on the cusp of a larger revelation about her revenge, but continually ignores it to focus on her vengeance. There's no redemption or growth, just plodding onward into the mists.
All that being said, I did not want to rate this a purely 3 star book (as I often do for books that are not for me, but are middle-of-the-road in general) because there is some talent at work. The prose can be hackneyed and stumbling, but generally it is competent, even artful at times. The characters are three-dimensional despite their depressing lack of any real goodness or character arcs/growth. They feel like real people - they're just bad ones. The plot is clear, though it takes some weird diversions I could do with out (seal marriage was a weird choice). It is, overall, quite competent - it's just for a type of reader who decidedly isn't me.
I did have a problem besides the doom and gloom, however - this novel is apparently a spin-off of a larger series, and it shows. Starkad, one of our main characters, has a past that is constantly teased, but never fully explored. I thought we would get reveals on why he killed his brother and what happened with his lover (?) at some point, but we never did, and I can only assume these are explained in the series he comes from. This was quite disappointing to me, as there's not any real hint that this is a spin-off in the description, and I feel I shouldn't have to read an entire other series to understand a POV character in this one. Alternatively, the author might be planning on revealing it later in the series, which is also a bad choice, as it makes his motivations and behavior difficult to understand and kinda teases us without any real resolution to our questions. It was a peculiar decision, which is another reason I didn't rate the book more highly.
Overall, there's not much to say. If you like edgy fantasy, or are interested in Viking culture, you might enjoy this. Otherwise, it doesn't have much to offer you.
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Delete
alwroteabook's review
5.0
Matt Larkin's been writing his take on Viking mythology for some time now, but this is the first one I've actually read, and it's great. If you like your fantasy dark (it's based on mythology, so you must), this is a treat for you. The characters are likeable in an unlikable way (or is it the other way around?), the humour is suitably bawdy for a Viking tale, and the action is plentiful and nicely done.
Well worth a read, and I'll be hitting the sequel Days of Bloody Thrones in a couple of days.
Well worth a read, and I'll be hitting the sequel Days of Bloody Thrones in a couple of days.
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