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A review by kiwi_fruit
The Whale Road by Robert Low
2.0
The book is set around 965AD and tells a tale of a band of Viking men on a quest to find the legendary treasure of the Volsungs then buried in Attila’s howe (buried tomb).
The plot has some early hard to believe events (for instance I think unlikely that villagers would think of “stringing up” the corpse of an arsonist when the town (Birka) is ablaze). Nonetheless, the storyline improves and becomes full of action; there are plenty of fights blow-by-blow accounts if you like that kind of thing. In that respect, I see the appeal to the action and adventure audience.
As a work of historical fiction, there are many references to Norse and Slavic sagas that would be recognisable only to readers already familiar with such mythology and folklore tales. Norse legends are also mixed with early Christian folklore (metal from the spear that the Romans used to pierce the Christ is also used to forge a rune-inscribed sword previously belonging to Sirgud).
Personally I found refreshing the setting of the hero travels through central Russia, meeting the steppe tribes rather than following the traditional Anglo-Saxon-theme. However, I was not totally convinced by the story nor could engage with the characters and found the finale disappointing. By the end, Orm’s adventure resembles too much of one of Indiana Jones episodes.
The plot has some early hard to believe events (for instance I think unlikely that villagers would think of “stringing up” the corpse of an arsonist when the town (Birka) is ablaze). Nonetheless, the storyline improves and becomes full of action; there are plenty of fights blow-by-blow accounts if you like that kind of thing. In that respect, I see the appeal to the action and adventure audience.
As a work of historical fiction, there are many references to Norse and Slavic sagas that would be recognisable only to readers already familiar with such mythology and folklore tales. Norse legends are also mixed with early Christian folklore (metal from the spear that the Romans used to pierce the Christ is also used to forge a rune-inscribed sword previously belonging to Sirgud).
Personally I found refreshing the setting of the hero travels through central Russia, meeting the steppe tribes rather than following the traditional Anglo-Saxon-theme. However, I was not totally convinced by the story nor could engage with the characters and found the finale disappointing. By the end, Orm’s adventure resembles too much of one of Indiana Jones episodes.