A review by rebelbelle13
Blood Eye by Giles Kristian

3.0

I wasn't disappointed by this novel, but I wasn't impressed either. I was expecting a little more character development and Norse culture and a little less of the fighting and skull-bashing, to be honest, but as it stands, my first foray into Viking fiction was okay. Norse mythology is delved into, including the gods- Thor, Odin, Hela, Frigg, Loki, the Valkyrie and others, as well as Valhall (Norse heaven) and Ragnarok (end of days). There's also a helpful glossary and list of names to help you navigate all the players in this first installment of the Raven trilogy. There wasn't a whole lot of character development. Raven goes from being a peaceful blacksmith in an English coastal town to a testosterone filled, war-mongering Norseman in a matter of pages. There's lots of violence here. There's gratuitous battle scenes and descriptions of injuries down to the smells- so if that's a turn off for you, I'd steer clear. The plot consists of battle, travel, battle, conversation, battle, travel, etc. This caused me to lose interest about halfway through, and I really had to convince myself it was a good idea to push through to the end. The book is well written, but I felt it was missing something. There's still questions about Raven's past, so it's possible I'll read the next, but it won't be anytime soon.