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codyfrizzell's review
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
mdpenguin's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I did not expect to like this and was not going to read it, but it came in a bundle that I bought and I decided to randomize a list of all of the unread books that I already own and this one came up on top. It turned out to be really good! Like any collection, some stories were better than others but none of them were bad. I wasn't a huge fan of the few prose poems, but they were short and still kind of interesting. The rest of the stories mostly have a structure and cadence that they feel like campfire tales and a lot of them had some pretty clever things in them. Overall, it's a really good collection of horror stories.
bjswann's review
5.0
The best viking tales since the age of Snorri Sturluson!
As the title implies, the Raven’s Table offers a selection of grisly but nonetheless delectable tales set during the viking era, many of which feature a twist of supernatural horror. Some of my personal favorites include ‘The Barrow Maid,’ a bloody tale of viking undead; ‘Nails of the Dead,’ a deliciously creepy addition to the Norse underworld mythos; ‘At Ragnarok, the Goddesses,’ a skald-worthy poem that finally tells us what the Norse goddesses will do at the end of the world; and ‘With Honey Dripping,’ a fulsomely erotic tale that blends medieval backwoods debauchery with elements of the Cthulhu Mythos. Every story brims with evocative period detail, showing that Morgan clearly knows her stuff when it comes to the history, literature, and culture of the peoples we call the vikings. Morgan’s riffs on Norse Myth feel organic, and each of her stories really captures the atmosphere of a Norse myth or an Icelandic saga, whilst also boasting sleek modern prose and contemporary storytelling techniques (for an example of prose brilliance take a look at the opening passages of ‘The Fate-Spinners’). The result is a seamless and exquisite blend that combines many of the best aspects of modern horror and ancient Scandinavian literature. For those of us obsessed with both horror and mythology, it doesn’t get much better than this!
As the title implies, the Raven’s Table offers a selection of grisly but nonetheless delectable tales set during the viking era, many of which feature a twist of supernatural horror. Some of my personal favorites include ‘The Barrow Maid,’ a bloody tale of viking undead; ‘Nails of the Dead,’ a deliciously creepy addition to the Norse underworld mythos; ‘At Ragnarok, the Goddesses,’ a skald-worthy poem that finally tells us what the Norse goddesses will do at the end of the world; and ‘With Honey Dripping,’ a fulsomely erotic tale that blends medieval backwoods debauchery with elements of the Cthulhu Mythos. Every story brims with evocative period detail, showing that Morgan clearly knows her stuff when it comes to the history, literature, and culture of the peoples we call the vikings. Morgan’s riffs on Norse Myth feel organic, and each of her stories really captures the atmosphere of a Norse myth or an Icelandic saga, whilst also boasting sleek modern prose and contemporary storytelling techniques (for an example of prose brilliance take a look at the opening passages of ‘The Fate-Spinners’). The result is a seamless and exquisite blend that combines many of the best aspects of modern horror and ancient Scandinavian literature. For those of us obsessed with both horror and mythology, it doesn’t get much better than this!
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