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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Beautiful writing, historical set-pieces, and a complex, powerful heroine - Hild is right up my alley in terms of subject matter and content. Nicola Griffith imagines the world of St. Hilda prior to her canonization in the Catholic Church; she spends her time artfully filling in the void (Hilda's childhood, youth, early womanhood) that was left in the Venerable Bede's history with breathtaking imagery and painstaking attention to detail. And what a character she creates. Following Hild from a young age, Griffith pulls back the curtain on the possibilities of what life at court may have looked like in ancient England (prior to the Norman conquest). Following her father's murder, Hild is vaulted into the dangerous position of the King's seer by her brilliant, plotting mother, Breguswith, at a young age. While she works to fulfill her prophecy as "the light of the world," Hild knows that her life constantly hangs in a delicate balance of royal politics, timing, and temperament. She negotiates her uncle Edwin's whims using deft strategizing - through Griffith, Hild is imagined less as a mystic and more as a practical, observant, wickedly sharp young woman who knows how to tell a mercurial king what he wants to hear. Hild also must navigate the gender and sexual politics of her age, and does so by completely standing apart - she's physically taller than most men; practices hand-to-hand combat; and chosen to act as "the King's fist" in times of trial. In many ways, Griffith writes Hild as a gender-fluid character who defied most conventions of her time through her sheer will and intelligence. When Christianity comes to court (via Edwin's converted wife Aethelburh of Kent), Hild's world shifts again - now she must contend not only with her king's fears and desires, but with the politics of a new, upstart church that views her role as blasphemy. Griffith does a masterful job of giving St. Hilda of Whitby (patron of learning, culture, and poetry; converter of the Angles and Saxons) a real history and past as an exceptional young woman surviving in extraordinary ways during a most uncertain time. The world needs more heroines as well written as Griffith's Hild.
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I started Hild with no idea of what I was getting myself in to and I'm very grateful for that. The vast world building that has turned off so many readers was fascinating to me. Hild is an incredible character and I greatly enjoyed getting to know her and watching her grow. I got a thrill every time she put together the puzzle pieces, it reminded me of Sherlock Holmes a bit in that way. Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Reading this made me feel immersed in an earth 7th century England. I could imagine the warmth of the sun, the birds, and the voices of people around me. There was no character that I didn't care about, whose fate I didn't ponder and worry over. I could imagine how a 7th century person (or at least a noble person of remarkable intellect and perception, which is after all a fairly reasonable stand in for a 21st century reader of the novel) might understand death, and birth, sex, their own privilege, work, religion and trade, and whims of kings. This novel must represent some kind of real past-- perhaps not our own, but one close enough to our own that its future unfolded to a world right next to ours. I am looking forward to reading the next book and learning more details of that history.
This was an excellent historical novel set in an under-represented time period, 7th century Britain. Griffith has taken the tiny bit of known information about Saint Hilda of Whitby and created a detailed life of an extraordinary individual in extraordinary times. Hild is a child when, trained and educated by her mother, she becomes Seer for Edwin of Northumbria, and begins walking the dangerous tightrope of politics, treachery, power and war.
I found the story and characters fascinating throughout, and the psychology of this young girl trained to watch and read people and events so clearly as to appear magical was especially enthralling.
My only reservations with the story came from reading a e-galley instead of the book itself. I kept getting lost, literally wondering just where the heck the story was and really wishing I had a map. There is one in the book. Problem solved. I also had trouble keeping some of the familial relationships straight. There is a family tree in the books. Problem 2 solved. And then at the conclusion of the book I was still trying to place this young Hild the Seer with Saint Hilda of Whitby and wondering how one became the other. The author's note at the end explains what little is known of Hilda (not much), and how the author created her character and let her loose in the time and place and we'll see together how Hild and her culture transform. I'm looking forward to the next volume.
I found the story and characters fascinating throughout, and the psychology of this young girl trained to watch and read people and events so clearly as to appear magical was especially enthralling.
My only reservations with the story came from reading a e-galley instead of the book itself. I kept getting lost, literally wondering just where the heck the story was and really wishing I had a map. There is one in the book. Problem solved. I also had trouble keeping some of the familial relationships straight. There is a family tree in the books. Problem 2 solved. And then at the conclusion of the book I was still trying to place this young Hild the Seer with Saint Hilda of Whitby and wondering how one became the other. The author's note at the end explains what little is known of Hilda (not much), and how the author created her character and let her loose in the time and place and we'll see together how Hild and her culture transform. I'm looking forward to the next volume.
Dense, rich, lucious...think I'm describing a fruitcake? Nope, I'm describing Hild, the new novel by Thriller/Science Fiction writer Nicola Griffith.
Hild is historical fiction. Extremely well-researched, transport-you-to-that-place-and-time historical fiction about the medieval figure St. Hild of Whitby.
But that's really not an apt description of the book. Really it's a ode to the complicated loyalties to lord, king, family, and self required by life in 7th Century Britain.
Hild is the daughter of a king who's been poisoned--and thus her position is precarious with the new over-king until her mother sets her up as a seer. Hild has been taught by her mother, and her own good instincts, to read omens in the flights of birds according to the old ways of Woden and Thunor. But is her ability to read the political currents enough to let her survive in Edwin King's court when the new Christian priests are angling for power? Or treachery among the underkings threatens her childhood friend Cian? Or when warriors go after her slave/bodywoman Gwladus?
This is a book one savors slowly, picking up every drop of information about how Hild and her people dressed, ate for breakfast, treated slaves, and thought of the Christian god as just another johnny-come-lately. Hild's naive cleverness will win you over, and as she grows further into her role as Edwin-King's advisor and exerts her own power, you can't help but cheer for her.
There is a family tree at the beginning of the book, and a glossary of terms at the end. I found myself flipping to the glossary frequently as the text is loaded with terms from that time ("aethelings" and "pollarded" etc).
I found myself comparing this book with Ruth Nestvold's Tristan and Isolde retelling, Yseult, where the theme of Christian encroachment on traditional gods is also visited. Yseult is also extremely dense and chock full of kings and warriors and battles and politics. But where Yseult often feels a bit TOO full of names to remember, the strong presence of Hild herself in this book carries you through all the bewildering clans and names.
If you're at all interested in medieval Britain, pick up this book today. It's terrific.
This Book's Snack Rating: A rich, Christmas fruitcake you nibble in small bites to fully savor the historical details, complicated political environment, and mesmerizing characterization of Hild herself.
Hild is historical fiction. Extremely well-researched, transport-you-to-that-place-and-time historical fiction about the medieval figure St. Hild of Whitby.
But that's really not an apt description of the book. Really it's a ode to the complicated loyalties to lord, king, family, and self required by life in 7th Century Britain.
Hild is the daughter of a king who's been poisoned--and thus her position is precarious with the new over-king until her mother sets her up as a seer. Hild has been taught by her mother, and her own good instincts, to read omens in the flights of birds according to the old ways of Woden and Thunor. But is her ability to read the political currents enough to let her survive in Edwin King's court when the new Christian priests are angling for power? Or treachery among the underkings threatens her childhood friend Cian? Or when warriors go after her slave/bodywoman Gwladus?
This is a book one savors slowly, picking up every drop of information about how Hild and her people dressed, ate for breakfast, treated slaves, and thought of the Christian god as just another johnny-come-lately. Hild's naive cleverness will win you over, and as she grows further into her role as Edwin-King's advisor and exerts her own power, you can't help but cheer for her.
There is a family tree at the beginning of the book, and a glossary of terms at the end. I found myself flipping to the glossary frequently as the text is loaded with terms from that time ("aethelings" and "pollarded" etc).
I found myself comparing this book with Ruth Nestvold's Tristan and Isolde retelling, Yseult, where the theme of Christian encroachment on traditional gods is also visited. Yseult is also extremely dense and chock full of kings and warriors and battles and politics. But where Yseult often feels a bit TOO full of names to remember, the strong presence of Hild herself in this book carries you through all the bewildering clans and names.
If you're at all interested in medieval Britain, pick up this book today. It's terrific.
This Book's Snack Rating: A rich, Christmas fruitcake you nibble in small bites to fully savor the historical details, complicated political environment, and mesmerizing characterization of Hild herself.