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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I don't want to hear about Thor's balls or Frigg's tits ever again
I now have a YouTube channel that I run with my brother, called 'The Brothers Gwynne'. Check it out - The Brothers Gwynne
“It is wiser to stand in front of the bear than to turn his back to him.”
After reading Giles Kristian’s Raven trilogy and then Lancelot and Camelot, I was certain that this would be a 5-star read. I was not disappointed.
God of Vengeance is book one of The Rise of Sigurd, Giles Kristian’s prequel trilogy to Raven. This is the beginning of an epic Viking saga tale about Sigurd, who begins as a young man. A fantastic story that was great to listen to on Audiobook, narrated by the fantastic Philip Stevens.
Sigurd is the younger son of Jarl Harold, an inexperienced warrior who yearns to prove himself to both his father and brothers. But, unbeknown to him, he will receive more opportunities to become a warrior than even he would like. This is a tale of a pursuit of vengeance, where Sigurd with a small band of allies fights to survive, with the goal to one day get revenge on King Gorm, the Oathbreaker, who betrayed and killed Sigurd’s father and brothers.
“As with all the stories, there's always smoke before the fire kindles.”
As always, Giles Kristian’s prose shines through in the narration by Philip Stevens. I would say that the pacing of this story was perfect, with the fantastic blend of characterisation, action and intrigue for my tastes. This is somehow made even better by the fantastic reading by Philip Stevens, who has a voice that completely immerses you into Kristian’s gritty, authentic, dangerous world.
One of the strongest aspects of God of Vengeance is the characters. From Sigurd himself, to the bloodthirsty priest Asgot, to the steadfast Olaf and the frenzied Black Floki. In this, Kristian again forms a band of warriors, each with their own distinguishable characteristics that makes them all unique. He forms the tone and atmosphere of such a band brilliantly, showing the tensions between each other but equally the camaraderie they forge through the blood of their enemies.
Part of what creates such an immersive experience is how Giles Kristian makes sure to omit modern sayings, and instead adopts seemingly authentic Norse figures of speech. Combined with the historical detail, this immersed me into the beginning of this tale of the rise of Sigurd.
“Even the old hounds can bite.”
Overall, God of Vengeance is a great first instalment in The Rise of Sigurd trilogy. The plot, prose, narration and everything else blend together to craft a fantastic experience. Whilst The Rise of Sigurd is a prequel to the Raven series, you can begin with this.
5/5 STARS
“It is wiser to stand in front of the bear than to turn his back to him.”
After reading Giles Kristian’s Raven trilogy and then Lancelot and Camelot, I was certain that this would be a 5-star read. I was not disappointed.
God of Vengeance is book one of The Rise of Sigurd, Giles Kristian’s prequel trilogy to Raven. This is the beginning of an epic Viking saga tale about Sigurd, who begins as a young man. A fantastic story that was great to listen to on Audiobook, narrated by the fantastic Philip Stevens.
Sigurd is the younger son of Jarl Harold, an inexperienced warrior who yearns to prove himself to both his father and brothers. But, unbeknown to him, he will receive more opportunities to become a warrior than even he would like. This is a tale of a pursuit of vengeance, where Sigurd with a small band of allies fights to survive, with the goal to one day get revenge on King Gorm, the Oathbreaker, who betrayed and killed Sigurd’s father and brothers.
“As with all the stories, there's always smoke before the fire kindles.”
As always, Giles Kristian’s prose shines through in the narration by Philip Stevens. I would say that the pacing of this story was perfect, with the fantastic blend of characterisation, action and intrigue for my tastes. This is somehow made even better by the fantastic reading by Philip Stevens, who has a voice that completely immerses you into Kristian’s gritty, authentic, dangerous world.
One of the strongest aspects of God of Vengeance is the characters. From Sigurd himself, to the bloodthirsty priest Asgot, to the steadfast Olaf and the frenzied Black Floki. In this, Kristian again forms a band of warriors, each with their own distinguishable characteristics that makes them all unique. He forms the tone and atmosphere of such a band brilliantly, showing the tensions between each other but equally the camaraderie they forge through the blood of their enemies.
Part of what creates such an immersive experience is how Giles Kristian makes sure to omit modern sayings, and instead adopts seemingly authentic Norse figures of speech. Combined with the historical detail, this immersed me into the beginning of this tale of the rise of Sigurd.
“Even the old hounds can bite.”
Overall, God of Vengeance is a great first instalment in The Rise of Sigurd trilogy. The plot, prose, narration and everything else blend together to craft a fantastic experience. Whilst The Rise of Sigurd is a prequel to the Raven series, you can begin with this.
5/5 STARS
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I'll review the series when I finish it. Onto book 2, [bc:Winter's Fire|23128332|Winter's Fire (The Rise of Sigurd, #2)|Giles Kristian|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1460666376s/23128332.jpg|50297150] [b:Winter's Fire|23128332|Winter's Fire (The Rise of Sigurd, #2)|Giles Kristian|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1460666376s/23128332.jpg|50297150].
This is quite a simple Viking-style story. I like the swiftness of the story, and some facts of Scandinavian culture of that time. On the other hand, the amount of these interesting facts was quite low, much less educative than many other Viking books. And the story felt very unchallenging. Things just happen around the main character. Somehow he keeps getting to the right places and meeting the right people. And all these right people appear to be the best fighters around, and for some reason they want to join the main character, an inexperienced and unknown youth. That kept feeling fake.
I remember reading, quite a few years back, all 3 of [a:Giles Kristian|2776821|Giles Kristian|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1519755456p2/2776821.jpg] 'Raven' series of Viking novels.
I remember thinking that, while they were OK, that I wasn't overly enamoured of his style of writing, or of the books in general.
As a result, I never picked up his 'Burning Land' (English Civil War period) series, nor did I ever really go looking for any other wroks by the same author.
However, when I saw this novel on sale for something like 99p on Amazon, I thought I might as well pick it up and see if, as tastes change over years, that I felt any different about this series (at the time, completely unaware that this was prequel of sorts) than about the Raven series.
And, I have to say, I do feel differently than before.
Unfortunately, however, I found this particular novel to be a bit of a chore to wade my way through.
It's not that there's not the outline of a good plot here - tales of revenge often act as the impetus for such books - just that I found this be rather slow moving, and could never really immerse myself in the period or bring myself to care all that much about the characters, their motivations, or about any of the incidents that occur to them.
I'm sorry to say, but I think for my Viking fix I'll be sticking with [a:Bernard Cornwell|12542|Bernard Cornwell|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1504578807p2/12542.jpg]'s 'Saxon Stories' (that start with [b:The Last Kingdom|68527|The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Stories, #1)|Bernard Cornwell|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1407107780s/68527.jpg|881821] in future.
Sorry Mr Kristian!
I remember thinking that, while they were OK, that I wasn't overly enamoured of his style of writing, or of the books in general.
As a result, I never picked up his 'Burning Land' (English Civil War period) series, nor did I ever really go looking for any other wroks by the same author.
However, when I saw this novel on sale for something like 99p on Amazon, I thought I might as well pick it up and see if, as tastes change over years, that I felt any different about this series (at the time, completely unaware that this was prequel of sorts) than about the Raven series.
And, I have to say, I do feel differently than before.
Unfortunately, however, I found this particular novel to be a bit of a chore to wade my way through.
It's not that there's not the outline of a good plot here - tales of revenge often act as the impetus for such books - just that I found this be rather slow moving, and could never really immerse myself in the period or bring myself to care all that much about the characters, their motivations, or about any of the incidents that occur to them.
I'm sorry to say, but I think for my Viking fix I'll be sticking with [a:Bernard Cornwell|12542|Bernard Cornwell|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1504578807p2/12542.jpg]'s 'Saxon Stories' (that start with [b:The Last Kingdom|68527|The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Stories, #1)|Bernard Cornwell|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1407107780s/68527.jpg|881821] in future.
Sorry Mr Kristian!
✨"Destiny is All"✨ is all I could hear as I read this. IYKYK.
The way this started gave me chills. Those 1st couple of chapters were so atmospheric I couldn't sleep until the whole betrayal scene cut. I think Giles Kristian is one of my favorite authors because bestie knows how to manipulate my mental imagery. My room became snowy, cold Norway in 785, and my friend's family was about to go through shit. I had a coat and boots and everything, and I was laughing and then crying with Sigurd.
I didn't expect to feel much in the duration of this book, but the balance of fleeing, handling emotions, and carrying out revenge was kind of perfect. The amount of vulnerability that Sigurd had to be brave enough to show especially when he ‘sacrificed’ himself to meet Odin! It wasn't a light book because heavy things happened. But it was a light book in tone, which is exactly my taste.
The characters were my favorite part.
The way this started gave me chills. Those 1st couple of chapters were so atmospheric I couldn't sleep until the whole betrayal scene cut. I think Giles Kristian is one of my favorite authors because bestie knows how to manipulate my mental imagery. My room became snowy, cold Norway in 785, and my friend's family was about to go through shit. I had a coat and boots and everything, and I was laughing and then crying with Sigurd.
I didn't expect to feel much in the duration of this book, but the balance of fleeing, handling emotions, and carrying out revenge was kind of perfect. The amount of vulnerability that Sigurd had to be brave enough to show especially when he ‘sacrificed’ himself to meet Odin! It wasn't a light book because heavy things happened. But it was a light book in tone, which is exactly my taste.
The characters were my favorite part.