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A review by tomunro
The Blood-Tainted Winter by T.L. Greylock
4.0
As a child I was captivated by John Borman's magnificent "Excalibur" and particularly the score that drew heavily on Wagner's Ring Cycle. Fortunately my room was at the back of the house so the endless replaying of Gotterdamerung late into the night did not disturb too many people.
But that long ago musical crescendo heralding the twilight of the Norse gods came back to me as Taya Greylock's first volume drew to its conclusion.
Raef Skallagrim's story is set in an explicitly viking milieu, though the world map of Midgard owes little to terrestrial, still less scandinavian geography (beyond perhaps the existence of fjords). The gods though, are as Norse as they come. The warriors with their axes, their arm rings of gold and silver, and their determination to gain entry to Valhalla by dying with a sword in their hand, will be comfortingly familiar to many readers rehearsed in myth and history.
Greylock departs from convention in giving warrior roles to female vikings - not just the Valkyrie - but a company of formidable shield-maidens join Raef as he tries to navigate the turmoil that follows in the wake of the old king's death. Siv and Eira are not bit players but stand shoulder to shoulder in the shield wall with Raef and his enigmatic friend Vakre. Greylock, publishing in 2015, was perhaps prescient in anticipating the recent (2017) DNA analysis of the Birka warrior that recast the occupant of the sumptuous viking burial site as a woman. (https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/09/viking-warrior-woman-archaeology-spd/ )
Raef Skallagrim's ambition to sail overseas in search of wealth and adventure is diverted by the political crisis at home, yet still he ends up on a land-based odyssey. His travails take him through the a variety of domains where - at times - even the earth shifts as abruptly as the allegiances of the rival war lords each striving to pin their fortunes to the wining side in a three cornered struggle for the crown.
To help the reader navigate their way through the political and geographical maze there is a helpful map at the beginning of the book and a cast of characters (many listed under uncertain loyalties) at the end - though to be fair I missed the map and managed without the cast list.
Grelock's writing style is an easy read that swept me along at a comfortable pace. It is in essence a road-movie - so much so that at one point Raef even wonders if he is cut out for the staid life of a warlord heir to Vannheim. Along the way, battles are fought, blood is spilt, friends who were enemies fall as do enemies who were friends. The combat descriptions are visceral, conjuring up the frenetic pace of hand to hand combat, though I was surprised on a couple of occasions at how easy it apparently was to sneak into a viking encampment.
In some ways The Blood Tainted Winter reminded me of Joe Abercrombie's Shattered Sea trilogy with its love of raiding, of blood lust and of heroic kings who fought face to face in the frontline of their warriors. It also had something of Mark Lawrence's Prince of Fool's and The Liar's Key about it, where Snorri the viking journeyed for revenge, where Loki played with the lives of men, and strange magic ensnared its protagonists. In the enduring treachery and political infighting it had a touch of Game of Thrones - as Raef is swept up in his own war of the three kings.
Greylock takes the norse tradition in some new (to me at least) directions with the notion of Half-Gods, men (and perhaps women?) sired by gods and granted powers beyind those of normal mortals. I am curious to see what threads will be picked up in future books. I would know more of the past of the fiercely enigmatic Eira, or the future of the stubbornly independent Cilla, or the present of Siv, peace-keeper, wise-counsel. But then - that's me, it's the bad-ass female characters that always inspire my curiosity more even than the fey Vakre, or the stubbornly resilient Raef.
But that long ago musical crescendo heralding the twilight of the Norse gods came back to me as Taya Greylock's first volume drew to its conclusion.
Raef Skallagrim's story is set in an explicitly viking milieu, though the world map of Midgard owes little to terrestrial, still less scandinavian geography (beyond perhaps the existence of fjords). The gods though, are as Norse as they come. The warriors with their axes, their arm rings of gold and silver, and their determination to gain entry to Valhalla by dying with a sword in their hand, will be comfortingly familiar to many readers rehearsed in myth and history.
Greylock departs from convention in giving warrior roles to female vikings - not just the Valkyrie - but a company of formidable shield-maidens join Raef as he tries to navigate the turmoil that follows in the wake of the old king's death. Siv and Eira are not bit players but stand shoulder to shoulder in the shield wall with Raef and his enigmatic friend Vakre. Greylock, publishing in 2015, was perhaps prescient in anticipating the recent (2017) DNA analysis of the Birka warrior that recast the occupant of the sumptuous viking burial site as a woman. (https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/09/viking-warrior-woman-archaeology-spd/ )
Raef Skallagrim's ambition to sail overseas in search of wealth and adventure is diverted by the political crisis at home, yet still he ends up on a land-based odyssey. His travails take him through the a variety of domains where - at times - even the earth shifts as abruptly as the allegiances of the rival war lords each striving to pin their fortunes to the wining side in a three cornered struggle for the crown.
To help the reader navigate their way through the political and geographical maze there is a helpful map at the beginning of the book and a cast of characters (many listed under uncertain loyalties) at the end - though to be fair I missed the map and managed without the cast list.
Grelock's writing style is an easy read that swept me along at a comfortable pace. It is in essence a road-movie - so much so that at one point Raef even wonders if he is cut out for the staid life of a warlord heir to Vannheim. Along the way, battles are fought, blood is spilt, friends who were enemies fall as do enemies who were friends. The combat descriptions are visceral, conjuring up the frenetic pace of hand to hand combat, though I was surprised on a couple of occasions at how easy it apparently was to sneak into a viking encampment.
In some ways The Blood Tainted Winter reminded me of Joe Abercrombie's Shattered Sea trilogy with its love of raiding, of blood lust and of heroic kings who fought face to face in the frontline of their warriors. It also had something of Mark Lawrence's Prince of Fool's and The Liar's Key about it, where Snorri the viking journeyed for revenge, where Loki played with the lives of men, and strange magic ensnared its protagonists. In the enduring treachery and political infighting it had a touch of Game of Thrones - as Raef is swept up in his own war of the three kings.
Greylock takes the norse tradition in some new (to me at least) directions with the notion of Half-Gods, men (and perhaps women?) sired by gods and granted powers beyind those of normal mortals. I am curious to see what threads will be picked up in future books. I would know more of the past of the fiercely enigmatic Eira, or the future of the stubbornly independent Cilla, or the present of Siv, peace-keeper, wise-counsel. But then - that's me, it's the bad-ass female characters that always inspire my curiosity more even than the fey Vakre, or the stubbornly resilient Raef.