A review by bairdy1985
Thor's Revenge by Donovan Cook

5.0

We are back with Charles and Sven the Boar..

Sven returns home after a fierce battle.. you’d think surviving a battle is something to celebrate but not this time… many many many men died and Denmark no longer has a King… this has left bands of disbanded and leaderless warriors ransacking Denmark…

And that’s only part of Sven’s trouble… he learned that his grandson Charles has been taken..Charles is Sven’s redemption in life so his loss breaks the man but at least this time he has people around him to try and knock some sense into him.

His anger soon returns when Abbess Hildegard arrives and pushes him a little too far… there’s a blast from the past that I’ll not spoil but by god I felt the fury pouring of Sven… Abbess Hildegard who we learn is Charles mother so we finally get to learn more about why Charles has been brought up to believe she was dead…I could only imagine how this felt for Charles as he learns the truth about himself.. who he really is.

I really enjoyed that we also learned more about the cross that Charles has been carrying ever since his father’s murder.. Charlemagne’s Cross… of which, if the stories are believed has the power to reunite Francia..

What really makes this instalment shine is the character development, not only do we meet and get to know new characters we see some established characters grow, Thora, Rollo and Sven all have a greater depth added to them while they deal with the aftermath of the battle and Charles kidnap.

Charles’ himself has some very big things to deal with.. being kidnapped… the deaths that have occurred to keep him safe.. it becomes his internal struggle and we see his faith in god shaken…

Plot wise… oh wow… it develops at a fast pace but nothing is really rushed or forced…but by god there’s a lot crammed in and credit to the author that it’s been done in such a well balanced way allowing the reader to keep up the events…and the ending!!! Oh my.. I need more!!

The Charlemagne’s Cross series has quick become a firm favourite!