ksmarsden 's review for:

A Gathering of Ravens by Scott Oden
2.0

When a Christian stumbles into Grimnir's lair, the orc and the innocent become two unlikely companions, in a story of revenge and faith.

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

When two Christians seek shelter in a cave during a mission to a monastery, Njall and "Aidan" don't realise they are trespassing in the home of a monster. Grimnir is quickly established as something brutal and eternal, a danger from a long-passed time.
(On a side note: "Aidan" had to leave his home, and that Njall had warned him not to fall for any of the monks at the monastery. I was really impressed that one of our central characters was going to be gay, in what was already a heavily religion-driven story, two pages in.
Cue disappointment, when "Aidan" is actually revealed to be Etain, a woman disguising herself as a man to travel more safely.)

After an agreed night of peace between them, Grimnir decides to take Etain as his guide, as she comes from Britain and can help him track down his nemesis, the Half-Dane...

Ok, so first of all, Grimnir is an absolute bastard. He's happy to kill anyone, even those who seek to help him. He's brutal and stubborn; he's derogatory about everyone and everything.
But you know what, I liked him as our anti-hero-mass-murdering-villain. He stuck to his principles throughout the book, and never lightened up. That's great, and hard to come by in a lot of books.

Etain on the other hand, I just wished someone would kill her off. She's a very devout Christian, and throughout the book, both her offence and defence against barbarians, spirits of vengeance, etc, is to pray and trust that God will deliver her. Seriously? Praying didn't do any of the other background cast any help?
I just couldn't believe the woman's backstory,
Where she has the gumption to get out of a bad marriage and stop men using her, by betraying her city to the invading Danes.

and then she just proves useless for the rest of the book.
I don't even know why Grimnir needed her at all. He's been around for centuries, and he thinks he needs this ninny, because he hasn't been to England for a few years? Especially when they use that special road and sodding 15 years pass! So she doesn't know anything current, anyway.

To be honest, I quite liked that magic road and other little bits, where it felt like Oden was weaving the Old World and the new. Those were well done, and felt real and ancient, and fading. BUT, it didn't always help the plot.

There's a major emphasis on religion, on how the old world, with its spirits and gods; was fading away to be replaced with Christianity.
On the one hand, I really liked that this book is very neutral. It accepts all religions, and treats them as real, tangible things. You have Odin, and the Nailed God, and various others; and none are portrayed as better than the others - they're only made more powerful by the faith of their worshippers. So, as people opt to worship the Nailed God, the rest will inevitably fade.
On the other hand, I don't like it when religion is shoved down your throat. It is on every single page of this book. Enough already.

Anyways, overall I was BORED.
It should have been awesome, an historical take on the British Isles; orcs with vengeance; and an impending war.
The first half of the book, I really had to force myself to read. We follow Grimnir as he traipses around Britain, dragging the useless Etain with him. He gripes, he kills, he gripes some more. She whines. Ugh.
It was only in the second half, when the Half-Dane and his Dubhlinn Witch come into play that things finally got interesting. Finally, there were betrayals and political drama. There was more than mindless killing, and mindless companions.

The second half scored the two stars, you just have to get through the first half to get there.