Here is a polished, gritty and fun to read fantasy series based loosely on Vikings involved in a completely new mythology. This is the first of a series, and it caught me off guard by starting in a normal way and then gradually bleeding in the fantasy.
The world-building is excellent, the characters easy to like (although the bad guys are a little too easy to hate), and it spends a lot of time describing the nuts and bolts of armor, weapons, shield walls, and seaxes.
The writer does a great job of moving the plot forward with each chapter, with mini-cliffhangers in just the right place to prevent you from wanting to take a break.
While the world and folklore is quite complex some of the characters are on the simple side, but I have a feeling that once the groundwork of this book has been completed we’ll get more into the background (and motivations) of the characters.
This was so well planned and thought-out that I can easily imagine it be optioned into a mini-series in the future. I was glad to read it, and I’m looking forward to reading the next one once it shows up in the library.
Next I’m reading A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw.
