Tag: HF Reading Challenge

Book Review – Eye of the Raven by Tim Hodkinson @AriesFiction

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About the Book

Book cover of Eye of the Raven by Tim Hodkinson

For the first time, Einar and the Wolf Coats find themselves divided, on opposing sides in a time of the Wolf Coats in Ireland, and Einar in the Saxon domains of England.

Einar leads a warband for King Aethelstan, but struggles to find acceptance as a Norseman in Saxon lands. Can he truly make common cause with the wily king of the English, if that means Vikings like himself are now his enemies? The rewards of alliance with Aethelstan could be all he desires… or a brutal death.

But other threats loom from the north and west. With war brewing and a great battle on the horizon, can Einar and his comrades reunite in time – or will a clash for the ages make their split a permanent one?

Format: Paperback (384 pages) Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication date: 7th November 2024 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

Eye of the Raven is the seventh book in The Whale Road Chronicles featuring Icelandic warrior, Einar Unnsson. (The ‘whale-road’ is a very old poetic term for the sea.) It would be possible to enjoy Eye of the Raven as a standalone but you’d be missing out on the previous history of the various characters. Having said that, I’ve only read one other book in the series, The Serpent King and enjoyed it without having read the three that preceded it.

It’s 937 AD and the country we now know as Britain is an amorphous entity made up of multiple fiefdoms ruled by self-styled kings or jarls (Norse or Danish chieftans) who have little love for one another. Treaties are made, and frequently broken. At this time, the majority of central and southern England is controlled by the Anglo-Saxon king, Aethelstan of Wessex, the grandson of Alfred the Great. A devout Christian, he is determined to bring all of England under his control and combat the threat from the Scots, the Welsh and whoever else fancies a piece of his kingdom.

From being a member of the band of warriors known as the Wolf Coats, Einar has become their sworn enemy as a result of his actions at the end of the last book. The Wolf Coats’ leader, Ulrich, has vowed to kill him for what he perceives as his betrayal of the oath Einar swore. And there’s one particular member of the Wolf Coats who is keen to see Einar dead for their own very personal reasons.

There’s a thread that runs through the book, that of identity. For example, in order to be accepted by the Anglo-Saxons, Einar has adopted the garb of a Saxon, shaved off his beard and been forced – outwardly at least – to abandon his Norse religious beliefs in favour of Christian teachings. Cultural identity is often blurred: some of those on opposing sides may share a common cultural ancestry, whilst some on the same side may speak different languages and worship different gods. In some cases it’s possible to be too Saxon to inspire loyalty, in others not Saxon enough.

The action comes thick and fast with the battle scenes described in visceral detail. ‘The air was thick with the acrid scent of sweat and fear, the metallic tang of blood, and the stench of opened guts and emptied bowels.‘ I liked the fact that although we get the cut and thrust of battle, we also get to see the preparation for conflict that individuals go through, from the practical to the emotional. And we get a sense of just what it takes to face an enemy where the chances are you’ll end up dead or maimed. Not to mention the psychological toll of so much killing.

The climax of the book is the Battle of Brunanburh, a truly bloody affair. (In fact, it’s often cited as one of the bloodiest battles ever held on British soil.) The run-up to the battle is a game of bluff and double-bluff, and it’s here we see that Aethelstan is the master of that game, always a few steps ahead of everyone else. A bit of luck helps as well.

‘The slaughter, the sorrow, the cowardice, the shame, the cruelty, the bravery, the deeds of great renown. All is beheld in the eye of the raven.’ Eye of the Raven will appeal to those who like their historical fiction fast-paced and with plenty of full-on action.

I received a review copy courtesy of Head of Zeus via NetGalley.

In three words: Authentic, action-packed, gripping
Try something similar: For Lord & Land by Matthew Harffy

About the Author

Author Tim Hodkinson

Tim Hodkinson grew up in Northern Ireland where the rugged coast and call of the Atlantic ocean led to a lifelong fascination with Vikings and a degree in Medieval English and Old Norse Literature. Tim’s more recent writing heroes include Ben Kane, Giles Kristian, Bernard Cornwell, George R.R. Martin and Lee Child. After several years in the USA, Tim returned to Northern Ireland, where he lives with his wife and children. (Photo: Amazon author page)

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Book Review – This Is Happiness by Niall Williams ‘Life is a comedy, with sad bits’

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About the Book

Book cover of This Is Happiness by Niall Williams

After dropping out of the seminary, seventeen-year-old Noel Crowe finds himself back in Faha, a small Irish parish where nothing ever changes, including the ever-falling rain.

But one morning the rain stops and news reaches the parish – the electricity is finally arriving. With it comes a lodger to Noel’s home, Christy McMahon. Though he can’t explain it, Noel knows right then: something has changed.

As Noel navigates his coming-of-age by Christy’s side, falling in and out of love, Christy’s buried past gradually comes to light, casting a glow on a small world and making it new.

Seventeen-year-old Noel Crowe is idling in the unexpected sunshine when Christy makes his first entrance into Faha, bringing secrets he needs to atone for. Though he can’t explain it, Noel knows right then: something has changed.

As the people of Faha anticipate the endlessly procrastinated advent of the electricity, and Noel navigates his own coming-of-age and his fallings in and out of love, Christy’s past gradually comes to light, casting a new glow on a small world.

Format: Paperback (400 pages) Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publication date: 9th July 2020 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

I acquired this book when it appeared on the longlist for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction in 2020. Sadly, it’s been languishing on my bookshelf ever since but when I noticed the author’s new book, Time of the Child, was on NetGalley and realised it was set once again in Faha and features some of the same characters, I was spurred on to read it – finally. And how glad am I because it is utterly delightful.

Our narrator is Noel Crowe, looking back sixty years to his time living in the small village of Faha with his grandparents, the wonderful Doady and Ganga. There is a ‘Faha way’ of doing things, and that way hasn’t changed for quite a long time. The pace of life is slow. But the village and its inhabitants are on the cusp of change with the coming of electricity.

For seventeen-year-old Noel, change also comes with the arrival of Christy McMahon – ‘the electric man’ – who takes up residence as a lodger in his grandparent’s home. To Noel, Christy is the epitome of a man of the world, possessed of countless stories about his colourful life and full of mature wisdom. Christy exposes Noel to new experiences as they travel the countryside on bicycles visiting pubs and listening to folk music. Noel reflects, ‘Main point is, it seems to me every life has a few gleaming times, times when things were brighter, more intense and urgent, had more life in them I suppose. In mine, this was one’.

Noel looks back with good-natured amusement at the actions of his younger self. For example, his sometimes farcical attempts to attract the attention of, at one time or another, the three daughters of Doctor Troy.

The author populates Faha with charmingly idiosyncratic characters and there are some brilliantly funny scenes, such as the meeting arranged to demonstrate the labour-saving appliances people will be able to own once they have electricity, such as a toaster that will mean ‘no more smoky toast’. In response to which Noel observes that ‘no one in Faha ate toast and smoky was not a term of denigration’.

When Noel discovers the real reason Christy has returned to Faha, he attempts to bring about a reconciliation that will enable Christy to make up for past actions. But life isn’t as simple as that, as Noel will discover, giving rise to some very moving scenes towards the end of the book.

It wouldn’t be a book set in Ireland without a focus on the weather and the author describes it in a beguilingly exuberant way that may not to be everyone’s taste but certainly was to mine. Faha is generally a place of incessant rain. ‘Rain was falling, though not exactly. Rain in Clare chose intercourse with wind, all kinds, without discrimination, and came any way it could, wantonly.’ Then, coinciding with Easter, Faha experiences a rare and unexpected heatwave. ‘Down the road the Miniters put their white, blind hairnetted grandmother outside in her armchair where she sat in a citrus dream of Spain… Set outside, big-jointed furniture creaked an asymptotic series of aches that soon went unremarked because it was understood to be the bone-music of resurrection.’

This Is Happiness is a gentle portrait of a rural community, an engaging coming-of age story and – for me – a delight from start to finish.

In three words: Tender, funny, heartwarming
Try something similar: The Geometer Lobachevsky by Adrian Duncan

About the Author

Author Niall Williams
Photo: John Kelly

Niall Williams was born in Dublin in 1958. He is the author of nine novels, including History of the Rain, which was longlisted for the Booker Prize and Four Letters of Love, set to be a major motion picture. This Is Happiness was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards Book of the Year and longlisted for The Walter Scott Prize.

He lives in Kiltumper in County Clare, Ireland with his wife, Christine. (Bio: Publisher author page)

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