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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Intriguing concept (but unexplained), strong writing (but weak narrative). It's good but not quite good enough. Not recommended, May 22, 2009
Bloodtide is the first part of the Icelandic Volsunga Saga, replayed in dystopic London where ganglords rule the city and genetically engineered halfmen threaten them from the countryside. Twins Siggy and Signy Volson are separated when Signy weds a rival family ganglord, but treason, war, and intrigue may bring them back together--if both twins can survive the harrows of war. An odd combination of dystopic London and Icelandic myth, Bloodtide has an attention-grabbing concept which is often well handled but never fully justified. Burgess's writing is vivid and violent, but constant headhopping cripples the otherwise strong narrative. On the whole, this book is pretty good but not quite good enough, and I don't recommend it.
Straddling futuristic, dystopic London and ancient Icelandic myth, Bloodtide is something of an unusual combination. Burgess makes the story his own: he expands on characters and motivations, streamlines and tweaks parts of the plot, and sets the myth in an entirely new setting which, dystopic and full of halfmen, has a rich story of its own. But too often, the two very disparate aspects just don't mesh. Dystopic London has little explanation or backstory--and while an explicit backstory could be artificial, a lack of backstory makes the setting unrealistic. Burgess also has no explanation for the story's divine influences (visits from Odin, help from Loki) except to have the gods themselves enter the story--and their appearances feel out of place against the an otherwise gritty, detailed, scifi story. Dystopic London and Icelandic myths are unexpected, potentially wonderful partners, but Burgess never justifies bringing them together. Lingering questions of just why Odin walks the streets of London make the book feel a little unsubstantial.
Plot, setting, influences aside: Bloodtide is pretty good, but not quite good enough. Never does it shy from grit and guts: death, murder, betrayal, anger, love are all brutal. And rather than a cheap thrill, the violence is brutally effective. Almost the entire cast is multi-dimensional and brings to the table a litany of twisted motivations, and the story's raw violence gives characters and their actions a hefty weight. Unfortunately, Burgess's interest in characters cripples the flow of the book. The chapters alternate between first and third person, every other chapter jumping into the head of a character--often Signy or Siggy, but sometimes as strange a choice as a one-off headhop into the mind of a war general. The transition between first and third person becomes a bit less jarring as the book goes on, but it never stops feeling like a gimmick--and it makes for some narrative repetition where the edges of the plot overlap what a group of characters did with how a specific character felt about it.
I came to Bloodtide without many expectations, and what I found intrigued but failed to delight. Icelandic myth and ganglord-ruled London is an odd and attention-grabbing combination but it doesn't make sense or work out--a pity, because on their own both dystopic London and retold Icelandic myth are promising premises for a novel. Burgess is a strong writer, but doesn't seem to trust that strength: his story would stand stronger without gimmicky POV changes. I enjoyed much of Bloodtide, both for the unique story that it tries to be and for the strong characters and violence that fill it, but my final impression was somewhat soured by the book's failed potential. It's not bad by a long ways, and interested readers may want to read it and judge it for themselves. But in my opinion this book didn't quite justify the time spent reading it, and I don't recommend it.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Icelandic Saga Recast as Plodding March to Revenge, June 24, 2008
I'd never read anything by Burgess before, but the concept of a near-future London dominated by warring gangs appealed to me, so I thought I'd check it out. The story opens with the imminent marriage of the daughter of one gangster lord to the son of the other gangster lord, uniting the longtime bitter enemies. It's not clear why civilization has collapsed, or why London is a kind of fortress with wild man-beast-machine genetic monsters beyond its walls, but Burgess is an adept enough storyteller to know that it's better just to have the reader dive into this dark new world than spend fifty pages trying to explain it all.
There's a certain grim tension as the buildup to the marriage mounts, and when a mysterious god-like figure crashes the proceedings and presents the bride's brother with some kind of magic stone dagger, things seem to have definitely taken a turn for the mythological. Despite this weird interruption, the marriage is sealed and a truce seems established. Alas, betrayal is in the air, and soon only the brother with the magic dagger is left alive, while his married-off sister is locked up in a golden birdcage with a shapeshifting cat for company.
The entire rest of the book is a relentless, plodding, and often boring march toward revenge, as the sister plots against her husband and tries to convince her brother to take control of a brewing rebellion. Unfortunately, it's just not that engaging. The story is told by different narrators, and this choppy approach only serves to disrupt what little narrative flow there is. The inevitable payoff takes forever to arrive, and is rather anticlimactic when it does. At the very end, there's an author's note that the story is based on the Icelandic Volsunga Saga, which explains a lot. Ancient sagas, while full of colorful material, tend to be rather plodding affairs, and while I admire it when authors attempt to reimagine ancient or classic works, in this case, Burgess may have stuck too close to the original. However, for those who like it, there is a sequel called Bloodsong, which uses the second part of the saga as its source material.
Note: In some listings, this shows up as a children's book, which seems pretty strange. I'm not a big fan of age-segregating books, but this has some pretty graphic violence and a somewhat graphic incest scene, so it's probably best to preview it before handing it to anyone under 16.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Scary, chilling and very very good, April 5, 2006
I've not previously read Melvin Burgess - I don't really know why. I've certainly read a lot about him and admire a children's writer who puts so many difficult and gritty issues into the headlines. Perhaps I didn't read him before because I was worried that he would be too issue-driven. Any way, finally, I've read one of his titles....
Bloodtide is utterly terrifyingly addictively readable and not a little shocking. I take my hat off repeatedly but also am somewhat mazed by the idea that any writer (even one as unflinching as Burgess clearly is) should think of the bloody and despoiling Icelandic sagas and find in them the inspiration for a children's book. Well - Burgess did and more power to him - as it springboards him into the most breathtaking showpiece. Bloodtide pecks vulture-like at almost every element of human emotion and gnaws wolf-hound style at the moral dimensions thrown onto the book's exceptionally violent battle ground. As you'd expect of a post-apocalyptic saga blood lust, ambition, greed, lies lay much of humanity to waste. A certain frisson is added by a bit of matricide here, some incest there, cloning, genetic engineering, oh you name it - but also some ill-fated trust and love.
Burgess plays with his characters - some mutant by dint of scientific tinkering, others mutated by simple human inhumanity - in an appropriately god-like fashion. And he plays his readers expertly too.
In short: I was gripped, sickened and exhilerated by bloodtide and think Burgess to be one of the most impressive writers I've encountered this year. I am positively jealous of his skill.
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