Customer Reviews

Flight of the Hawk

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Once again Gwernin, the intrepid Welsh bard, ventures forth into adventure, learning, and some danger. This is a delightful read for those who love historical fiction and good storytelling. The stories within the stories are one of my favorite things about this book, as Gwernin travels throughout medieval Wales plying his bardcraft and learning from semi-mythic figures like Taliesin. The history feels absolutely solid, this is a medieval world view one can totally believe in. And since we work from Gwernin's point of view, the magic and the mundane are inextricably mixed, as they would have been for someone who lived in this period. We feel the cold, we warm at the fire, and we do believe in the world unseen. This is a delightful escape from the modern world, and a wonderful character about whose life we long to know more. At least I do. I'm very happy that this is a series and that I will have a chance to return to this amazing and realistic world. I am really enjoying my travels with Gwernin and hope they continue for a long time. Truly, if you enjoy a historical novel with fidelity to its time and place, you will like this book. It's a wonderful and fun read. I cannot recommend it too highly. Try it and you will like it.

Having read the first book in the series is not essential to reading this one, but if you like this one you should definitely give the first one a try. If you have read it, you'll want this one, too. Flight of the Hawk is a trip to medieval Wales that you won't want to miss.

I had the pleasure of reading this book over several rainy days. Whether the book suited the weather, or the weather suited the stories I cannot say. I can say it was immensely enjoyable. The characters have a wonderful sense of realness, like someone you might know. The details of clothing, dress and custom were well researched. Most enjoyably, each chapter could be read as a seperate entity, making it easy to put down and take up again when bothersome matters interrupt reading time. The second in a series, it stands on its own, not requiring the first book, "Storyteller" be read, although a delightful set of stories on its own, and well worth the reading. I would especially recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a trip to the past, or to the British Isles, or just to someplace they have never been before. It creates a wonderful world that I will visit again and again.

The first book of this series, Storyteller, was certainly good, but this one is even better. Once again, Ms. Grove drops us into the 6th century - sight, sound, and scent, concerns and beliefs. The language is just as gorgeous and well-considered as in the first book, and the sense of experiencing another place and time just as vivid, if not more so. Nor is this world a fantasy one - for harps go out of tune, ponies may go lame, and well-laid plans can go far astray.

One thing that has at times seriously annoyed me in *other* books (but not these!) are Perfect Heroes - those unlikely folk who are unbearably noble, and naturally good at nearly everything they try. Not so here: aspiring bardic student Gwernin and his friend Neirin deal with life-threatening battles and ambushes, some fairly un-nerving supernatural events, (sometimes landing in the mud along the way) and when all is well, revert to being healthy young men, equally interested in girls, beer, and whether they'll get enough for dinner.

A really, really good read - I can hardly wait for the next one.

If it's possible, I enjoyed this book even more than Storyteller, the first installment in the series. Gwernin is again traveling, this time with Neirin, someone close to his own age who has been sent on a fact-finding mission by his master, the bard Taliesin. We see Gwernin grow more as a bard as he realizes just how much he has to learn and how important a role a bard can play in a king's court and in the politics of the world around him. There is again a little of everything - adventure, fighting, historical information, romance, and at times the suspense of not knowing how a situation would play out made it very hard for me to put the book down. I am very much looking forward to the next book!

Book two of the Storyteller Series is just as outstanding as Storyteller, book one. Set in 6th century Wales, the story follows young Gwernin on his second season away from his birth home. This time he travels with a companion close in age, Nierin, on a fact-finding mission as border raiding increases and war is imminent. Gwernin has realized just how much more he needs to learn before he can become a bard and how valuable the role of bard can be in finding a place in any lord's court.

The characters are richly described and much detail is given to the settings throughout the book. As in Storyteller, I enjoy how each chapter can stand alone as a tale while fitting into the storyline of the book. It's a fascinating format that allows the reader to leave with a sense of completion and come back later and continue reading with a sense of continuity.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the LibraryThing book review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 [...] : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Flight of the Hawk is the second book in the Storyteller series. I enjoyed reading this book. I enjoy fantasy and historical fiction, especially anything having to do with the British Isles. In this book the central character, Gwernin, an apprentice bard, recounts his travels throughout Britain. As an apprentice bard he spends his time learning his craft and trying to master all the skills needed to one day be a full-fledged bard in his own right. He works on diplomatic skills as well as memorizing stories and songs. In this installment Gwernin travels to the far north, modern day Scotland, to fulfill the request of his master Taliesin.

Grove makes good use of historical sources to present the reader with a realistic world, true to the time period it represents. The characters seem relatable and human, they are down to earth and the story is more believable for it. I like how each chapter has a stand alone quality, that way one or many chapters could be read in one sitting. This book was a fun and enjoyable read, I look forward to reading the rest of the series someday.

Flight of the Hawk is an excellent follow-up to Storyteller, following Gwernin once again in his travels and his quest to learn the skills and lore needed to become a bard.

In this book, Grove continues with all that make Storyteller such a great book, including the great narrative descriptions of the land and people, the taste of Sixth Century British culture, and the sense of tension and conflict in a land and people beset on both physical and metaphysical planes.

There is, in this work, the addition of a stronger sense of action, including bloodshed, than in the previous installment. Grove handles this well, making the action at once both earnest in its danger and honest in its degree and execution. The bards are not superheroes, nor are the warriors they encounter or travel with. Characters are well drawn with strengths and weaknesses in battle both of arms and of wits, and they are all the more believable or them.

The one drawback for me as a reader is a trap many authors of series fall into, that of using the first few pages of a latter book to recap or even, as in this case, replay the previous installments. This is, however, a personal dislike, and it does not diminish the work as a whole, nor does it make me any less enthusiastic to recommend this book and this series to others.

I loved the vernacular used. It was so fitting of the time period and really sucked me into the story. I also really enjoyed that there were a few words that I had to look up! This is a rare occurrence and I love it! It's so nice to learn something new and to read something new that hasn't been used a million times.

Something I loved and hated, "But that, O my children, is a story for another day" Sometimes it fit perfectly, and sometimes I hated it being there. It didn't fit or just got repetitive.

It was about halfway through the book, around chapter 18 that I really got hooked. I cared about the characters, the relationships. I started flying through reading chapters at a crazed pace.

I cannot wait to pick up the first and third (and even the upcoming 4th title) in the story teller series. Storyteller, and The Ashe spear. I absolutely enjoyed this story. It was well thought out, well manipulated and I found it entirely too easy to get lost in the setting and picture every little detail in my mind. I also very much enjoyed the inclusion of the appendix, although I didn't discover it until I was done with the book, but all in all, GREAT read. I would, and have recommended it.

A novel about the travels of Gwernin, the storyteller, and Neirin, the bard. The descriptions of both setting and character help transport the reader into the period. For anyone who is a fan of Arthurian or other medieval literature, this novel is a must read.

This is the continuation of the Storyteller series by G. R. Grove, volume two of the first trilogy, in what is hoped will be a much longer series. Flight of the Hawk continues from where volume one left off, and, in fact, repeats one of the stories, from the first book, but does so as if that story is being told at a later time than the first telling. Young Gwernin storyteller and his friend Neirin the bard continue the journey they began in volume one of this series.

Like Storyteller, Flight of the Hawk is a series of intricately interwoven short story chapters which can both stand alone (but why miss out on the larger story... begin with book one: Storyteller instead of here) and form a larger, complete story, well fashioned so that the chapter/stories fit together like the feathers of a bird's wings. Flight of the Hawk is well written and smoothly paced; to say it is a pleasure to read is probably the biggest understatement I've made in all 100+ reviews that I've written so far.

The Storyteller series is recommended for most everyone 16 and up, but is an especially ideal read for those who love historical fiction, and for those who like a bit of fantasy now and then. This review is based on the Kindle version I downloaded from Smashwords.com, which was given to me free by the author. This review has been simultaneously posted on Dragon Views, LibraryThing, Smashwords, and Amazon.com.