Customer Reviews

Lord of Raven's Peak (Viking Series)

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

 

 

Despite quite low ratings I loved this book. It did entertain me. Merrik and Laren are ideal couple. Merrik is not like other heroes that are woman abusers. Merrik never poorly treats Laren he always keeps Laren safe even from his own brother, Erik. At first I felt that the relationship between Merrik and Laren's little brother Taby was disturbing but later Merrik shows that he loves Laren so much and he feels that Taby is his little brother. He proves that he loves Laren not because she is only Taby's sister. Their adventure is exciting. There are many intriques and twists. The tamest character could become the most dangerous murderer.
Catherine Coulter never disappoints me. Although this is not her best book but it's worth a try. Her wonderful sense of humor never let you read without laugting. You will enjoy this one as much as I did.

I did not like this book at all. I found it weird that Merrick is soooo close to Tabby, Laren's brother. In the next book Lord of Falcon Ridge, Cleve tells a Duke that Merrick love his brother-in-law Tabby more than he loves his own sons. Cleve goes on to say that he hopes. Boring Merrick's son does not find that out. This book hase nothing interesting in it.

This was enjoyable reading but enough with the stories already! I found myself skipping over the stories that Laren told because they simply were not interesting. But the hero, Merrick, had a good heart, and it made the book very worthwile.

My main complaint about Hawkfell Island was Rorik, the abusive hero. In this book, he's relegated to the background, but we learn that the oldest brother, Eric, is even worse than Rorik. Makes me wonder how awful the father was...

In comparison to his brothers, Merrick is a veritable saint. Even without the comparison, he's an appealing hero, save for one flaw: his devotion to the boy who will become his brother-in-law. I, too, found that relationship very disturbing. Coulter walks far too close to the edge of pedophilia for my tastes.

The heroine, Laren, is all right, but she's usually a bore, even if she is doing something so daring as escaping from a slave-trader, or being a skald. I also agree that the stories she told were boring, too long, and not as thoughtful and subtle as one would have expected of a skald.

After reading about 5 of Ms. Coulter's books, I've come to the conclusion that she doesn't really like her heroines, or at least not as much as she likes her heroes. Her descriptions and characters insights are much deeper for the men. The women are just...there...but somehow not there.

Just in the first few paragraphs alone she makes the same point about the smell of the slave market not being quite as strong because of the cool weather 3 times. It seemed like a redundant effort to fill pages with nonsensical information. If she had a better editor who helped her catch these errors she could concentrate on making an even deeper more rich story which I believe she desperately wants to accomplish. Sorry to say I won't be reading another of her stories again.

After reading the 1st of the Tri I decided that I would not finish the other two, but I decided I would atleast try being that I had spent 4.00 on each book. I am glad that I decided to read this one. The Lord of Raven's Peak ws MUCH better than the 1st if the Tri. The leading man was not abusive and he treated the leading lady really well and her brother really well. The story was good and kept my interest for the most part. The book had more romanace and love in it than I expected and that made it a pleasure to read. Honestly I can not believe that this is the 2nd book of a Tri. Maybe Ms. Coulter was informed of her first bomb in time to see she did not cont. on that same terrible path.

Despite what the other reviews say this is a GREAT read. One of Catherine Coulters best and I have read ALL of her romances--even the really badly written ones. This one is one of her best. I love the characters and the story line. I am sure it is not historically accurate on how slaves were treated or how the heroine would have been treated since she and her brother were slaves but I am more than willing to over look that since it is FICTION and a GREAT book. I have not read this book or the Viking series in many many years and have just re-read this one I am looking forward to re-reading the others.

As a lover of historical fiction I was happy to discover a series set in the Viking era. The harshness of the characters doesn't bother me as if they were gentle it would seem unreal. But I think the story line is lacking depth in this novel. The lead character Merrick seems oddly infatuated with the young boy Toby, not in a sexual way (eek!), but distractingly unrealistic. There were some story twists that I didn't predict, which did add to the entertainment value. But I think that the characters just weren't that likeable which is why I couldn't go higher than 3 stars. I think to draw in the reader, you need characters you can feel for, and these characters just seemed obnoxious overall. You would think that Laren would be more appreciative of Merrik's "care" for her as it had to have been like night and day from what she had experienced as a slave for 3 years, but after awhile I found myself just being irritated by the incessant whining of her inner monologue. I did enjoy the first book in this series much better.

I READ MOST OF WHAT THE OTHER REVIEWERS WROTE AND I AGREED WITH THEM. THERE REALLY WAS NO DEPTH, BARELY ANY EMOTIONS, THE HERO IS SO VERY DULL. WHAT I DIDN'T GET WAS THE FACT THAT HE WENT AND KISSED THE HEROINE'S SISTER AND RESPONDED, WHAT'S WORSE WAS THAT, THAT PART WAS ONLY 67 PAGES TO THE END. HE DIDN'T REALLY ADMIT HE LOVE HIS WIFE UNTIL SHE ASKED HIM! AND HE REPLIED,

"AYE. I LOVE YOU MORE THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE. I AM YOUR HUSBAND. HOW CAN YOU DOUBT IT?"

THERE WASN'T EVEN ANY EMOTION AS HE TALKED! BORING! I STILL CAN'T IMAGINE HE WENT AND KISSED SOMEONE ELSE AND FELT NO REMORSE OR GUILT. NO FEELINGS, PRATICALLY FOR WHAT HE DID!

ANOTHER PROBLEM, IS THAT HE SEEMED TO TAKE A LIKING TO THE HEROINE'S LITTLE BROTHER WAY TOO MUCH! IT'S ALMOST DISTURBING!

THE FACT THAT IN THE SEQUEL, CLEVE MENTIONED OF THE HERO'S LOVE FOR THE BOY MORE THAN THE WORLD AND PERHAPS HIS WIFE TOO. PREHAPS? I MEAN THAT IS EXTREMELY MESSED UP! '&'

I'M NOT GIVING THIS BOOK A TOTAL ZERO BECAUSE IT IS COULTER AFTER ALL. I STILL HAVE HOPE, HER OTHER BOOKS ARE BETTER.

I loved Merrick. He's all that a man should be