Customer Reviews

Raven, Blood Eye

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I ordered this book from amazon.uk because I did not see it available at the time. Looks like it is available in the US now, which is great.

I found the 1st 50-pages torturous, as I slogged through a young writer's plodding character development. Once our main man takes to a long ship, the story picks up and I slew the book in 2-days. The story takes place around 790 AD, which is largely considered the start of the Viking Age, though it likely began considerably sooner. It begins with an outcast, our main man, in a small English coastal dung-hole of a village who does not remember his childhood. I'm not sure but it could be loosely based on the early Viking raid on the monestary at Lindisfarne.

Raven has to pay his dues before he is accepted into an elite band of raiders. Eventually the teach him their fighting arts and he discovers a natural talent for war as he adventures across Wessex and Mercia. At times the story gave me deja vu, like I was back with Bernard Cornwell's Uhtred. Then there is the ship "Fjord Elk"; great name for a ship but it transported me straight back to Robert Low's "The Whale Road".

One nice thing I can say is, while some of the sentence structure could use some work, the book is well edited. One small grievance with these English writers, you need to join with the rest of the world and differentiate between "corn", an New World food, and wheat, what you are actually referring to. Its kind of like stubbornly insisting on driving on the wrong side of the road, which the rest of the world has rejected.

The book is filled with graphic violence, and profanity that was often so colorful I had to wonder as to the historical realism. Once the adventure got going it kept my attention and on balance I thought this was an excellent first novel filled with lots of good characters. I plan to start book II tonight. Enjoy.

Being a Norwegian who reads allot of historical fiction I decided to read this book. I'm sorry to say I was disappointed.

Many compare this book to Bernard Cornwells books, but where Cornwell is a brilliant writer and storyteller who portrays vivid characters with depth, Kristians characters are mostly extraordinarily one-dimensional.

The Vikings laugh, kill and drink. They are all supreme fighters and they keep mentioning the gods at every possible opportunity. Then they laugh some more, kill some more and drink some more, before they yet again show of their supreme fighting skill, deftly followed with a mention of the gods. Further on in the story they do it all again, and again, and again.....repeat sequence seven times or so, and you will essentially have read the story. Skirmish heaped on drinking heaped on skirmish heaped on boring plot heaped on skirmish heaped on drinking. In an effort to try to compare it with something equally monumentally boring and repetitive, the first thing that comes to mind is the TV-show "The Pacific", whose characters possibly outfight Kristians characters in terms of lack of depth and personality.

Bernard Cornwell has given us characters like Uther of Bebbanburg, Lord Derfel Cadarn and Nicolas Hook. Persons with doubts, fears, love and hate. On top of this Cornwell dives rather more into the politics, ideas and bigger picture of the time. All this he succeeds in mixing beautifully into exciting books. Kristian has mostly succeeded in portraying a bunch of staggering alcoholics and sociopaths(come to think of it, it's possibly an even bigger feat not to manage to get something entertaining out of that mix) to the degree that I must wonder how much Mr. Cornwell actually was paid to recommend this book.

However, I can not speak for the last 30 pages or so, because by that time I simply was not interested in reading the end. To put down a book before I have read it to end has only happened two times before in my life, and I have read allot of books. That sums it up for me, you do the rest of the math.

Great story with great characters.I liked this book big time.You really get caught up in the story and feel as if you yourself are standing in the shieldwall.Waiting for the enemy to attack and stoking up the anger needed to eradicate your fear.Bring on the slaughter...........Bring on part 2.

This is the first book in the trilogy of Vikings in England. A fast paised action adventure in the tradition of Bernard Cornwell's historical fiction books. If you enjoy Bernard Cornwell's historical fiction you will enjoy this book. I bought this book because it had great reviews by Bernard Cornwell himself, I'm a big fan of his stories.

One of the most interesting things about reading historical fiction is that later you would want to go and read the actual non fiction history. Having read most of Cornwell's historical fiction novels (except Sharpe stories) I was armed with some knowledge about dark ages and the Viking invasion of England. The only difference with this story is that Kristian tells the story of Norsemen, while Cornwell's story involves the Danes. Norsemen and Danes were both part of the great invasion of England, however as Cornwell describes that the Danes played a bigger part of the Invasion. Kristian's story is of the lesser known Norsemen who invaded England.

I don't want to compare this book too much to Cornwell's books because this book is its own creation and what a good creative story it is. I never read a book that describes battles in such brutality with foul language and yes there is an occasional f?** word.

All the ingredients are there for a good story and still stay true to the setting of 9th century England. This book provides a good map which is easy to understand so you can follow the wolf pack on the adventure across the English land.

The story flows quite well, sometimes a little too fast. It is a story about a boy named Osric apprentice to a mute old carpenter, who witnesses his village burned to the ground by these mysterious Norsemen, they end up sparing his life and taking him and his mute companion prisoner, but a great adventure awaits them across the English land where trouble lurks. Osric becomes very compassionate with the Norsemen and sees their pagan way of life will make him a great warrior.He must choose to pledge his life to the leader of the group Sigurd the Lucky or resist these barbarians. The choice is easy as Osric's past comes to haunt him about his identity. Here begins a great adventure across the stormy seas, great Viking ships and lots of brutal battles. Viking gods will clash against the Christian god, but in 9th century England Vikings are not the only enemies of Anglo-Saxon people.

One small problem I had with this book is that the story moved a bit too fast. I felt that Osric's character need more time to develop. I felt that he accepted his captors without too much resistance at all, but I guess its a small price to pay for such a great story from a new talent. The author has done a lot of research about the Viking mythology and mentions different gods throughout the story so if you are interested in knowing more detail about the gods mentioned in the story turn to the appendix at the beginning of the book for more information, also you will find there names of all the major characters so you know where they belong in the story.

At the moment this book only comes in hard cover, I would recommend to get this one because the cover itself is breathtaking. So if you collect books the hard cover is the way to go.

Good story telling in high caliber from this new author. I'm eagerly awaiting for the second book.

I've spent a lifetime studying the Viking Age from a scholarly viewpoint, and know the period about as well as anyone alive today. I also thoroughly enjoy well-written historical fiction that takes place in this period. I say, "well-written", because sadly enough, most books on this period are sadly lacking in anything approaching realism from a historical standpoint. Most of what I have read have been tossed in the trash, given away, or sold to be rid if them. Very few books on this period have reached a level of excellence that I want to keep them in my permanent collection. One writer whom I am a big fan of is Robert Low, and his Oathsworn series is part of my permanent collection. Robert understands the time period and it shows in his books. It was through Robert that I first became aware of Giles Kristian and his Raven: Blood Eye. I ordered a imported hardcover copy of the book through Amazon, and groaned at the high price I had to pay. I read the book almost in one sitting, letting my responsibilities in life sit on hold as I became absorbed in this enthralling tale of a Norse-Englishman and the Wolf pack of Norsemen who adopted him as their own. The book has everything you might want in a good tale told by a Norse skald (story-teller), from battles, to intrigue, to romance and adventure. The only complaint I had with this book, and it was a minor one, was the cliff-hanger ending being a bit too abrupt for my tastes. I understood why the author did it that way, with the second book coming out so quickly on the heels of the first, and he wanted to give readers a good reason to get the second book. I don't fault him for that. I just don't like cliff-hangers, and if they are used, would prefer that most of the loose ends are mostly tied up. Other than that, I absolutely loved this book, and as soon as it was finished, I found a UK seller who offered the second book on pre-order, and reserved myself a copy. Giles Kristian is a great new writer. This book is now part of my permanent collection, and I now don't mind that I had to pay so much to get my hands on it. I've just finished reading his second book, Sons of Thunder: The Second Raven Adventure, but you'll need to read my review of it elsewhere. If you like historical fiction related to the Viking Age, you'll love Giles Kristian's work. If you've never read anything in this genre, then this would be a good place to start. Personally, I hope Mr. Kristian has a long career filled with many such great tales! This man is a great talent!

An excellent debut! A very interesting and entertaining tale of a Sword-Norsemen Wolfpack in England!

I found this book rather enjoyable. I'm not someone who normally reads this genre (it was recommended by a friend), but none the less found myself totally engrossed in the storytelling of Mr. Kristian. If you are looking for a great book this summer, I suggest picking up a copy of Raven.

Excellent debut novel and fantastic read for lovers of historical fiction and Viking adventures. I am eagerly awaiting Amazon in the US to offer the second and third books in digital format so I can continue on with the story- so US publishers if you are reading this- please hurry up!!

A thrilling read from start to finish, much more exciting than a DVD! This is the first part of an epic trilogy that I could not put down. The story flows fast and fluid and is a must read for anyone that enjoys historical fiction or tv series like Rome (HBO) or Spartacus Gods of the Arena (Starz). My only complaint is that Amazon does not sell it digitally here in the USA. I had to download it when I was travelling through the UK based on a friends recommendation.

Bought the book hoping to have found an author who writes about the viking era. Had planned on reading the whole series and sharing it with my teenage son. Found that the story line was good but I was disappointed by all the crude material. Could have enjoyed it much more without such information as someone urinating or making unnecessary crude remarks. Like so many modern authors and filmmakers this author apparently believes if you are writing about men and battles that it is necessary to portray them as crude, rude, and socially unacceptable. Would never recommend this book for any non-adult.