Raven Of The Waves [Hardcover]

Cadnum (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2001

Like all the men in his Norse village, seventeen-year-old Lidsmod was trained to be a warrior. Without their voyages to distant lands‹and without their battles for treasure‹the people of his village could not survive. Fighting men, Lidsmod knows, must show no feelings. But something stirs in him when he is assigned to watch over Wiglaf, a thirteen-year-old captive with a withered arm. Wiglaf can¹t stop the slaughter of his Anglish people, and yet he still has the power to heal. Brilliantly combining scenes of bloody frenzy with poignant moments of keen introspection, this splendid historical novel poses haunting questions: What is the full cost of battle? What is the true test of courage. In this beautifully crafted novel, Michael Cadnum has vividly captured the richly textured world of the Norse peoples of long ago.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Slash, chop, stab, kill with swords and axes--and yell for joy! In this rousing, historically authentic and appropriately gory novel about the Vikings, Michael Cadnum continues his exploration of cultures of violence (his other books include Redhanded, a contemporary novella about the brutal world of amateur boxing, and The Book of the Lion, set during the crusades). Cadnum, one of our finest young adult writers, vividly recreates not only the outer trappings of Viking society, but the psychological mindset of a people whose values, myths, songs, and sagas centered on murderous seafaring raids.

Seventeen-year-old Lidsmod, however, is not so sure about this business of spectacular killing, although he does his best not to show it. He is on his first sea raid, aboard the new ship Raven, on the way with the other men of the village of Spjothof to plunder the English coast. Rumors have led them to a "gold fortress" or abbey, where 13-year-old Wiglaf is learning the healing arts under the protection of the good abbot Aethelwulf. Tension builds through the alternating perspectives of the two boys, as the attackers draw near and the victims huddle in dread, only to be cut down and chopped like meat by the wild Torsten and the other Vikings. Wiglaf is taken captive, and his compassionate healing of the Vikings' wounds plants a seed of understanding in Lidsmod's mind that leads to another compassionate but costly deed. Young teens, especially boys, will relish this thrilling and exquisitely crafted story. (Ages 10 to 14) --Patty Campbell

From Publishers Weekly

In this swashbuckling, often violent adventure set in the eighth century, Cadnum (In a Dark Wood) shows how a clash of cultures profoundly affects two distant enemies: a young Viking warrior and a monk's apprentice. At age 17, Lidsmod is eager to embark on his first pillage. He is proud to be sailing on the Raven to a distant place rumored to hold much treasure. Meanwhile, 13-year-old Wiglaf, afflicted by a withered arm but pious and blessed with the gift of healing, goes about his life in his English village. Alternating Lidsmod's eventful voyage with bucolic scenes of Wiglaf's days, the author provides a sharp contrast between the mores and beliefs of the two boys. Readers will find themselves continually switching loyalties until, inevitably, the protagonists meet during a bloody battle. Unsurprisingly, Wiglaf proves to be more consistent and noble, remaining quick-witted and compassionate during and after his brutal kidnapping. Lidsmod's sentiments and values are more slippery. Although he can identify with the captive boy, his thirst for blood and glory never significantly wavers; and although he agrees that Wiglaf should be freed, he sees no wrong in keeping the holy relics his shipmates stole. If the moral to the story is somewhat muddy, graphic scenes of murder, torture and ruin are perhaps all too clear. Ages 14-up.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Orchard; 1St Edition edition (June 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0531303349
• ISBN-13: 978-0531303344
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,964,480 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michael Cadnum is the author of thirty-five books, including the National Book Award finalist The Book of the Lion.  A two-time Edgar Allen Poe Award nominee, and an award-winning poet, Cadnum's work is widely acclaimed.

He lives in Albany, California, across the bay from San Francisco, with his wife Sherina.

For more of the latest on Cadnum and his work visit his website www.MichaelCadnum.com
 

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Historically inacurate, innapropriate for young readers, April 20, 2002

By 

Richard B. Deslonde (california, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Raven Of The Waves (Hardcover)

This book purports to be an accurate description of viking raiders. It attempts to show their thoughts and feelings, and give us insight into their culture. Unfortunately the author has not done his research.

He merely reinforces old stereotypes and borrows heavily from common misconceptions of vikings in a lame attempt to write an interesting story. He succeeds only in misrepresenting viking history and the norse tradition.

For example, he graphically describes the process of making a "bloody eagle", which is
a horrible human mutilation. Scholars are agreed that "bloody eagles" are a complete fiction invented by Christian writers (who must have had sick sadistic imaginations) trying to make the pagan vikings appear barbaric.

Rape is a common topic of the book, and this too is an old, innacurate, tiresome stereotype. History shows us that vikings were not the raping monsters of legend. They were shrewd, often abucting people to hold them for ransom. Is it likely they would rape a ransom victim, thereby making their prisoner worthless to her family? No.

Furthermore, when the vikings kept prisoners as slaves, they did not view them as expendable nor rape them with impunity as many have believed. Viking tales even tell of "Free men", Norsemen, wooing and courting slave women in their villages.

Women went on raids with the men, were sometimes leaders in the raids, and participated in all aspects of Norse life. Women were highly regarded in norse society, and not just idealistically, but in practice.

So far as historians can tell, the Norse culture was not sadistic, and did not associate sex and violence. The men did not hate and fear women, and so had no need to either rape them, or keep them in weaponless subjection.

With very little research the author could easily have corrected false perceptions of the norse. Instead he chose to embrace and even embellish them, and then try to call this a historical work. Ridiculous poppycock.

In addition to being historically innacurate, the book simply is not appropriate for young readers, boys or girls. It is written from the perspective of the men in the story, and makes no distinction between what is approriate behavior and what is not. It speaks of young boys getting drunk on a regular basis as just a part of life. It makes mention of sex and young men "mounting" girls, women, etc., and raping villagewomen. It is violent and perverse, and gives no context for the not-yet-discerning young reader to be able to sort through the behaviors of these (completely fictional) people, and make a distinction between what is right and wrong.

In short, THIS BOOK IS WORSE THAN IDIOTIC!

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It's been 9 years since I wrote this review and I am gratified to see that my critical review is voted the most helpful, which means my review is the first one a shopper will see. Good, I hope I have helped steer young people away from this book.

9 years later I am happy to come back and see that my review has kicked this books butt!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Read!, August 7, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Raven Of The Waves (Hardcover)

What a great read for anyone of any age! Author Cadnum works magic with his words in this realistic coming of age story. Brought together by a Norse raid on England in 794 AD, two sympathetic boys learn grim adult truths about "heroic" warriors. This impressive novel offers accurate historical detail, sensitive pyschological insight and compassionate consideration of good people trapped by traditional expectations. Cadnum enriches our perceptions of both the Viking and the Anglo-Saxon worlds by his range of characters. We learn with 17 year old Lidsmod via the voices of his fellow sailors -- sensible leader Gunnar, veteran steersman Njord, comic Opir the Boaster and saga-singer Eirik. Even extremely violent men like Gorm or the Berserker Torsten are shown acting from different motives. Similarly, the author balances the impressions of the 13 year old English captive Wiglaf with the mature views of Christian abbot Aethelwulf and the local political lord Redwald. This work is a delightful combination of echoes of ancient myths and foreshadowing of cultural change for both the Norse and the English.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Inappropriate, December 1, 2008

By 

L. Walker (Mesa, Arizona) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Raven Of The Waves (Hardcover)

I read "Raven of the Waves" because a student I was tutoring chose it for his historical fiction novel. Since he needed help with his book report, I decided to read it too. I can honestly say that if I were his parent, I would not have wanted him to read the book. It is inappropriate, especially in how he talks about "mounting" women and raping them. He also includes a scene where he turns a man into a "bloody eagle"--basically opening him from the back and spreading out his skin. When I finished the book, I was left with the thought, "That is it? The book is done?" In my mind it left loose ends and I did not see a purpose to the book.