Becky Bookworm Book Review : Odin's Wolves by Giles Kristian (10/10 STARS)

Raven Odins Wolves by Giles Kristian

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


If readers enjoyed Raven Blood Eye and Sons of Thunder then it's an unspoken guarantee that they will go literally beserk over the third installment of this fantastic viking saga, Odin's Wolves.
In this third adventure Raven and Sigurd and the rest of the crew along with the rescued Danes set their prow beasts in the direction of the mediterranean sea and the riches of Milkagard (aka Constantinople now known as Istandbul). They will not just have to survive new and treacherous waters but the new summer heat of there foreign lands and of course their strange and alien like dark skinned natives complete with new languages, rituals and trade goods. Yet as usual achieving their goal of fame and riches always comes with great challenges, great fights and great cunning to gain the best without shedding the most blood or loosing the most dishonour. The trouble Sigurd's crew and he get into as they visit the ruined city of Rome even before the reach Istanbul is enough to give them lots of good stories to tell in their mead halls back home - but when is it ever enough for these Vikings? How far can they sail and how often must they wet their sword with blood before the price of fame and fortune becomes too high?
This final book is so rich in its detail which softly immerses the reader into the dark age world for this band of vikings, with characters who develop so much through each chapter let alone each individual book any reader can't help but have a favourite let alone admire Sigurd for his prowess as a Jarl and of course a plot that is so full of twists, turns and suprises as complex yet as beautifully planned like the intricate jelling stone carving designs, taking readers though each emotion possible that Giles Kristian has truly proven himself in all areas that make a classic masterpiece of historical fiction that readers of Bernard Cornwell, Robert Low and Tim Severin should note this young viking at heart and in blood author as a writer with true talent at writing a thrilling and captivating story but one who clearly pushes ever last ounce of his admiration and love for this fine race of adventurers, warriors and craftsmen into each type of the keyboard or drop of ink from his pen.
Giles Kristian truly has brought the world of the Vikings into the 21st Century with enough power and a touch of skaldic magic that Cornwell, Low and Severin took years to establish.
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