DNF at 25%

I gave this a try, but the story ultimately failed to grip my attention even at 25%, so I give up. The writing feels awkward, honestly, and a little bit too pretentious, especially when it comes to how the main character talks or behaves.

Speaking of characters, they are not very engaging either, or particularly likeable. I didn't care for their goals and motivations or didn't want to stick around and find out what happened to them.

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The first in a new series, A Gathering of Ravens is the perfect combination of myth, fantasy and faith. Perfect for fans of American Gods.

I got this in exchange for an honest review.
A nice story, intriguing and engaging, A fast read, liked the characters and plot.

I loved this book. Will definitely recommend to my fantasy loving customers.

I really enjoy fantasy books and this was a good one! The book focuses on Grimnir, a skraelinger, or orc-like creature, who is bent on revenge. He is joined by Etain, a young Christian woman. Although a real mismatch, they develop, begrudgingly, a sort of friendship. I enjoyed the storyline and thought it was well written. I will look for future books by this author.

I was a bit skeptical about this book at first because of the strong religious aspects (not my cup of tea) but I kept reading and ended up really enjoying it. There was a good balance of mythology and religion and the two were constantly at blows so there was never a dull moment.

The Norse mythology was not as simple as some other books I've read. You have to go into this with some prior knowledge of the gods, their backgrounds, and their realm, even though this is set in what is known to us as Midgard (or Earth). I've read a few fiction novels that explained some of those but there were still some things (words, places, and creatures) that I was unaware of.

I loved that this read like a historical fiction, set somewhere back in the Dark Ages? Don't quote me on that. I tend to stick to the 17th-19th centuries. I won't pretend to know exactly when the Danes and Saxons were at war but I will make an effort to read up on that, asap.

I had difficult choosing who to root for in this narrative. Etain seems like the likely choice but there really wasn't anything I particularly liked about her and I didn't relate to her much. I did come to like her more once she stopped being the victim and 'took up the sword'. I also liked that she was willing to continue on the journey with Grimnir--despite that she was no longer needed--just to see his revenge come to fruition. To see it through to the end, if only to have a story to tell.

Grimnir is another main character in this story. He's either an antagonist or an anti-hero. I found myself wanting to read his bits more than the others, despite that he's a vile, loathsome creature who kills indiscriminately. He's incredibly interesting in that he is not an average man. He is a son of Fenrir so I imagined him to have some feral canine features. I could relate to him in his grumbling and mockery of the 'White Christ' and for me, that really helped make the religion tolerable. It's really not something I like to read in fiction.

There's a lot of traveling in this book but it is kept lively with plenty of run-ins with enemies.
I really enjoyed the action. There's lots of blood and gore and I'll admit that that tickled my dark side.

I would recommend this to fans of adult fantasy or historical fiction from authors like Bernard Cornwall or if you enjoyed Neil Gaiman's 'Norse Mythology' but more so if you want some Norse mythology that isn't about the gods themselves.

Thanks St. Martin's Press and netgalley for this ARC.

A bit too heavy one the preaching feel to my tastes. I didn't have the guts to make myself keep reading.

Grimnir is one of the long-lived, fabled skraelingr--repudiated by the Norse, the English, the Gaels, everyone. He is the last of his kind, and he's seen more years than you'd guess.

Grimnir is bound and determined to avenge the murder of his brother by his brother's half-skraelingr son, Bjarki Half-Dane. As he's searching for the Half-Dane, he comes across a Dane traveling with what looks like a young boy monk--but when he kills the Dane and takes the monk prisoner to use as an English translator he discovers the monk is a woman in disguise. Her name is Etain. This makes little difference to Grimnir--all he's interested in is finding the Half-Dane, who was last seen in the company of Englishmen. He needs a translator--like it or not, Etain was coming with him.

The two encounter foes both human and supernatural, and take a journey across the Ash road that takes them into the future and to the Half-Dane's doorstep. By finding the Half-Dane, Grimnir and Etain stumble into a war.

Witches, elves, dwarves and spirits, this book had them all.

I loved this book. It read like an old Norse saga--at times hyperbole, and at others a more literal reading. The characters were well rounded and interesting, and the story suitably grand for a saga. Definitely recommended.

Hello, I started this book and immediately realized the writing style and the path the book was taking was not to my style. Because I feel like this is more my problem than a problem with the book I do not feel comfortable reviewing it.
I am so sorry for the inconvenience.

Ambitious in scope and audacious in its execution, A Gathering of Ravens spectacularly weaves together the threads of history and mythological tradition, spiriting readers away on a journey through legend and time. A master storyteller, author Scott Oden has combined elements from Norse and Celtic lore with the richness of the early medieval landscape to create a novel that is epic in every sense; we have bloodshed and triumph, love and loss, tragedy and hope…and yes, we also have an Orc.

Grimnir is the last of his kind. The Anglo-Saxons call him orcnéas, while the Danes name him skrælingr, but most would agree that he is a monster, an evil creature birthed from the earth’s dark depths. But in truth, he is a lot more than that, as the plot expands to reveal his quest for vengeance against Bjarki Half-Dane, the oathbreaker who killed his brother. When two weary followers of Christ unknowingly take shelter in his cave one stormy night, Grimnir kidnaps the younger of them as his hostage, forcing her to be his guide to the land across the sea. Frightened and grieving for her friend now lost to her, Étaín has no choice but to do what her beastly captor says, accompanying him through the Danish wilderness to the Ash Road, a secret passageway which would lead them to England.

However, their journey does not go exactly as planned. Grimnir and Étaín arrive at their destination to find that changes have swept across the country, and the two of them are now outsiders in every possible way. Yet Grimnir remains undeterred in his desire for revenge, and in spite of herself, Étaín also begins to see more than the monster in the Orc. The two of them are now each other’s only ally, with faith and honor ultimately leading them to a shared purpose.

The strength of this book lies in the author’s skill in evoking the spirit and atmosphere of a time gone by. He perfectly captures the life and culture of the people in this era. Throughout the early sections of A Gathering of Ravens, I could practically feel the bitter chill of the Danish hinterlands, sense its sharpness deep within my bones. As the story unfolds, we also got to see the cruelty and injustices of war, the power struggles that result between different groups when their religious beliefs collide. Scott Oden’s forte is clearly his interest and enthusiasm for history; that much can be gleaned from every page of this meticulously crafted novel. However, I also simply adore the fantasy he has injected into the mix, incorporating mythological elements and ancient folklore like the Celtic fairies and even a few allusions to the legend of Beowulf. It is precisely because of this melding of magical factors that makes historical fantasy one of my favorite subgenres.

And of course, there are the Orcs. In his afterword, Oden describes his impetus behind the story’s premise, offering some excellent insight into his process of creating Grimnir. To tell the truth, it gave me an even greater appreciation for this book, knowing how the concept behind this fascinating character was conceived and executed. One thing you can be sure of is that Grimnir is most definitely not your traditional kind of hero. From the start, he was an enigma, brutal yet complex. I loathed his treatment of Étaín at first, and saw him as a villain, but gradually as their journey went on, I began to sympathize with his bloodthirsty quest. Their relationship—especially their transition to becoming eventual allies—was written very well and handled realistically. Along with Étaín, my eyes became open to the Orc’s deeper sense of honor and duty. It may not be as we understand it, but it does go a long way in making Grimnir seem more heroic and worthy of the reader’s support. Non-human protagonists are often tricky to pull off, but the author has shown that they can indeed work, somehow also making it look easy at the same time. While Oden may have set out to redeem the Orc, whether or not he achieved that is going to be up to the individual reader, though personally speaking I can honestly say that by the end of the book I was solidly won over by Grimnir and was rooting for him all the way.

So, should you read A Gathering of Ravens? Well, if you enjoy historical fantasy novels of vast and epic proportions, then yes, yes you absolutely should. Scott Oden’s delectable prose and attention to detail brought this story to life before my eyes, immersing me in a riveting world steeped in history and myth. I was also amazed at how easy it was to instantly engage with plot and feel invested in the characters. Clearly there’s a whole lot here to fall in love with, and I would not hesitate to recommend this novel to all fans of dark historical or mythical fantasy. I can’t wait to read more by the author.

I liked the premise, and that's about it. Didn't connect with any of the characters.

Wow. I'm knocked a little speechless by this one. There is so much fantasy in this book, and seemingly so much history. I'm always impressed by historical fiction in which the writer has done their research and included real events, real times and real places and written them to be entertaining on top of it all. This book starts heavily on the fantasy side, and ends heavily on the side of history. I suppose, even the fantasy aspect was part of history. The author researched his mythology and wrote it well.

The writing in general was excellent. Oden transports his readers to another time and place where magic roams the lands and the old gods do battle with the new "Nailed God". We were treated to sights like Yggdrasil, and standing stones. We meet Fae and sorceresses and familiars, daughters of Morrigan, and wights. It's dark and gritty, which is what I love from both fantasy and historical re-tellings.

This book is told from the point of view of what is supposed to be, or resemble, an orc. Unfortunately it took me reading the author's note at the end to realize this. The author meshed together mythology from a few different cultures, Irish, Celtic and Danish/Norse. While I couldn't recall the word skraellingr from my knowledge of Danish mythology, and know little of Celtic mythology (though admittedly, this was stupid on my part because the word is right there- ORCneas), I do know a little about the Fomoraig. They were giants that did battle with the Tuatha de Danaan (the Fae). So I registered more with that word and glazed over the Orc in Orcneas. Additionally, he's described as having a wolf like appearance and being descended from Fenrir (a giant wolf of Danish mythology) and so I just thought of him as a wolf man. (What can I say- I just don't have Orcs on the brain.) No harm done though, I just reflected on it in a different light afterwards and it made perfect sense, and gave me a different appreciation for the story in general.

That being said, the beginning was a little slow for me. It took me until about halfway through the story before I really became invested in the characters and their endings. I think it was due in large part, to Etain's preaching. It just got old really fast. She was one of those "monks" a certain Anglo Saxon Viking probably would have murdered for looking at him the wrong way. It got better as the story went on and she saw perhaps there was more to the world then was written in the teachings of the apostles.

Once I was introduced to Blind Maeve and her wolf hound Conan, and the witch of Dubhlinn, Kormalda, the story began to pick up. The melding of the mythology and the history came together seamlessly and sucks the reader in and doesn't let go. I was rooting for them all in the end, Etain, Grimnir, Njall, and even for Kormalda. I even found myself rooting for the minor characters, King Brian and Ospak.

Just a final note- this book is not very long, but takes concentration and is not what I would call an easy read. I don't mean it as a critique, more of a heads up for anyone considering reading this. It is a book steeped heavily in ancient mythology and uses and re-uses words that will not be familiar to most readers.

Overall it was excellent and the author hinted in the epilogue that the adventures of Grimnir were not over, so I will definitely be on the lookout for a sequel. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, ancient mythology and fantasy. Thank you to St. Martins Press and Net Galley for providing me with an ARC!

I'll be keeping this one short, mainly because I don't want to waste much more of my time on it.

Flimsy research

Oden falls into the unfortunate category of male fantasy authors who use offensive tropes and thinks it makes him some kind of big-name fantasy author. He obviously took care in researching cultures that he doesn't belong to, but there's apparent evidence that whatever research he did was inaccurate, or that he was just using whatever sounded cool.

The names he provides for Grimnir were inaccurate, as told by another reviewer here. The Norse research was also fairly flimsy, as I found most of the information that Oden used in a single Wikipedia search.

Offensive stereotypes and queer baiting

Another thing that really bothered me was the descriptions. Anyone who wasn't Grimnir was described as white, pure, and innocent. And Grimnir himself was described as "swarthy" and "dark" and "evil". He also slaughters a multitude of people within the first hundred pages, lending to the fact that those who are "white" and "pure" call him a "savage". Can you tell me whats wrong with that? (Answer: the "dark skinned aggressor" trope is really fucking racist and it pissed me off.)

In the beginning, the Christian is a boy. And then his companion asks him "But, what if they discover your true nature? What if you fall in love with one of your brother monks and he rejects your advances? What then" - ARC page 8.

As any logical person, I took this as a boy being gay, and that he was going to the church at Roskild to hide or something. I thought I had landed on unexpected queer rep, and I was SO excited. But then it was revealed that the boy was actually a girl disguised as a boy. Were they trans? No.

No, they were called a whore and a slut over and over again when her true gender was revealed. Because apparently that's how women are treated. Multiple instances, rape is normalized, but I didn't get far enough to truly tackle that one.

Final Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

Overall?

Remind me to never use NetGalley in hopes of finding a new favorite. I'll only be using it to find anticipated releases that I've already heard of after this huge disappointment. (By the way, everything I listed above took place within the first hundred pages. I didn't bother with the rest, as I was sick and tired of the book, and it was causing a book slump)

Would I Recommend?

No. Not to my marginalized friends, and not to non-marginalized peoples. The writing is fairly decent, but there is a large amount of Christianity that I wasn't expecting, as well as racism, queer baiting, and slut-shaming. Trigger warnings for all in the bold, as well.

5/5 Ribbons for this awesome book!

“To the Danes, he is skraelingr; to the English, he is orcnéas; to the Irish, he is fomoraig. He is Corpse-maker and Life-quencher, the Bringer of Night, the Son of the Wolf and Brother of the Serpent. He is Grimnir, and he is the last of his kind―the last in a long line of monsters who have plagued humanity since the Elder Days.”

A Gathering of Ravens is an awesome book about a lone Orc Grimnir! Odin manages to put Norse myth into a historical setting that will take your breath away and will leave you wanting more of it! Grimnir is determined to get his vengeance that is long past due and so he abducts a female soon-to-be christian priestess ( or at least she wants to be) and uses her as a guide. He is mean and brutal and complex. I love that he isn't just some mindless brute like the Orcs of other fantasy books.

The story is full of old mythology, odd creatures, various religions battling for dominance and a world that you won't forget so easily. I really enjoyed that we're thrown into a time full of change and that everybody has to decide where they stand in this changing world.

The writing style is easy to read and the characters are deep and extremely well-developed. I honestly don't want to spoiler you guys so my review will have to stay short! Let's just say that this book is confirmation enough that the fantasy genre is the best. The only thing that's so-so is the price of the book. I am a student so I know how hard it can be to buy an expensive book especially if you read as much as I do) but I would still recommend you to buy at least the ebook;)

*I received this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Care Y's review Apr 22, 2017 · edit
really liked it

A Gathering of Ravens is a skillfully woven historical fantasy that straddles legend and reality to deliver a sucker punch of an action story.

Grinmir, the last of his ancient kind, has abducted Étaín to assist him on his quest for vengeance against the one who killed the rest of his kin. He, a direct product of the world of the old Norse gods, and she, the devout follower of Christ, traverse across countries and time in a journey that will change both of them. Set in the era of Gaels, Saxons, and Danes, this novel is an encounter of the old gods and the new God, of different generations, of men and elements that are not man.

On the whole, I found the fantasy enrapturing and fascinating, with an interesting and unique plot as well as seemless blending of fantasy into history. However, I did find frustrating that while there often were explanations for some of the ancient words built into the conversation, not all terms were given definitions, which I felt drew away from the plot a bit. The main characters, while changing some by nature of the journey they went on, developed rather rapidly and not quite as deeply to my satisfaction. I also felt the ending was a bit sudden with not enough meat to thoroughly tie up all plots, but it was by no means unsatisfying. Overall, the writing was well done, the descriptions vivid, and the plot interesting. I thought the encounters between the two very different religions was masterfully played out with enough respect and a healthy dose of mystery. I would definitely recommend to any readers of fantasy epics, particularly those interested in a more historical bent, although please note there is significant gore and violence described.

Thanks to the publisher for an ARC in exchange for a fair review!

A Gathering of Ravens is an excellent blend of historical fiction and fantasy. Scott Oden has crafted a great story merging Norse gods, Irish myths, and members of the growing Christian faith with essentially an Orc anti-hero. Or is he a hero in disguise? I loved the medieval England and Irish settings and the way these characters just seemed to fit so perfectly there. I had not read any of this particular genre prior to this, so it seemed very original to me. While there were parts that were a tad predictable, there were also a number of great plot twists. I did have trouble following part of the Irish fracas at first, but everything soon fell into place. This is an excellent story that I could not wait to get back to each night, it definitely did not drag - and I cannot wait to see what a sequel might bring! Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Thomas Dunne Books for allowing me to read an arc of this great fantasy.