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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Return of the Dirty Dozen, 23 Jun 2009
Another cracking read from Low. I loved 'The Whale Road' and eagerly devoured 'The Wolf Sea' (a much better book title, it must be said, although i understand 'the Whale Road' is a norse historical term, just not a very inspiring one).
This book carries on from where number one finished, and hits the ground running, throwing the reader straight into the heady mix of blood n' guts n' history. It paints a very real, gritty picture of 10th century life around the mediterraneran and the middle-east.
Low clearly has a talent for character, with each of his band of Viking's feeling believably rounded, though some stick in the memory more than others - Finn and Big Botolf being standout for me. Orm is also handled well, making the transition from 'new boy' to leader quite believable, and basing his position on his wits rather than his physical prowess is cleverly written.
It's also nice to see a few of the Oathsworn hang around a little longer, although there is still a remerkably high body count, with a real sense of 'no-one-is-safe.'
The geography is brought to life, with excellent use of ancient historic sites - especially Masada!
I did feel overall that this book was not quite as strong as the first 0ne, being in essence (in my opinion) a slightly overlong chase-movie! There were a number of twists/turns/reveals in book one that felt absent here, and although i was glad to see the return of Starkad (it is always good to have a 'bad-guy' that you know and hate!) without wanting to give too much away i was dissapointed with the end showdown (or lack of it) between Orm and Starkad, and although the final battle was excellently, bone-crunchingly written, it did not really hold the emotional involvement that i had hoped for. Also the final twist had been worked out a long time before, so it did not really add to the final sense of tension.
Nevertheless, this was still a great read - Low does warrior camaraderie as well as anyone, i think, and he manages to invoke a very clear 'sense of norse' while managing to keep his bloodthirsty, gold-loving Oathsworn's boots firmly in the dirt and grime.
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A cut above, 9 Jan 2009
If Robert Low's first book rather crept hesitantly out of the ffoyrd, this second installment of the Oathsworn comes flying confidently out under full sail.
I was a little critical of the first book because of it's lack of dialogue and charactorisation. This book has both in spades. What's more it's very good and some of the on board banter of the crew made me laugh out loud. Also this time the author doesn't kill off everyone as soon as you have learnt their names, in fact by the end of the book I was very fond of Finn Horsehead, Kvasir and Big Botolf.
For all this the author still includes a bit more detail and historical background than his contempories though at times this can verge on the contrived to show off the authors knowledge. It doesn't bother me but then I'm a nerd!
My only other minor critisism would be the trek accross the Middle East to find the last of their Oath brothers is a tad over long come the end but the final battle more than makes up for it. In fact the general battle descriptions (something I know other reviewers were critical of) has improved hugely.
Just misses out on a 5 star rating for me but a great book. I have a book voucher I got for Christmas tucked away for March when the next installment of the Oathsworn comes out.
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Oathsworn., 17 Mar 2008
Orm and his crew, the Oathsworn, continue their adventure to Serkland in search of the Rune Serpent and Starkad. There are plenty of heroics and fighting on their travels, the stuff saga-tales are made of. Orm's Odin-luck is tested to the full by Loki and the Norns keep weaving his fate.
Excellent follow up to the Whale Road, I read this book in 5 days. If you're interested in Norse adventure, read this book!
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