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Raven: Blood Eye by Giles Kristian
Raven: Blood Eye by Giles Kristian, published by Bantam Press, £12.99 hardback.
Raven is the first novel in a new Viking trilogy by a debut author with great Norse saga credentials and a very colourful background.
Giles Kristian is half-Norwegian and followed his rock 'n' roll father's footsteps when he cut short his English Literature and Language degree to become the lead singer of boy band Upside Down in the 1990s.
After a brief solo career, he featured as a model in various national TV ads before studying Medieval History at the University of London.
It was a smart move because Kristian has produced a debut novel which stands comparison with the best of historical fiction, about a boy whose life is turned upside down by Viking raiders.
Raven is a gritty, action-packed rollercoaster ride of an adventure set in the early 9th century and written with intelligence and a sound understanding of Norse and Saxon cultures and history.
It is a violent and utterly believable coming-of-age tale charting the life of Osric, apprentice to a mute carpenter in Wessex whose parentage is unknown and whose life is transformed when a band of Norse raiders destroy his village.
Their chief, a jarl called Sigurd the Lucky, believes Osric is touched by the god Odin because of a bloodshot eye and his understanding of the Norse language, and so the youth's fate changes from prisoner to brother in the Viking wolfpack.
Osric proves a natural warrior and forges a blood bond with Sigurd, who renames him Raven, and what follows is an epic saga in the best of Norse traditions involving betrayal, greed, fellowship and the bloodiest of battles.
The Norns seem to have woven a most remarkable life for Kristian who, in his mid-30s, has already enjoyed several careers most people can only dream of.
He has produced a novel with fantastic, well-developed characters and a gripping plot, and I wait with anticipation for the next instalment.
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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