Well, the ending of The Hills of Home certainly left me in a place where I had to decide if I wanted to know how the series ended…. or if I wanted to go ahead and read those remaining review requests.
Sorry, review requests. I’ve gotta know! 😀
Treachery and betrayal have robbed Raef Skallagrim of everything except his life and a dying friend. Forced to flee from his ancestral hall while the man responsible for his father’s murder slips out of reach, Raef is hunted into the wildest corners of Vannheim. If he is to reclaim what he has lost before the gods and giants go to war and unleash destruction on the nine realms, he must forge new bonds and bury his grief for everything that was taken from him.
But as Raef plots retribution against those who betrayed him, the war that has raged across Midgard spills into Vannheim at last, threatening to destroy all he has worked for. The seams of the nine realms begin to tear and Raef will have to face the strength of two kings and the consequences of a broken oath.
And as chaos tightens its grip, as the stars begin to fall from the night sky, the vengeance that has eluded Raef and the fate that is seeking him will collide.
“It does not matter how many men he plucks from the battlefields of Midgard, or what knowledge he gains from Mimir’s well, or how tall he builds the walls of Asgard, the fires will come and the world will break and Yggdrasil will burn.”
The last book left off with a situation that I could not see unresolved, and so I jumped right into this one and proceeded to read a quarter of it in one sitting. So, good start there. I’d explain what happens in this volume except that it would probably spoil what happened in the last volume at least on some level, so let’s just say that everything is coming to a head now. The seals between the nine realms are weakening, and as our characters travel, they find things like giants that have fallen from the sky in Midgard.
T.L. Greylock certainly knows how to write some vikings. All kinds of action, fighting, swordplay, a great emphasis on oaths and the breaking thereof. It all sounds so visceral and real. There’s one scene in this volume in particular that made me just step back for a sec and be all ‘Jesus Goddamned Christ Raef.” before moving on. Raef doesn’t take things lightly, that’s for sure. If someone fucks him over, he gets his revenge. Slowly. And. With. Feeling.
It was like reading about Ragnarok, but with actual Ragnarok being something largely happening in the background. It’s important, yes, but it’s something that’s just… going to happen to these guys. Every Norseman knew the consequences of the coming of Ragnarok, but it wasn’t something you actively participated in. It was something you died from and then maybe participated in. Best get all your shit done before the gods fucked up the entire universe. If you’ve got beef, better go take care of it. Gotta make sure you make it to Valhalla before Heimdall blows Gjallarhorn to summon the Einherjar to battle, because there isn’t really a chance after that. Yes, I know I am a nerd. So, we see this story unfold as Ragnarok unfolds, from Midgard. A really unique and awesome point of view in a world that I thought was fantastically realized.
This book had me reading into the wee hours every night, and I honestly would have probably finished it two days sooner if I wasn’t battling a cold at the same time. Nyquil doesn’t make reading into the wee hours easy, but I tried my best, lol.
Though the ending was… emotional, it was absolutely exactly what I needed it to be. As such, this was still a really satisfying conclusion to the series, and I’m happy with it. It was really well written, once again the prose was lovely. I can’t wait to read more from T.L. Greylock, whether it be Viking-tacular or something-else-tacular.
Well, that was fantastic. 5/5 stars. *mic drop*
superstardrifter 