| Title | : | Winter's Fire (The Rise of Sigurd, #2) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 059307453X |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780593074534 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 320 |
| Publication | : | First published April 7, 2016 |
Winter's Fire (The Rise of Sigurd, #2) Reviews
-
I now have a booktube with my brother -
The Brothers Gwynne
“You croak about battle, but don't see the whole situation. Like the mackerel which swim below keel and don't know that above it is an entire ship.”
I just finished listening to Winter's Fire on Audible. Another brilliant performance by Philip Stephens And a great second instalment in The Rise of Sigurd.
full of characterisation, riveting action and a fantastic plot, leaving Sigurd's story at a tantalising point. I cannot wait to continue onto Wings of the Storm, to finish the lyrical and immersive story of honour and betrayal, of friendship, and perhaps most importantly, of vengeance.
Winter’s Fire is the second instalment in The Rise of Sigurd, Giles Kristian’s historical fiction Viking trilogy, set in 8th century Scandinavia. Much like its predecessor, it is a tale of revenge, and indeed, of the rise of Sigurd.
“Only a fool would wound a young boar and then turn his back and leave.”
As I always say with Philip Stephens’ narration, he brings the story to life. He has such a range of accents and tones that he delivers brilliantly. Most narrators are great at delivering a specific tone or atmosphere, and do this even when it is not perhaps what the writer intended. But, Philip Stephens delivers an array of comedy, tragedy, anger and urgency that appears to really really Giles Kristian’s intention.
Giles Kristian has a very poetic, lyrical prose, which I talked a lot about in my review for Lancelot, the first book of his that I read. By the way, if you have not read his Arthurian Tales, go do that now… Anyway, his lyrical prose seems to reflect the style of a saga, but implements a gritty, authentic feel that is needed for this historical period.
Personally, one of, if not my favourite aspects about historical fiction stories is the dynamics, camaraderie, and relationships between groups. Similarly to Conn Iggulden’s Conqueror series, about Genghis Khan, many of the central characters commit grave acts. They kill people, steal, raid and so forth. When this is happening in a book, you need to still like and root for some of the characters. In this, Giles Kristian delivers again. He has crafted a wonderful dynamic between Sigurd and his varied gang of allies, who face such adversity together.
“Depending on luck is like wanting to hold the water in your hand”
Now, this is a spoiler free review, and as this is a second instalment I cannot really go into depth about the plot. But what I will say is that this is a slower burn than the previous instalment, but still has its fair share of adrenaline pumping, page-turning action.
In contrast to God of Vengeance, we actually have three PoV characters here. Perhaps my favourite addition was an assassin type character who was chilling and actually distantly reminded me of Chigurh in No Country for Old Men. He is chilling at times, but more charismatic than that cold-blooded killer.
I have since finished the series, and can say that my praise for God of Vengeance and Winter’s Fire continues throughout the trilogy. This was a great story that relayed an epic saga tale, with memorable characters and easy, beautiful prose.
5/5 STARS -
*Re-read - so good, I love this trilogy. This felt much less a set-up this time and I loved seeing much-loved characters once again.*
The gjallahorn blows, Winter’s Fire calls you to read the saga within it’s pages, the fierce battles upon it’s seas and the violent but brilliant band of characters that accompany Sigurd Haraldsson on his journey for revenge.
“He may be a king, but sometimes even the most fruitful, sweet apple can give sour fruits.”
Winter’s Fire, written by Giles Kristian is book 2 of his Sigurd Trilogy, focussing on the years prior to the Raven Saga. Sigurd has a worryingly shrunken crew of norse warriors after the ending of book 1, and must begin by ammassing a larger band - all in the hope of achieving his goal, to kill King Gorm, the betrayer of Sigurd’s father. I loved the feeling in WInter’s Fire of ultimately wanting to achieve an end goal, but having to do lots of mini-stories in order to get to the final push. It felt like a game with side-characters giving Sigurd challenges for more companions, loyalty or his life. I loved it.
I also loved how it started a lot slower than Gods of Vengeance. We have got to grips with the characters by now and can spend some quiet time learning more about them and focusing on their interactions. There are some excellent characters that I would share a tankard of mead with any day, Olaf, Bjorn, Sigurd and Valgerd just a few. The beginning really allowed us to get behind the characters even more.
“Depending on luck is like wanting to hold the water in your hand.”
There are several twists and turns in this epic book. One of the POVs is a man of Alba seeking to murder Sigurd. His thread was excellently written, at times tense and frustrating but all for the right reasons. Sigurd’s sister Runa is also a thread and an intriguing one, but of course Sigurd’s is full of everything there is to love about viking life aboard a drakkar ship.
If you are a fan of well written historical fiction, or Bernard Cornwell, or vikings, or books that have plenty of action, shield-walls and all manner of violence then you’ll enjoy this! It’s a brilliant book that makes me long to be in a ship-band of my own, which is what I expect to feel like each time I read a Giles Kristian novel.
"You worry for nothing brother," Bjorn had said, "for even a seiðr-wife cannot put a spell on something she can't see. It would be like trying to hit a louse with a spear-throw.”
5/5 - Yet again another awesomely told viking story! Giles Kristian is a master of historical fiction and I cannot state enough that I love these viking adventures. The characters are formidable and hilarious, the action is blood-bumping (and blood-spurting), the landscapes magnificently describes and the dialogue authentic. I am sensing the 3rd instalment to be epic. -
3 stars
Unfortunately this was a bit underwhelming after the first book and I get the feeling now that 50% of the books are about the current story and 50% is the setting up of the next volume. I would have liked a little something special to have happened to keep me interested more so in reading the next, but I'm taking it off my TBR. -
This was better than the previous book, but I still struggled to care about Sigurd and his group of warriors. His journey should be inspiring, as he seeks reputation, silver and the men to help him fulfill his vengeance, but to be honest it's been a bit dull. I would literally get drowsy reading, and it's not a very big book, or a very complex story. It's pretty straightforward actually. The world is wonderfully described and I feel as though I've been traveling right along with the crew, as they sail to distant lands seeking treasure and battle experience. But when you read you expect to travel through the mundane parts of your hero's journey, and even maybe enjoy those unexciting moments, because you know it's all part of building the anticipation, and leading to something that will eventually make it all worth while. Oh, there were brawls, battles, and knives in the back, and some of them were quite good, but most of the time I felt a little disappointed or just downright bored with the situations they found themselves in. To make matters worse, the crew is not fully fleshed out. We have what could be an interesting mix of criminals, outlaws and a female warrior, but they all sound very much the same in their actions and dialogues, with maybe the exception of Olaf who is the wizened warrior, and voice of reason more often than not. That’s not to say they aren’t good for a laugh now and again, because there’s no shortage of fart jokes, vaginal references, sexual innuendo and drunken antics. It's just that I could care less if they lived or died. And I'm very disappointed that Floki's character has yet to be given any page time.
I did like that we were able to get a couple new perspectives thrown in the mix with Sigurd's. Moldof, a one-armed warrior with a reputation to uphold is given a chapter, as we see that King Grom is worried about Sigurd's coming revenge. And then I was happy to see a bit of Runa's perspective as she nagivates her temporary home. She only gets a few pages here and there, but I can see that she is being prepared for a bigger role in the future. And I was pleasantly surprised by the small twist. And then there's Fionn, who I found to be quite interesting, if only because of the role he plays. A small one, but one that keeps you looking over your shoulder wondering when he'll turn up. Another small twist I enjoyed.
And I have to mention how much I love the covers of these books. Both versions are just amazing to look at, and if I was a frivolous spender I would buy both versions just to see them on my shelves. I'm a sucker for great covers.
So this is a bit of a snoozer at times, but I will definitely continue to the final book. And if book 2 is any evidence of things to come book 3 is going to be even better. I will have
Wings of the Storm on my bookshelf! -
My rating 4.5
The second part of the Sigurd series "Winter's Fire (The Rise of Sigurd, # 2)" by Giles Kristian is as good as the first part. Rejecting the peace treaty of the treacherous King Gorm, Sigurd must flee to Sweden because his company is small in number and cannot oppose the great Gorm army. But the road to Sweden is very dangerous because it has to pass through a dangerous area ruled by the king and his Jarls. Sigurd does not want to spend the winter in the dangerous territory of Norway and decides to embark on that dangerous journey. His wish is to join a mourning campaign as mercenaries in order to earn as much silver and valuables as possible so that they can gather a war party against the lying King Gorm. But the road to Norway is very dangerous, and even the enemy does not lie idly by and make plans on how to destroy Sigurd's party or kill Sigurd as their leader. I would recommend the book to fans of the historical novel about the Vikings. -
In my opinion, this is truly a 'bridging book'. A book two that serves as the bridge between the story set up in book one and the dramatic ending of book three (if it is a trilogy, which I think it may be). Some may disagree. This is only my experience with it.
In saying that, I have not read book three yet, so I may be wrong and book three may read like this one. I guess I'll know that when I get there.
Now, calling it a 'bridging book' is not as negative as it sounds. Sometimes trilogies and series' have these books. They are still a decent read, they can just feel a bit like a no mans land.
Book one seemed more robust with storylines and personality, and while this one was still a good read and I still recommend it, I am going to go so far as to say that it lacked the same spark. There seemed to be sections that fought with the flow of the book, like the storyline that developed for the sister. Or, maybe I am being too harsh because I have no interest in Runa independently. I am reading these books for Sigurd's tale. To those who like the Runa character, it may be a highlight.
I was not looking to spend any time on the sister, but I am sure that there are female readers who delight in the Runa story being interwoven with the story of Sigurd and his wolf pack. I am not one of those female readers. Perhaps her character's story would have been better served by a spin off book all of its own. For me, in this Sigurd series, Valgerd is more than enough woman for me.
I feel I am being a little apologetic for my lukewarm feelings on the book. I felt the same about Raven: Bloodeye, I think that is because I really like Kristian's writing and the way he tells a Viking tale. I have a bit of an interest in Vikings and if we did not have Kristian writing about them, where would we get our Viking fix? He is only one of three authors who write with this quality and intelligence about Vikings and one of those three does not write about them anymore. That writer is Robert Low, of which there will never be another author like him. Bernard Cornwell gives us his Uhtred books, but they are few and far between.
If you like this era as I do, and you like it very well written, then you need these Viking stories by Kristian. He is the Lighthouse in our rough seas.
I feel bad not giving a glowing review for Winter's Fire. I desperately want to ignore the negative and just focus on the positive, and yet I have always objected to people being 'yes men', so in the name of honesty – which I value above all else as a reviewer – I say this about it: this book, Winter's Fire, is still a good read, just not a great read...but, gee, it sure is well written! Masterfully so in places.
I hope Kristian is not finished with these Viking tales. He is the cream of the crop.
I recommend it, absolutely. On its own, you may appreciate it more than I did, as I had my feelings on book one looming over my shoulder the whole way through.
As far as a star rating, I feel it is better than a three star, not quite a four star. Which makes this one of those rare times I have to use a half star to give it three and a half stars. -
Slower than the previous, but still got my blood pumping.
Enjoyed the additional characters too.
Actual rating: 4.5 -
Sigh, I wish I had read the first one first, but I got this first, so. Anyway, Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology, Joe Abercrombie's half a everything series, Wardruna, and these novels will get you in the mood for a proper Vikings' story.
Watch the History channel's show too.
And of course, Aurora. I almost forgot about her. No, that's not true. I almost remembered her.
I reread this for the last June in this June. -
I liked this book but I'm not sure if it is because it was a great book or because I love Viking historical fiction...
All in all it was entertaining and it kept me reading. I just felt like not a whole hell of a lot happened. There was a lot of talking and sailing and thinking but this book was a bit anticlimactic to me. I remember thinking the same about BLOOD EYE but I still liked that book a lot too.
If you're a fan of RAVEN'S SAGA or Viking historical fiction I highly recommend this book and series. If not, this one can wait.
RECOMMENDED for those waiting for Gjallarhorn to sound. -
Another fun book (audio) about an entertaining group of warriors out for revenge.. and plunder. They all hold their own, but together they are even stronger. The story was good and I added a star for keeping my interest throughout, but I missed the historical details and character building of the first in the series. The writing was still superb at times and much better than I could ever do.
Phillip Stevens is usually great, but the narration was a bit of a mismatch for me this time. The odd inflection and added dramatics weren’t necessary and took away from a well-written story. There were numerous times I thought it would have been a better read. The last book in the series is in my queue. -
This thrilling Viking adventure story is the 2nd part of the "Rise of Sigurd" series.
Storytelling is just like his former books of a top-notch quality, simply because the author has the ability to keep you gripped throughout from beginning to end.
Apart from the story itself the book contains a well-drawn map of Sigurd Haraldarson's world of South Norway and Sweden, as well as a superb defined glossary of Norse terms.
The story itself is set in the year AD 785, and it's from there that we once again follow the travels, camaraderie and hardships of our lead character of this saga, the indestructible Sigurd Haraldarson.
This tale is just as much about bloodshed between Viking rivals as it is about treachery and betrayal within this Viking world, and not to forget the famous Viking rituals.
To come back to the story itself, it's about Sigurd, who with his fellowship are heading for Sweden to fight there as mercenaries in the hope to raise money and many more spear-brothers to his Viking banner, so that he can finally take on the oath-breaker King Gorm to get his revenge, for he's the one who murdered his entire family.
And so what follows is an exciting and gripping Viking tale with well defined gory battle actions, not to forget the beautiful pictured sailing scenes, as well as wonderful interaction between all the characters within this suspenseful entertaining story.
Fully recommended, for this is for sure "An Immense Fiery Viking Tale"! -
The second book in the Rise of Sigurd series, that takes place in AD 785 in Norway, featuring Vikings.
The story picks up from the end of book 1 and we travel with Sigurd and his merry, but dwindling, band of Viking mates. Sigurd is out for revenge and looking to kill King Gorm for his betrayal of Sigurd's family and village. However, that revenge will have to wait awhile. He needs to not only
replenishe supplies, but raise a larger army. Gorm is not sitting waiting patiently to be killed. He sends an assassin to follow Sigurd and kill him first.
I did not like this one as much as I did the first. It dragged in a lot of places. I did however love the chapters that included Sigurd's sister. I do hope she shows up more in the final book of this trilogy.
This is not a book I would recommend to everyone. There is a lot of violence and rough language. It's Vikings though, you have to expect that. -
Norway/Sweden; 8th century AD.
In this second book in the Rise of Sigurd trilogy, Sigurd Haraldarson is still seeking vengeance against the 'oath-breaker' King Gorm but has to spend his time trying to gather warriors to his banner - and for this he has to accumulate enough silver to pay them with...
Another thrilling and gory episode as Sigurd's band of warriors go raiding (in the nicest possible way!) and involve themselves as mercenaries to earn more silver for their coffers. Meanwhile, Sigurd places his sister, Runa, in the care of an island community of female warriors - 8/10. -
Giles Kristian is a an excellent word smith as well as an extremely gifted author! He transports you back to 785 A.D. with his word craft so that for a time you travel with Sigurd and his crew. On to book three. 5+ stars!
-
Very much enjoying this trilogy!
The writing isn't deep or provocative, but it's gripping and wildly entertaining. -
I'm afraid I thought the first of GK's The Rise of Sigurd series (the prequel series to his Raven Viking series) God of Vengeance was not great, not easy to keep going some parts. So it was with something of the 'might as well get it over with' feeling that I started Winter's Fire I'm not one for giving up on books half way - or any way - through. Especially when you have the series ready, all hard-backed, shiny-signed and lovely-looking. But the first was a cartoon mess...well, a foreboding does creep into the heart on hefting it off the pile. God of Vengeance was, I felt, not worthy to be compared to the Rivers Brothers English Civil War series that GK got two books into. They, especially the second, Brothers' Fury, were absolutely superb. A 'Masterclass' if ever there was one.
The irritation from Book One, that sticks with me, was all the smiles, grins, teeth, etc, 'nestling' in beards. And at the start of Winter's Firet, it didn't look good...
P22: "A grin spread in Olaf's beard..."
P34: "Hreidar's teeth flashed in his beard."
P53: "A grin spread in that huge, unkempt beard of his."
Then there was clearly an "...of it" or two left over from the Raven series and the adjective in as a noun of "So I am thinking that maybe dogs have more clever in them than wolves." It was like "I'm Giles K, me. And this is how you shall know me." They were all over God of Vengeance like a bad suit. Though they weren't helped by the appalling 'audio book' I struggled through. The overacting masquerading as reading there, was three days into fingernails down blackboards territory.
However...and it's a great big stonking "wait just a cotton-picking moment there boy!" From about a third of the way through Winter's Fire, maybe a shade earlier, something changes. There are no more smiles in beards, of it's and all that unnecessary. A short time after the change, I suddenly realised and found the book had become clamped to my eyes and I couldn't drag myself away from it to go have my tea - this is bloody good, this! And it is.
From being a mixture of Pirates of the Caribbean, The Simpsons, Top Cat, The Keystone Cops, and a wild west bar-room brawl, it develops into a proper, well-written, not irritating at all, getting well into Justin Hill rather than Robert 'no one knows more about Vikings' Low, territory. I cared about the mission, they had a mission and a purpose, I cared about whether they lived or died, I cared about the characters, I was sad/pissed off when one of them died, and the pathos of several scenes was beautifully and thoughtfully written and affected me quite deeply. This is a proper Giles Kristian book, after the shaky start. What happened, who knows. Maybe someone looked over his shoulder and said 'just because you've got a couple of yards of that sort of stuff left over from the first book, doesn't mean you have to use it. Get on and write like you know you can.' I imagine. Whatever, whoever, it was, I thank you. As I said, I have the next one ready and waiting and I'm going to be anticipating the reading of it very much indeed.
I say stuff other blogs don't, here:
Speesh Reads Blog
Or here:
Speesh Reads Facebook Page -
God of Vengeance was all about - Vengeance. And family and honour and betrayal.
Winter's Fire is about Reputation and Patience and Survival.
Sigurd and the company had some serious big adventures and that did earn Sigurd a reputation and even a nick-name - Odin-Favoured. But Sigurd knows it will take more than this new reputation and the head of a Jarl to have any battle luck against King Gorm. Who will now be even more determined to squash the threat from Sigurd before it becomes serious. So Sigurd and Co head south, away from Gorms reach to earn more war-fame, silver and loyal sword-norse.... but danger stalks them at every turn.
The adventures that happen in this sequel are more frequent albeit more small in scale compared to previous book. But each twist in the weft and warp of this growing saga shows Giles is still a Master of Kennings and a skillful Skald for keeping the pages turning. We grow even more on the current cast and equally learn to love or hate new characters that enter the tapestry of the tale. I particularly love a brilliant plot line that Giles has dedicated to Sigurd's sister Runa as it matches my favourite aspect of the Vikings. I won't reveal any further details so I don't spoil it.
I would best describe this as a simmering and bubbling sequel that is as enjoyable as the first with gripping beats of drama and tension all the way through.
It is building a great expectation for an epic dramatic finale in Wings of the Storm where the heat of the drama is turned to boiling point. I for one can not wait to see blood spill over the edge of this literary vessel and watch with baited breath to see who survives. -
Some time has passed since the end of the first book, God of Vengeance, and Sigurd and his half-crew have been resting and biding their time but as winter approaches, they decided it's time to move. Their need for food, ale, and silver prompted them to go araiding first and then signed on to a band of soldiers whose jarl is laying a siege upon a fortress. Even as he tries to gather his resources, his enemies are not laying still to await him but are putting their own plans against Sigurd to prevent his coming.
Sigurd was concerned about the safety of his sister, however, as she is his only family left and he loved her. For her safety, he sent her to a commune of female warriors, Freya sisters, located at a secret location that Sigurd himself does not know where. While Sigurd's is Odin-blessed, Runa's* Freya-blessed and the gods are watching this pair of sibling as they change the world.
*not sure how to spell her name as I listened to audiobook
It appears to me that Sigurd is not the typical Viking. He seems to have ideas that are significantly different and/or progressive in comparison to the others. Either that or all the other Vikings around him are idiots. I'd think the former as he appears to have some reservation on certain way of killings etc. He is in his first beard yet others see something in him to follow his ways. Sometimes, I find this hard to believe even as his ideas seem to be clever from my point of view.
This second book was quite enjoyable but at the end, I did feel like a lot happened but nothing happened; a second-book-syndrome. I hope the next book, third & finale, will prove this all to be worth it. -
What does one do with themselves after a Giles Kristian book is finished :'(!!!!!!!!!!! You know when you read a really good book and know the next book you attempt to read will just seem soooooo.......not a Giles Kristian book!
I can't say enough GREAT things about this series. The attention to detail is amazing. It is CRINGE worthy in all the right ways! Fast paced battles, gory bloody scenes that make me shrink a little. Absolute phenomenal historical fiction.
Philip Stevens again narrates flawlessly. A good audiobook narrator is one who you don't notice going from young, old, male, female. He really makes it seem like multiple people are speaking without you even noticing!
5 stars for both Author and Narrator! -
So I won't be finishing this book. I found it a bit dull to begin with and I don't really know why I picked this up. The characters aren't particularly interesting to me, and the ones that are we don't really know anything about them. Sigurd is on this quest for revenge but to me it seems like nothing is happening or when there are fight scenes they just don't seem interesting to me.
Most if not all of the jokes are not my style at all, I don't find any of them funny or remotly entertaining. I also don't really care for any of the characters so I will not be finishing this book or the series.
I guess I just don't get along with the writers writing. The story is good but in my opinion it was executed in quite a boring way... -
of course its a 5 star read .. i did not expect anything different.
The Rise of Sigurd continues and its an epic tale of one man and his sword-brothers, his crew going through thick and thin together. I love the humour, the atmosphere, the battles and the quiet times.
Giles Kristian has the ability to make me imagine the characters with all their quirks in a small amount of words. also side characters. its so 3dimensional.
I can't stop - loved every page! -
Really fun Viking series which slowed a bit compared to the first book which second books tend to do but was still a great read.
-
Jó volt, bár az eleje lassan indult, és Sigurd némely döntése elég meredek volt. De kalandokban továbbra is bővelkedik.
-
3.5*
-
I thought this one was a bit slower and more strung out than the previous book, but still enjoyed it.
-
I am invested in Sigurd's wolves but the story is a bit glacial at times. Onwards to the final book in the trilogy.
-
Onto the last book in the series,
Wings of the Storm. -
I liked this book better than the first. However the first book sets the plot for the series and is very enjoyable. This book moves better and is non stop excitement.
-
Giving the fact that I haven't paid much of a attention to an overall view of a first book in this trilogy,it's not a shock that I have no plan of spoiling this marvelous journey that can take readers through weeks of explorations,action,relationships,conversations and celebrations.If I would make a list from best to least of my favorite title in this saga,I would put it in the lowest,sixth place.Not because it's not a interesting book.There are plots that need build ups to fully understand the situation,but the pacing is so slow,for my personal interest. I've had similar problem with the original trilogy,where I didn't enjoy the sequel,after the first title.The God of vengeance had its advantages in setting the beginning and the characters.Winter's fire develops them further as a group,more than individuals,as well as some circumstances that can culminate in future chapters. The risks are even greater than before,as well as the prize.Who will claim it,that's left for you,dear readers,to discover and enjoy while reading and visually feeling it.
-
Story doesn't go far
I thought book one was interesting enough to pick up book 2. I was on the fence but thought the series had promise. Unfortunately book 2 doesn't really take us anywhere in terms of story or character development.
