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Swords of Good Men (The Valhalla Saga), by Snorri Kristjansson
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Swords of Good Men--the first volume Snorri Kristjansson's Vhlhalla Saga--in is a raucous and gripping fantasy adventure set in Viking Norway, where plundering and pillaging are a way of life and creature comforts rarely exceed a mug of sour mead.
To weary Viking Ulfar Thormodsson, the town of Stenvik is the penultimate stop on what has been a long and perilous journey. It has been particularly challenging for Thormodsson, who has been charged with protecting the life of his high-born cousin. Having travelled the world for two years, all he wants is to go home--but Stenvik awaits.
After coming ashore, Thormodsson meets the beautiful and tragic Lilja, who immediately captures his heart. Stenvik is also home to solitary blacksmith Audun Arngrimsson, whose past hides many dark secrets. Soon, the conflict brewing between two factions of dangerous and determined men of the town threatens to sweep all of them, natives and visitors alike, into the jaws of war.
As the Vikings learn, King Olav is marching on Stenvik from the east, determined to bring the White Christ to the masses at the point of his sword - even as a host of bloodthirsty raiders led by a mysterious woman sails from the north. Thormodsson and his companions will soon learn that in this conflict between the Old Gods and the new, there are enemies everywhere - outside the walls of Stenvik as well as within.
Swords of Good Men features a memorable cast of original characters and is driven by non-stop action and a clever sense of humor. Kristjansson deftly and elegantly weaves Norse mythology and history with fantasy in a novel that offers not only a good dose of bloody Viking feuding, but intrigue and romance.
- Sales Rank: #2053705 in Books
- Published on: 2015-01-06
- Released on: 2015-01-06
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.25" h x .75" w x 5.50" l, .81 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 352 pages
Review
"Vikings, man. You can't take them anywhere without someone's throat getting slit. Pit a Viking army against a Viking village as Snorri Kristjansson does in his first novel, Swords of Good Men, and there's going to be some serious ass kicking going on. Swords is grisly fun."―Tor.com
"I'm impressed!... Overall, Swords of Good Men is an excellent foray into historical Scandinavian fiction... and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in Vikings, ancient battles, or religious conflicts. I definitely will look forward to later installments in The Valhalla Saga to continue the story."―Fanboy Comics
"[It] promises to be a powerful epic fantasy series.... Kristjansson takes the reader along at a breakneck speed, and it doesn't let up until the final very end. And the ending, though satisfying, leaves the door open for yet more mayhem. I gladly recommend this book."―Historical Novel Society
"Swords of Good Men will be a book to watch if that's your genre of choice, as will the series."―Novelnaut.com
"an almost unforgettable Viking saga set in a world that is more real, textured and layered than expected, peppered with characters that will make you laugh, and feel strongly. Swords of Good Men is a solid start to a dynamic series and proves that Kristjansson is a force in the genre to be reckoned with."―Bookworm Blues
About the Author
Snorri Kristjansson is an Icelander, a writer and a teacher, with a background in acting, music and stand-up comedy. He lives in South London. Swords of Good Men is his first novel.
Most helpful customer reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful.
A different “Viking Story”?
By JPS
As many others, I have read a number of “Viking Stories” written by quite a few authors: the “genre” is getting somewhat crowded. I liked most of them, although some were arguably better than others. I was a bit concerned that this one would be in the same vein as most of the others, and therefore hardly original. This is why I somewhat hesitated before buying and reading it.
It seems I was largely wrong. The action takes place in Norway, in and around the fortified town of Stenvik, held by Sigurd, an ageing warlord, as two Viking armies close on it, each intending to secure it for its own. After two years travelling as envoys across Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea, the young and handsome Ulfar (our hero) and his cousin had ended up in this town, the last before they return home. It will, of course, not be so easy, and our hero will get fully caught up in the coming battle, with lots of blood, gore and fighting. So far, so good and there is nothing really exceptional here. Similar episodes of ferocious and grim fighting can be found in other books from other authors, even if the ones in this book are rather well done and essentially take the form of siege with numerous assaults against Stenvik.
However, Snorri Kristjansson’s book does stand out in three respects. The first one is the historical context. It is about the forced unification of much of Norway under the cold, ruthless and fanatical Olaf Tryggvasson and his “White Christ” which took place in the last years of the 10th century. The young King, who appears quite frightening by his very calm, is depicted in a rather convincing way. His “Christianity” is a Norse and rather ruthless and bloodthirsty version of it. Pitted against him is a host made up of five warlords brought together by a witch and fighting for the old Gods. Sigurd, his warriors, Ulfar and the population of Stenvik are caught in the middle and fighting for their survival.
I have already alluded to the second strong point of this book: the characterisation. The leaders are all fierce, cunning and ruthless but then you would expect no less since they are the survivors of countless fights and expeditions and have become leaders precisely because they are outstanding warriors. Most of them, Skargrim, Sigurd and Sven in particular, are rather well described and may appear believable. So do the old scouts on both sides. I did not entirely “buy” the actions of our young Ulfar who, although relatively inexperienced, becomes a hero. However, he and other characters are all depicted with their qualities and their flaws and since this is a grim “Viking story”, happy endings are not to be expected.
However, the main originality and the main asset of this book is its atmosphere. This is a story about the “New God” of King Olaf fighting against the Old Gods and their magic. It is also a story of reckless courage, on both sides. Finally, it is a rather superb story about Scandinavian warfare, with the “up close and personal style” that you can expect and with quite a few terrifying and relentless berserkers. One of these is somewhat unexpected, tries to fight his affliction and is probably the most sympathetic character in the whole book.
Four strong stars for this first novel, which I highly recommend. It is the first of a trilogy and I will certainly read the next one as soon as it comes out.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful.
Swords of Good Men
By Patremagne @ 'A Bitter Draft' - Speculative Fiction reviews and things
Jo Fletcher is a fairly new imprint for Quercus specializing in most of the speculative fiction genre. They started with a bang, and their list of authors includes some who've proven their mettle like Sarah Pinborough and Ian McDonald. They also have a slew of authors who have debuted within the last few years with success, like Aidan Harte, Mazarkis Williams, Tom Pollock, and David Hair. This year includes promising debut Snorri Kristjansson with Swords of Good Men, the first in the Valhalla Saga. After I'd found myself the victor of a giveaway for Aidan Harte's Irenicon back in July, I decided to browse their catalog for authors of interest. After reading through all of the names, it was difficult to find one that didn't catch my eye. I ended up requesting the one that stood out the most, and since I can't resist a good Norse tale, they obliged and sent me Swords of Good Men.
After reading the first few chapters, I began to see that Kristjansson's writing was very similar to Nathan Hawke's and David Gemmell's - there is no fluff. He tells the story how it is, without flattery and overbearing detail. But, more like Hawke than Gemmell, Kristjansson writes the violence with gory detail, making the action very fun to read - the kind of stuff you'd see on History's new show, Vikings. Taking place in Norway, Swords of Good Men is much more historical fiction than it is fantasy, with the aspect of magic not appearing until the very end for the most part and in a supernatural way.
Swords begins with Ulfar Thormodsson and his cousin Geiri on their way to Stenvik, the last stop on a journey throughout the world before they can return home. Despite Kristjansson's focus on the action rather than the world, he paints a very vivid picture of a Norse town in Stenvik. It feels real, down to the longhouse with barrel-chested men drinking mead and singing. A woman captures Ulfar's heart with just a glance, and makes quite the enemy in the process. Ulfar and Geiri aren't the only ones coming to Stenvik, though. The young King Olav Tryggvason, a Norse leader turned Christian, is moving west with his growing army in an attempt to bring the White Christ to the populace of Scandinavia. Skargrim has gathered a huge force of raiders and are advancing on Stenvik from the north with some kind of witch at the helm, and outlaws come out of the woodwork to harass the town as well.
Therein lies the biggest flaw of Swords of Good Men. Too many forces seem to be converging on this one small town. The book is split into many points of view, possibly too many, in order to help us keep track of all of these forces. Throughout the story we jump around from character to character, force to force, leading up to the penultimate siege - and the transition isn't particularly smooth. If two of the main characters are in the same place, occasionally one paragraph would be spoken from one of them and the following one from the other, which made the story somewhat hard to follow.
Another problem with Swords was its length. It seems like a fairly standard story length for a debut at 352 pages, and it went smoothly until the last quarter. S*** hit the fan and had me turning page after page, the book glued to my hands. I buzzed through the last few pages and found the next page to be blank. The book was over. Too much had happened in the last 5 pages for me to wrap my head around immediately, and I think that the book, with the multiple point of view writing style, would have benefited from an extra 50 or so pages to smooth things out.
Despite what it may seem like by reading this review, I actually did enjoy Swords of Good Men because it had some very real characters and great action, though there were some flaws and those should be expected from a debut author. The choppiness did smooth out as the story moved along, and it's clear that Snorri is steadily improving and the sequel looks to answer a lot of questions and I look forward to more action.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
some flaws but good mostly outweighs the bad
By B. Capossere
Swords of Good Men, by Snorri Kristjansson has a sharply focused premise and an action-oriented narrative, but issues of pace and point of view lessen the short novel’s impact.
The Viking town of Stenvik is the crossroads of events. Heading toward them from the north is a massive army led by King Olav, who is determined to unify the Scandinavian people under the White Christ, even if he has to kill a lot of them in order to do so. Defending the Old Gods against this upstart religion is an All-Star team of Viking raiders, ostensibly led by their general, Skargrim, but really under the control of a mysterious woman named Skuld, who says she is one of the three weavers of fate. Olav wants Stenvik as his winter base, while Skuld and Skargrim seek to deny its strategic potential to him. Stenvik is caught in the middle, much to the dismay of its old warrior chief Sigurd and his closest friend and advisor Sven. Also caught up in the impending battle is a just-arrived pair of young nobles—Ulfar and Geiri; the town blacksmith, Audun; the town healer, Valgard; and the town troublemaker/wife beater and his wife: Harald and Lilia.
Kristjansson does a nice job of conveying the feel of life in this time and culture (at least, it feels like he does; I’m no expert on ancient Scandinavian culture). It’s rough and tumble, gritty, claustrophobic, violent, ugly in lots of ways. Setting it in a time of great change—the Christianization of the region—adds a nice bit of tension. And I liked how Kristjansson shows us a range of response to this conflict—the faithful on both sides, the cynics, the opportunists, and those who don’t really care either way but just want to live lives of peace.
The two opposing leaders—Sigurd and Skargrim—are also nicely portrayed, Sigurd as an old warrior who wishes he could just leave his battle-axe up on the wall where he hung it after he built this town and Skargrim as a sharply efficient captain who has some doubts about Skuld and her plans. Sven is another strong character, a wise old warrior and master strategist who was mentor to Valgard and who takes a shine to the new arrival Ulfar.
The action, once we get to the battle, is fast and furious, with lots of fierce attacks and defensive stands, clever booby traps, beheadings, bellowed challenges, flying arrows, and the like, with some berserkers and a kind of undead warrior tossed in for good measure. It isn’t pretty, nor is it particularly glorious, and it has some intriguing end results.
Those are the strong points of the novel. The weaker aspects don’t overpower the novel’s positives, but they definitely have an impact. The characters beyond the ones mentioned above aren’t all that compelling or well drawn. Kristjansson relies a bit too much on internal monologue for both Audun and Valgrad, and hits the same points with each a bit too frequently. Valgrad’s involves his attempts to manipulate events to his benefit like it’s all one big game of chess (technically the Scandinavian form of chess), an over-used metaphor before this book and a way over-used one within this book. Audun’s issues are his conflict over using his craft to make tools that kill and his dark past. Ulfar’s sub-plot is his falling in love with Lilia, which didn’t feel all that believable and felt like a clumsy attempt to have another conflict, one that really didn’t go very far. Meanwhile, Harald is not the biggest fan of Sigurd, and a running question is whether or not he’ll try to take over, though again, the whole thing feels a bit repetitive and sputtering.
Another problem for me was the quickness with which we moved amongst all these characters. I’ve never been a fan of the very short chapter structure, which in this case often made too many scenes seem shallow or purposeless, moving plot forward too incrementally or not allowing characters to develop fully and richly. Settings also whiz by too fast to have any true sense of place beyond the town. The quick in and outs especially don’t help in the beginning of the book, when everyone seemingly is a grizzled Viking warrior whose name starts with an S. And I had some questions as to whether we needed all the characters we meet/scenes we see. Finally, the dialogue between characters at times fell too modern, sometimes jarringly so.
Kristjansson does enough in Swords of Good Men that I’d pick up book two in hopes that issues of pace, structure, and dialogue are ironed out. If that happens, its follow up Blood Will Follow should be a fun ride.
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