The Serpent King
- Downloads：6464
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-06-10 10:19:09
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Tim Hodkinson
- ISBN：B08HS874QV
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Joanna Lambert
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As a fan of George R R Martin， Bernard Cornwell and James Wilde， The Serpent King gave me an opportunity to discover yet another author of historical fiction。 I really enjoyed this first outing with Einar and Ulrich and the elite band he leads: the Wolf Coats。 The writing is descriptive but not to the extent the reader gets bogged down with detail。 It’s a gripping read which totally held my interest as these two central characters continue to follow their destinies。 Scenes are sometimes bloody a As a fan of George R R Martin， Bernard Cornwell and James Wilde， The Serpent King gave me an opportunity to discover yet another author of historical fiction。 I really enjoyed this first outing with Einar and Ulrich and the elite band he leads: the Wolf Coats。 The writing is descriptive but not to the extent the reader gets bogged down with detail。 It’s a gripping read which totally held my interest as these two central characters continue to follow their destinies。 Scenes are sometimes bloody and graphic but reflect the brutal times these people lived in。 Although The Serpent King can be read as a standalone， it did spike my interest as to what had happened in the previous three books of the series。 After finishing this， the fourth episode in the Whale Road Chronicles， I am keen to read the other three。 It seems I have found yet another author of historical fiction to add to my ’must read’ list of ‘must read’。I would like to thank Netgalley and Aria for an ARC of The Serpent King in exchange for an honest review。 。。。more
Xerxes
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This review contains minor spoilers。 You read at your own risk。This is one of the most epic， blockbuster， historical fiction novels I have ever read。 A tightly paced story， the well-written characterization made me feel for many， if not， most of the characters。 This novel has everything a blockbuster movie would have had: Epic action sequences， visions of the Gods， gore， and sacrifice， love and loss， revenge and chaos， and Viking longships sailing into maelstroms。 To summarise， this story is all This review contains minor spoilers。 You read at your own risk。This is one of the most epic， blockbuster， historical fiction novels I have ever read。 A tightly paced story， the well-written characterization made me feel for many， if not， most of the characters。 This novel has everything a blockbuster movie would have had: Epic action sequences， visions of the Gods， gore， and sacrifice， love and loss， revenge and chaos， and Viking longships sailing into maelstroms。 To summarise， this story is all about Einar， the son of Jarl Thorfinn， who is trying to find his way to kill his father for horrifically murdering his mother through the use of a bastard warrior trained in the dark arts named Vakir。 This world that is full of Celtic Warriors， Gaels， Scots， Irish， Norse warriors is a huge play。 Let's keep it at that。 And Einar is traveling with a group of warriors that are well， trying to navigate their way from the murky world of Viking Politics。 Ulfrich， the leader of this group， is perhaps one of the cleverest leaders even if he does not command sizeable power now。 Was he a Roman， he would have been one of the most competent Generals or even an Emperor。 I think a General would suit his position。 He's the type of man you can rely upon in war but beware of his intentions。 Ulfrich is more cunning than he's made out to be， and he's that hard warrior with a soft-warrior type， whom you'll soon find， grows an attachment to Einar in more ways than you can imagine。 Then there's Skar， who's boisterous， loud， and cheery， Affreca， the carefree daughter of one of the Viking Kings of Ireland， proud and strong， resilient and wanting to have an adventure before she eventually settles down。 There are a ton more characters in this novel that are excellently written。 Oh， and Atli。 The guy is Loki reborn， except a much more cruel version of Loki than anything else。 There are intricate plots， stories of heroism and I felt as if I had stepped right back into the past， and saw the story of an epic tale that had been lost to history thousands of years ago。 It was a story also， of the villains that live in this world。 Thorfinn， that couldn't give a damn about his sons or family， his prestige and honor being nothing more than the pride of his existence。 He runs a powerful system of spies and is wanting to rule most of England， including Ireland。 It's more ironic， that the Kings of Ireland， England， and Norway are all playing a massive game here。 The Viking world was true， in the sense， a grim-dark world。 I know we use the term in fantasy books， but the Viking religion itself is truly fascinating。 I discovered more elements of Ancient Britonnic Mythology， Irish Mythology， all rolled into one。 Were this novel to be more super-natural in one sense， everything would make so much sense。 Bascially， this story is a game of wits being played by none other than Odin himself。 It is said that Odin keeps the jarls and Kings fighting so that he can have enough warriors to face at the end of Ragnarok。 Sowing chaos。 Sowing misdeed。 Sowing hate。 I truly enjoyed every aspect of this novel， and Tim here made so many good ideas: each aspect of the mythology fits exactly well with the writing。 Each aspect of the mythology does not feel like an info dump or too much heavy worldbuilding。 It is nice， precise， and well put in。 The prose is wonderful。 This novel has so much in it， you would be amazed at what happens here。 I thoroughly recommend this。 10/10。 。。。more
Cathy
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Action-packed from start to finish - full review to follow for blog tour
Jeff Frane
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I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review。I admit， when I requested The Serpent King I failed to notice it is the fourth in a series of novels set in the Viking Era。 Ordinarily I would never start a series anywhere but at the beginning but fortunately this turned out not to be a problem。 Without using great globs of exposition， Hodkingson fills the reader in on any essential details while keeping the tale running at a breakneck pace。Einar Thorfinnsson is a young I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review。I admit， when I requested The Serpent King I failed to notice it is the fourth in a series of novels set in the Viking Era。 Ordinarily I would never start a series anywhere but at the beginning but fortunately this turned out not to be a problem。 Without using great globs of exposition， Hodkingson fills the reader in on any essential details while keeping the tale running at a breakneck pace。Einar Thorfinnsson is a young， driven man who was had the fortune to join a pack of Wolf Coats， fierce warriors committed to Odin and to their leader， Ulrich。 From the moment we land in their sleek vessel， driving through a storm-tossed night， the pace never falters and we travel from one dangerous venture to another， from Norway to the Orkneys， to the Scottish Isles， and finally to Iceland as Einar pursues his destiny and Ulrich leads the wolves to glory。 And gore。 Lots and lots of gore。Hodkinson clearly knows his history， not only of the great leaders of the North in the last days of the 10th Century， but of common folk， of seamanship and battle skills。 The writing reminds me very much of the best of the Pulp Era in the 1930s--in the very best sense--adventure that grabs the reader by the throat and hangs on without mercy， page after page。Be certain I'm going to seek out the three novels of the Whale Road Chronicles that precede The Serpent King and whatever tales may follow。 。。。more
Ron Baumer
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I found this to be a good read with an interesting plot and well developed characters。 The book contained great action scenes and should keep you entertained till the end。Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review。
Melisende
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