Book Review - A GATHERING OF RAVENS by Scott Oden

(Title: A Gathering of Ravens / Author: Scott Oden / Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books / Publication Date: June 20, 2017)


Let me first begin by saying that I absolutely love Norse mythology.  I have been obsessed with it since I was a boy and remember vividly walking to the public library on the corner of my street to check out any book that I could find on the subject.  I had heard smatterings about Scott Oden's A Gathering of Ravens from various social media outlets and I must admit that the cover of the book instantly caught my attention when I saw it.  

I mean what's not to like about the image of a huge black raven swooping down in a menacing manner against the backdrop of a gray sky?  I really had no idea when I first heard about the book that it had a heavy Norse mythology influence, I just wanted to read it because the buzz was all positive and from people who I greatly respect.  That and it just seemed like a book that I would enjoy.  By sheer luck a representative from Transworld Books and Penguin saw me discussing the book on Twitter and asked me if I would like a review copy delivered to me.  I instantly jumped at the chance, since I had already made the decision to read it, and a week later the book was on my front step. Thanks go out to the publisher for providing that copy for me, I was extremely grateful to receive it.  So with book in hand I was more than ready to crack it open and begin reading it that evening and did so once the kids were fast asleep.

A Gathering of Ravens begins innocently enough in Scandinavia (Denmark to be exact).  Two travellers are seeking shelter from a storm for the night and stumble upon a secluded cave.  One is a Dane who has recently converted to Christianity named Njall.  The other is a Briton and also a Christian named Etain who serves as Njall's companion in Christ and friend who is also helping to guide him through his newly-discovered faith.  They begin gathering everything that they will need to hunker down for the night when they suddenly hear faint noises emitting from the back of the cave.  


At first they believe it may just be an animal startled by their presence but the squatter soon reveals itself to be an orc who is angered that the two have trespassed upon its lair.  The orc's name is Grimnir and after a heated back and forth he grudgingly agrees to allow Njall and Etain to stay in the cave until morning but makes no promises that they will awaken alive with the sunrise.  Njall and Etain take the orc's threats somewhat seriously but assume that he will keep his word and allow them to shelter for the night in relative peace.  That being said, they do not sleep too soundly and when Etain awakens early she discovers that their horse has escaped its mooring and run away.  After tracking down the horse she returns to find Grimnir brutally beating Njall to within an inch of his life.  

Grimnir takes Etain hostage and tells her that the only way that she will remain alive and not meet the same fate as Njall is if she promises to be his guide to England.  He reveals to her that he has an old score to settle with a Dane who slew his brother many years back.  Grimnir has been harboring an insatiable anger against the filthy Dane and wants nothing more than to exact his vengeance upon him.  What also becomes apparent is that Grimnir is the last of his kind, the last in a line of ancient monsters that once ravaged the land but are now all but extinct.  What is quite amazing about Grimnir is he insists that he has been alive for over a thousand years, telling Etain that he walked the land during the same time as Etain's "Nailed Christ" as he continually refers to the Christian God.  Grimnir's disdain of the religion is palpable and it is obvious that he has no time for it.  Etain is terrified of Grimnir but also puts her faith in her creator to help see her through the journey that Grimnir has forced her to embark on upon fear of death.  

As they travel to England to carry out Grimnir's murderous plot, the relationship between Grimnir and Etain slowly changes.  Is Etain having an effect on the volatile orc as she continually references her faith in their conversations?  Will Grimnir reconsider his plan to slay the killer of his brother?  What travails will be encountered along their journey to England and most mysterious, what is the story of Grimnir's life and how he got to where he is now?  Was he always a belligerent wretch or did he live a life of happiness and peace at one time?  All of these questions can only be answered by reading A Gathering of Ravens.  And some of the answers are not ones that you might expect.

Scott Oden has delivered a truly epic story with A Gathering of Ravens.  The fact that the book relies heavily on Norse and Celtic myths just served to ramp up my enjoyment factor.  Grimnir is a truly complex character who starts the book out as a murderous singularly focused creature who by the end of the book becomes so much more than that.  And therein lies the brilliance of this book, the characters evolve and become something other than what they ever thought they could be when we were first introduced to them.  


I couldn't help but make the connection to real life where people who you never thought would ever change begin to look at things differently when exposed to different people and experiences.  It also shows how our stereotypes are incorrect in most cases and that often when we pigeonhole people into just being a specific way or thinking a certain way, we find ourselves having to reevaluate our preconceptions.  Scott Oden does a masterful job of using Grimnir as that vehicle and shining a light on how we can sometimes put people in a box.  In addition to the characters, the world-building is just fantastic, taking place in the desolate reaches of Scandinavia and then shifting to Medieval Europe and England.  And yet even with these real places as the backdrop, Oden injects a significant amount of mysticism and magic that works as a wonderful dichotomy and makes the setting of the book a real treat to experience.  

This book was so good that I finished it in about four days.  I spent the last couple turning the pages feverishly well past my usual bedtime because I needed to know how everything would wrap up.  It has been a long time since a book has done that to me.  In the end, I found A gathering of Ravens to be one of my favorite reads of the year and a book that if you have not read it, you need to find a copy of soon and devour it like I did.  I can't recommend this highly enough to anyone who loves Norse and Celtic mythology but also just likes a page-turning fantasy that involves deep complex characters that seem to leap from the page.  Well done Scott Oden, I look forward to the next book in the series!

(My Rating: 9/10)

Comments

  1. Impressive review! So glad you chose to do this book. I'm a big fan of A GATHERING OF RAVENS and think it needs all the attention it can get.

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