Since the death of Ragnvald Eysteinsson’s father in battle, he has worked hard to protect his sister Svanhild and planned to inherit his family’s land when he comes of age. But when the captain of his ship tries to kill him on the way home from a raiding excursion, he must confront his stepfather’s betrayal, and find a way to protect his birthright. It is no easy feat in Viking-Age Norway, where a hundred petty rulers kill over parcels of land, and a prophesied high king is rising.

But where Ragnvald is expected to bleed, and even die, for his honour, Svanhild is simply expected to marry well. It’s not a fate she relishes, and when the chance to leave her stepfather’s cruelty comes at the hand of her brother’s arch-rival, Svanhild is forced to make the ultimate choice: family or freedom.

Drawing from the Icelandic Sagas, The Half-Drowned King takes inspiration from the true story of Ragnvald of Maer – the right hand man of King Harald Fairhair – and his sister, Svanhild, as she tries to find freedom in a society where the higher her brother rises, the greater her worth as a political pawn.

Hartsuyker’s The Half-Drowned King is the first novel in a viking trilogy set in long-ago Norway. It is a heavily fictionalised retelling of the Saga of Harald Fairhair, which was written in the 13th century. This swashbuckling debut is about family, friendship and love. It’s also about revenge and punishment.

Similar to Game of Thrones, The Half-Drowned King is full of murder, mayhem, betrayal and terrible life choices. The trilogy is about the rise of Harald, who eventually became the first King of Norway in the 9th century.

The novel switches back and forth between Ragnvald’s POV and his sister Svanhild’s POV. Ragnvald is twenty years old and incredibly bold and determined. He is betrayed in the opening chapters of the book — a plot orchestrated by his stepfather — and then over the course of the novel he swears allegiance to both King Hakon and then King Harald. He wants to win enough land and enough power to seek revenge on his stepfather.

“Ragnvald was not sure later what warned him; perhaps the quiet that lay over the farm felt deeper than that of sleep. He already had his hand on the hilt of his sword when he heard a woman’s low moan, a despairing sound.”

Svanhild is resourceful and independent, and has higher hopes for herself than just being someone’s wife. She escapes an arranged marriage but then cunningly aligns herself to her brother’s betrayer, Solvi. She then marries him.

“The days passed slowly at Hrolf’s farm. Whenever Svanhild could, she asked for work outdoors with the sheep and goats. Hrolf had few cows, for they could not survive well on such sparse grass. She stayed outside all day long, her hands growing brown in the sun, only coming inside and exposing herself to the barbs and sniping of Hilda’s sisters when she had to.”

Hartsuyker doesn’t shy away from depicting the torture and violence of that time period — rape, mutilation and slaughter. The battles and the raids stretch on for pages and the author does a great job of depicting those in enough detail so that the reader is interested, but not too much description where the reader is bored and needs to skim the chapter.

Ragnvald matures a lot over the course of the novel, learning that just because the land is his birthright doesn’t mean he’s earned it. He learns a lot about leadership and honour from those around him — he takes charge and makes smarter decisions. Additionally, Svanhild learns to trust her instincts and stick to her own decisions. She wants a say in her fate. She really comes into her own over the course of the novel, speaking freely to those that she disagrees with and escaping when she senses ill will against her.

The one downside to this novel is that there are way too many characters. I understand that this is supposed to be a retelling but there are so many people in this story and they all have obscure names that seem too similar. I often found myself confused and I had no idea who anyone was and I had to flick to the glossary at the back of the book to familiarise myself.

I recommend this to fans of Game of Thrones. It’s violent, bloody and murderous, but it’s also addictive and wildly enjoyable. I’m looking forward to the sequel.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Half Drowned King
Linnea Hartsuyker
August 2017
Hachette Book Publishers

A ruthless young assassin continues her journey for revenge. The sequel to Nevernight.

Assassin Mia Corvere has found her place among the Blades of Our Lady of Blessed Murder, but many in the Red Church ministry think she’s far from earned it. Plying her bloody trade in a backwater of the Republic, she’s no closer to ending Consul Scaeva and Cardinal Duomo, or avenging her familia. And after a deadly confrontation with an old enemy, Mia begins to suspect the motives of the Red Church itself.

When it’s announced that Scaeva and Duomo will be making a rare public appearance at the conclusion of the grand games in Godsgrave, Mia defies the Church and sells herself to a gladiatorial collegium for a chance to finally end them. Upon the sands of the arena, Mia finds new allies, bitter rivals, and more questions about her strange affinity for the shadows. But as conspiracies unfold within the collegium walls, and the body count rises, Mia will be forced to choose between loyalty and revenge, and uncover a secret that could change the very face of her world.

Godsgrave is the second book in the Nevernight Chronicles, an epic fantasy series about a young assassin and her desire for revenge. She deliberately sells her freedom so that she can compete in the gladiatorial games and kill the two men who were responsible for her father’s death — Scaevo and Duomo.

I’ve just realised that despite having read Nevernight (book one in the series), I haven’t yet reviewed it for this blog. SO after this I’ll be returning to where it all began so I can provide a review for the beginning of the Chronicles. If any of you haven’t yet started this series, don’t read my review of Godsgrave — too many spoilers! And believe me, this is not the kind of book you want spoiled. Jay Kristoff is the master of unexpected twists and turns and leaving the reader feeling like they had absolutely no idea what was coming. He leaves the reader in shock, awe, surprise, and at times devastation (he doesn’t shy away from killing beloved characters).

“Pig’s blood has a very peculiar taste. The blood of a man is best drunk warm, and leaves a hint of sodium and rust clinging to the teeth. Horse’s blood is less salty, with an odd bitterness almost like dark chocolate. But pig’s blood has an almost buttery quality, like oysters and oiled iron, slipping down your throat and leaving a greasy tang in its wake.”

The second book in a fantasy series usually falls victim to ‘second book syndrome’, where the plot is really just the characters plodding along and devising action and being mad about whatever revenge they need to get. Really, book two is just the characters getting from point A (the origin of the story in book one) to point B (the amazing showdown that occurs in book three).

However, Godsgrave is a marvellous sequel. It furthers the plot, which is what a sequel is supposed to do. We’re supposed to feel like there’s a mini story in each book of a series, and Jay Kristoff definitely delivered. All of the characters are three dimensional and you are really draw into each of their struggles. I wouldn’t be friends with some of them if I met them in real life, but I loved reading about them and I sympathised for them in the book.

“How did you come here?” she asked, looking at the track about them, the silhouette of Crow’s Nest in the distance. “This place?”
Bryn sniffed. “Bad harvest. Three years back. Village didn’t have the grain to pay our tithe to the Itreyan administratii. They locked our laird in irons, had him and his whole familia flogged in the stocks.”
“We didn’t like that,” Byern explained. “Me and Bryn were too young for our da to let us go, but anyone big enough to swing a sword march ed up to the magistrate’s door. Dragged him down to the stocks and gave him a flogging right back.”

Additionally, we come to understand more about Mia in Godsgrave. She is the orphaned daughter of an executed traitor. She wants revenge. Besides being an amazing swordsman (or swordswoman!), she’s ruthless, clever, intelligent and devious. At times she seems unfeeling, but she’s also inquisitive and trusting and funny. She develops a relationship with a female character (no spoilers as to who it is!) and we learn a different side to Mia. There’s more of Mia’s feelings and doubts written into this book. She starts to feel more relatable in Godsgrave compared to Nevernight. I finished the book feeling like I knew her better — her desires and motives. She struggles to embrace her darkin side and what it means to be darkin, especially after she meets another character in the book who is also darkin. I think that Mia’s darken side will be further developed in the next Nevernight Chronicles book.

What is my name?
“CROWCROWCROWCROW!”
Dark delight in her belly.
Warm blood on her hands.

Godsgrave is more brutal than Nevernight, upping the violence, fighting and death and describing it in more detail. The sex scenes in the book are also longer and described in more detail, and Jay writes these with sensitivity and understanding (for a man, he actually writes F/F sex scenes rather well). Once Mia is inside the gladiatorial collegium and fighting for her life amongst other warriors, she soon learns that what she thought was real might not be. Who she trusted might have betrayed her and she may need to realign her allegiances.

“Who’s Arkades?”
“The Red Lion, they called him,” Mia said.
“…Executus used to be a slave like us?” Matteo asked.
“Not like you, you worthless shit,” Butcher snarled. “He was fucking gladiatii.”
“Victor of the Venatus Magni ten years back.” Mia spoke softly, voice hushed with awe. “The Ultima was a free-for-all. Every gladiator who’d been signed up for the games was released onto the sand for that final match. One warrior sent out every minute until the killing was done. Must’ve been almost two hundred.”
“Two hundred and forty-three.” Butcher said.

I have to give a shout out to Jay for the ‘refresher’ at the beginning of the book. Normally, fantasy books just dive straight into the plot and it’s usually been at least a year since the last book and so I have no idea what’s happened. But there’s a few pages at the beginning of Godsgrave that list all of the characters and what happened to them in the first book. It was amazing. I didn’t have time to go back and reread Nevernight so I LOVED that I could read a recap in three pages. Thank you Jay!

A rather entertaining part of the novel is Mister Kindly. He’s a shadow who wears the shape of cat (although he is not really a cat at all) and he accompanies Mia on her journey. He lives by eating her terror. Some may think of this as a bad thing, but Mister Kindly allows Mia to be fearless. He takes away her fear and she is free to be her usual, badass self. As a result, she ventures head first into danger with no thought about her own safety. Luckily for her, she’s skilled enough to survive.

And of course, Jay Kristoff again provides hilarious footnotes throughout the book that not only provide backstory to the plot but also witty aside. In my opinion, they are optional. You don’t need to read them to understand the plot of the book but they are a fun, snarky aside to read throughout.

This book is an emotional rollercoaster. The stakes are higher and the pace moves faster and faster until you can’t put the book down and you’re desperate to get to the end. Just like in Nevernight, Mia has to go through trials and tests to come out as victor. But in Godsgrave, there’s more at risk. She needs to win. And win she will.

I recommend this to adult readers, because of the content. This is NOT a YA book. Most people would know this if they’ve read Nevernight, but I’ll repeat: this is not a YA book. It is a novel for adults. I also recommend this to lovers of fantasy. It’s an amazing series and I can’t wait to read the next book in 2018.

Godsgrave
Nevernight Chronicles #2
Jay Kristoff
September 2017
HarperCollins Book Publishers