SONS OF THUNDER
By Giles Kristian
(Bantam, R215)
Giles Kristian doesn’t pull punches with Sons of Thunder, the second in his action-packed series following the doings of the Viking Raven.
If you haven’t read book one, Raven: Blood Eye, then don’t despair. There are enough threads hinting at past events to give context, and Kristian really nails it when it comes to creating the grit, grime and violence of his adventurous Norsemen.
He effortlessly evokes his historical setting and the combat scenes are visceral and fast-paced.
In a nutshell, Raven and the warrior brotherhood he is sworn to travel into hostile territory with the aim of selling a holy artefact to an emperor, only to run into one misadventure after the other.
In the thick of things it’s difficult to imagine how Raven will get out of his predicaments, but the journey, although bumpy and bloody, is well worth turning the pages for and never fails to entertain.
Kristian backs up his writing with detailed research that harks back to his cultural roots.
He says: “My mother and half my family are Norwegian. I spent some of the happiest times of my childhood in and around the fjords of Norway’s west coast, where my imagination ran free, conjuring images of longships and warriors, driven by wanderlust, setting off from their island homes to go a-Viking.
“Of course, I’ve studied Viking and early medieval history, but none of it has ever really felt like research – more like simply indulging a passion. The period has occupied my mind to such an extent that I feel like I’ve ‘lived’ with Vikings all my life.
“Nevertheless, it was a trip to the fabulous Viking ship museum in Oslo that finally inspired me to begin writing Raven: Blood Eye.
“Seeing with my own eyes the famous Osberg and Gokstad ships, both of them unearthed from ancient royal burial mounds, blew my mind. They are incredible, the Gokstad being the most beautiful expression of boat-building I have ever seen.
“I based Sigurd’s ship, Serpent, on the Gokstad. I stood staring at that ship and the characters from my stories, faint as ghosts then, began to take their places at the row benches, their gruff voices seeping into the seasoned oak strakes.”
Although it’s quite clear that Raven is Kristian’s favourite character, the jarl Sigurd comes a close second, and a few others from the cast are memorable.
Kristian states: “I really like Sigurd. He’s a great warrior but he’s also a thinker, which is what a jarl worth his salt needs to be. I also like the way he doesn’t always do what the gods expect of him. He’s unpredictable, but in a tight corner I’d want him giving the orders.
“I also like Black Floki because he’s just a dark, nasty piece of work who would as soon cut your throat as look at you. I guess I shouldn’t like him but I do. He’s perhaps the most gifted warrior of them all, a natural born killer.
“I’ve also grown to admire Father Egfrith. I didn’t like him much at first, but he’s shown his resolve and hardiness. He may not be a warrior, but he has an inner strength that I appreciate. The little monk has come a long way with these hard men and shown no sign of giving up on his quest to bring Sigurd and Raven over to his Christ.”
Battle scenes in Kristian’s books are vividly portrayed, down to the smallest detail of the kind of armour and weaponry available during those times. He adds: “If it’s a battle scene, you have to try your damndest to make the reader feel as though they are in the fray, the blood slapping their face, the rancid stench of gore up their nose, the adrenaline coursing through their body. In these scenes of intense action, I try to avoid too much explanation, because I feel this slows the action down.
“I’m describing a fight in ‘real-time’ and so I keep the sentences short and sharp and the words abrasive, as through the language is mirroring each cut and thrust. I want it to feel raw and chaotic. Over-explanation would ruin this effect.
“I’ve always fought – fencing, karate, kickboxing, Krav Maga, rugby. I suspect this has helped me when it comes to writing combat scenes.”
Describing his creative process and writing environment, Kristian says: “Currently, I write in my study surrounded by books that I hope will inspire me. But I wrote much of Raven: Blood Eye in a coffee shop and some of it in my local pub.
“I wrote most of Sons of Thunder in a design studio in New York – hardly reminiscent of the Viking world. Now, writing at home, I find myself more easily distracted than ever before. What I’ve learnt from this is that there might be no such thing as your perfect writing environment. I have been known to moan that I can’t write unless I have my books around me, a great chair, a nice desk, a candle burning, the right music playing and so on.
“This is all a writer’s way of procrastinating, putting off the inevitable (enormous) task of writing a novel. It doesn’t matter where you are, you’ve got to get the words down, it’s as simple as that.”
Are there further historical adventures planned after Odin’s Wolves? “I have just begun writing the first book in a trilogy set against the backdrop of the English Civil War. In the 1640s war consumed the towns and shires of England as king and parliament fought for their religious and political ideals.
“Almost a quarter of a million lives were lost in these bitter struggles, which tore apart the very fabric of society. Armies marched, villages burned, dynasties were wiped out and ideas born of bloody revolution. It was that most cruel kind of war, of brothers killing brothers and fathers killing sons. Eventually, the musket smoke would clear and the battle cries recede. But the fate of the nation’s soul was decided and England would never be the same again. For me, this is historical plunder too bright to ignore.” - Nerine Dorman
* See www.gileskristian.com for further information.