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Tiberius

Final chapter of Sigurd's revenge saga, bloody and unyielding

Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2017

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Sigurd and his wolves, at the service of Dane warlord Alrik, find themselves besieged by Alrik's nemesis Guthrum. Surviving the siege, surly capture, and bloody sacrifice to the gods, Sigurd continues to follow his Odin-favored fate by turning foes into allies and raising a powerful warband to challenge the oath-breaker King Gorm Shieldshaker himself. The final confrontation is a savage affair with no quarters given, and ends Sigurd's saga as it began, in blood and gore.

Both Sigurd and Runa come of age in this 3rd volume of the trilogy, rising to the Norns' challenges despite grievious wounds, bitter setbacks and the loss of faithful comrads.

Set in a very genuine medieval Scandinavian setting, peppered with raw humor and bloodthirsty feuds, the serpentine story showcases the brotherhood of warriors in desperate times, the grim toll of faithful oaths, and the decisive value of sly cunning over brutal brawn. This Viking trilogy is my first read of Giles Kristian and has won me over as a fan!

Angelo Eftimeo

Read the Raven series previously and while I liked them very well

Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2017

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Read the Raven series previously and while I liked them very well, I like this series even better. Giving me background on how the "Raven" crew all came together, and combining that with good writing, very good characters, and a decent plot all make a great book and a great series.
The major part of the characters I liked was that many of the supporting characters were well written, they were unique as were their back stories. Many times in these type of books, the main character is written well, but all others blend into a porridge of sameness. In these books, these characters are all unique and that makes it easy to know, follow, identify with, (and occasionally mourn) these other characters as well.
Highly recommend.

EdgeWise

Good read

Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2016

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This is the 3rd book in the rise of Sigurd series, although I think the first one is the best of the 3 books this one is definitely a good read and I would highly recommend this series to any one who is a fan of Viking novels and or Vikings in general, or if you are just looking for a great adventure story with good action and great characters. I highly recommend this series for anyone who is interested in the dark ages too.

John Davis

Love the Sigurd tales

Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2016

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The Sigurd tales may come to an end here, but I hope not. Great writing and wonderful story. I always get lost in the Viking world created by Giles Kristian. I will always buy anything else Giles Kristian writes.

David L.

Excellent!

Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2017

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A great read... well-woven plot lines with superbly detailed and seemingly realistic battle scenes. Only critique is that so few of the "good guys" die that much of the potential tension in the warriors' life is lost. I would prefer a bit more of George RR Martin's willingness to kill favored characters.

This trilogy is definitely worth the read.

ekakolewski

Really enjoyed

Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2020

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This was a wonderful series and I am now going on to read the other books. Well done and a pleasure reading. Thank you to the author for never giving up.

Kindle Customer

One of the best Viking series available

Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2017

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Giles Kristian knocks one out of the park again! This final (I wish it wasn't) chapter of the Sigurd Haraldson series. It picks up at the fort they just captured and prepares to defend it against an onslaught seige with tons of colorful storylines and well developed characters.

Jody

A great ending to an exciting trilogy

Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2016

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Giles Kristian is one of those writers that has the Billy to take you into the action of his story. Every page is as good as the last and knowing this makes the next chapter even more exciting. The only downside is that the end of the story comes too soon. Great work!

Top reviews from other countries

Dogbite Dave

Disappointed with this conclusion to the trilogy

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 23, 2019

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I am a prolific reader especially in regard to military and historical fiction more often than not based on real events.

I write this review based on my decades of experience as such a reader and writer of thousands of reviews.

Book three of the trilogy. Sadly the worst.

This is a reasonably gripping storyline and manages, unusually, for this type of book to weave conflicts into a series of seperate tales without repetition following repetition of the same battle moves etc.

I get the impression that this was very rushed. Repeats, word for word a great deal of book two.

The tale progresses with our hero of the day building his close group of sidekicks. The myth and lore is very interesting.

It gives the overwhelming feel of just how brutal the life must have been and just how murderous those in conflict must have been.

Our hero has had some hard fights and developing both his reputation and a larger group of followers.

He builds huge wealth and an army

Vengeance, betrayal and blood.

Going to a fight in which he is hugely outnumbered. He preveils.

A readable tale, not quite a page turner but not far from it as I read this very quickly to in turn begin the next

Overall, worth the read to finish the trilogy but not close to as good as the first two books.

It dies badly

ChrisT

probably the best Viking saga I ever read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 15, 2017

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I think this is the 1st 5 star rating I ever gave, I just read all 3 Rise of Sigurd books straight off. Even better than Kristian's Raven series.
Fascinating to read the back stories of Sigurd's crew from 'Raven', 'Uncle' Olaf, Svein, Bram the Bear, Black Floki , Asgot the godi and the rest.
This trilogy is very heavy on Norse mythology, the influence of the gods, particularly Odin, Thor, Loki and Freya is evident on almost every page, but during the course of the story a seeress predicts the coming of the new 'White Christ' religion when the old gods will be forgotten. I would recommend this series to anyone who's even remotely interested in the Vikings and their heritage.

Swords and Spectres

Did not want the trilogy to end

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 9, 2019

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Today is a sad day for me because I have finished Giles Kristian’s ‘The Rise of Sigurd’ trilogy’. I now forever say goodbye to Sigurd Haraldarson and his men. The trilogy will no doubt long remain in my top ten favourite trilogies for many reasons. Be it the story-telling, which is excellent and feels very in-keeping with how you would expect Vikings to act. The characters were top-notch as were the relationships they had with one another and the world around them in general. It could also be the raw violence and the brutal ingenuity in which Kristian wrote his battle scenes.

It could be any one of these things and many more besides, all I know is that I just wish there were more books featuring these characters. I am, however, very happy to know that I have his other trilogy to get stuck into at some point. So looking forward to more Viking goodness in my future.

As a big fan of historical war fiction, and a big fan of the Viking period in general, it was great to see this trilogy done so well. The no-nonsense style of the Vikings came flying off the page with every passing chapter. Giles’ writing style seems to fit the Viking time perfectly.

The Vikings give any author a rich amount of lore to go along with as far as society, religion, raiding etc … goes and Kristian used it greatly. I particularly enjoyed how well he captured the god-fearing ways of the people and how religious fear and the overwhelming desire to prove themselves to the gods came through.

The trilogy was filled with memorable characters both good and bad. My personal favourites being Black Floki (a man who, with a weapon in his hand, is a warrior of such skill that even the gods would think twice before fighting him). Olaf, (one of Sigurd’s father’s men and perhaps the most respected warrior amongst them. He’s always good for a bit of sarcasm and general poignant thoughts). Asgot (a godi/Viking priest who speaks to the gods and casts curses in their name). Svein, (a big, red-headed giant of a man who smashes his way through his foes) and, of course, Sigurd. Sigurd is ‘Odin-favoured’ which essentially means he is lucky and skilful to the point where men believe Odin is watching over him and sees him as a favoured champion.

At its core, The Rise of Sigurd is a trilogy of vengeance. Sigurd seeks to kill King Gorm for the king’s betrayal and butchery of his family. The only mistake the king made in killing Jarl Harald and his kin was that he left Sigurd alive. Sigurd’s quest is to find men, the fiercest of warriors, and to eventually build and army to challenge King Gorm. What ensues is three books of Viking brilliance ended perfectly with Wings of the Storm.

I’d highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys the Viking period and to anyone who is tempted to try and get into the dark nature of the Viking times.

Mr. Ray. Brown

Fantastic conclusion to a Brilliant series.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 10, 2017

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I have followed the rise of Sigurd and his crew religiously . The Raven Blood Eye trilogy was full of action, drama and battles. It had me completely hooked on Giles Kristian as an Author, His English Civil War series was Brilliant.
The feud between King Gorm and Sigurd because of Gorms treachery becomes a bloody and violent affair, following Sigurd's attempts to raise an army to depose Gorm and the backstabbing twisted machinations of the various protagonists make for a compelling read.
Wonderfully written and researched, the whole series makes the entire Nordic world come alive,
Keep up the good work Giles, we want Sigurd to return.

Josephine

Great Story telling.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 16, 2018

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I have now read all 6 books. I have given it 5 stars as the books have just been a rollercoaster ride. With one betrayal i really did not see coming.
The 3 book prequel really did explain some things, and some really sad things too.
Despite the raw and rough life you still cannot stop really feeling for some of those characters and can only wonder what horrors that they have endured to make them the way they were. But also respect them for their love and loyalty to each other.
I hope now I have read where Sigurd come from, Mr Kristian will tell us Ravens origin.
Great read, many thanks.

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