God of Vengeance

The Rise of Sigurd 1

By: Giles Kristian

Narrated by: Philip Stevens

Length: 15 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

Norway, AD 785. It began with the betrayal of a lord by a king....

King Gorm puts Jarl Harald's family to the sword but makes one fatal mistake - he fails to kill Harald's youngest son, Sigurd. His kin slain, his village seized and its people taken as slaves, Sigurd wonders if the gods have forsaken him. Hunted by powerful men, he is unsure who to trust, and yet he has a small band of loyal followers at his side.

With them - and with the help of the All-Father, Odin - he determines to make a king pay in blood for his treachery.

Using cunning and warcraft, Sigurd gathers together a fellowship of warriors - including his father's right-hand man, Olaf; Bram (whom men call Bear); Black Floki, who wields death with a blade; and the shield maiden Valgerd, who fears no man - and convinces them to follow him.

For whether Ódin is with him or not, Sigurd will have vengeance. And neither men nor gods had best stand in his way....

God of Vengeance is a must-listen for all who enjoy thrilling, action-packed fiction - from Bernard Cornwell to George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones.

©2015 Giles Kristian (P)2015 Random House AudioBooks

Really good!

I read a lot of Bernard Cornwell and I felt that this was in some ways better than even his. Lots of action, lots of blood and characters you care about.

Fine adventure tale

Plenty of battle action and excellent pacing and character development. Use of marine-related metaphors and similes is first rate. Not quite up to Bernard Cornwell, but not far off. Fans of epic type historical fiction will be deep in their element.

Absolutely Amazing!

This was an incredible book that I just could not put down. Great writing and I cannot wait for the next one!

This is where it begins

I first learned of Sigurd when I listened to Giles Kristian's 'Blood Eye'. I immediately became infatuated with the the story and characters. at the end of the series I was saddened. That was until I found this book 'Blood of Vengeance: the Rise of Sigurd'.

This book is the beginning story of the early life of Sigurd and how he became to be the warrior and leader we know and love him to be.

The narration was full of energy and passion. Making you feel as though you were standing in the shield wall yourself with the iron smell of blood filling your nostrils.

If you like viking sagas, then you will love this one.

not bad, but could be better

Not sure how much was the reader and how much is the writer but it took me some time to get into the story. Giles is no Bernard Cornwall yet... but the general story is good and hopefully his writing improves with each book.

Join the Blood Fray

Would you listen to God of Vengeance again? Why?

Giles Kristian is a fabulous story teller and Philip Stevens totally brings this to life! If you haven't had your fix of stories where words like Blood-Rage, Blood-Fray, Iron-song, and Thor's Hairy Ass make regular and frequent appearances, then this is a book for you. Blood, intrigue, action, and violence come fully loaded in this one!

What other book might you compare God of Vengeance to and why?

God of Vengence is the prequel series to the unbelievably awesome Raven Series (Blood Eye, Sons of Thunder, Odin's Wolves). Here we meet Sigurd and learn of his story. Unlike many other Viking books that seem to be based on the Viking series on TV, this was very unique. Not only do we learn about Sigurd, but also about his very unusual crew, that he recruited here and there. Floki, Bram, Olaf...they all have very cool stories.

Which scene was your favorite?

Floki whipping big ass while chained to the Weeping Stone.

If you could take any character from God of Vengeance out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Floki

Fun book

Pretty OK book. Some factual inaccuracies, and the author has a thing for chopping people's hands off...like all the time hehe. But he got most name places right though.

Being from Norway myself, some of the narrator's pronounciations were, well, weird sounding.

But all in all enjoyable.

Best read I've had in a long time!

Best read I've had in a long time! Fans of Bernard Cornwell will Love it!

Proably a fine "yarn" but....

I'm sure this is a fine "adventure yarn" and I might someday return to it... but ... too many "Scandinavian / Norse" words that are impossible to understand in an audible version. Probably works fine in print but I simply cannot follow audibly...

The. Best. Audio book.

Best audio book I've ever listened to. Kristian delivers an engaging story, which is well paced and satisfying for anyone looking for a great viking saga. Fantastic voice performance by Stevens. His character voices are completely commited and he is a true joy to listen to. Could not recommend any more highly. I bought the next book immediately after finishing.

Blood, Betrayal, and Violent Vengeance

When Conn Iggulden praises a book it's more than enough for me to sit up and take notice. So, always keen to try a new author I have awaited the release of this book with more than a little eagerness. Was it worth the wait? Well, in brief Kristian has a new fan. This is fast-paced, bloody and brutal. Fans of Iggulden or Cornwell will find a happy new home for their ears in Kristian's care . . . if we can keep up of course because this is genuinely action packed!

Sigurd's rise is fast and compelling. The action scenes are excellent and the dark humour of the characters a consistent counterpoint. The narration from Philip Stevens is bang on and he brings the whole thing to life with plenty of enthusiasm. The scene of the vision in the marshes also shows how he can build a spooky atmosphere when required.

In summary if you like a fast-paced historical novel full of tough men, and women making and breaking oaths and don't mind your headphones getting a regular pelting of gore then this book is definitely one for you. For me, I pledge an oath upon Kristian's mighty sword-like pen to get the rest of his books as they are released on Audible. And he can hold me to that!

Cracking good story

What did you like best about this story?

I enjoyed the delivery of this story, the reader really got into the feel of it. Perhaps a little too graphic with some of the gory details, but not so much that it worried me!!

Any additional comments?

In my opinion, on a level with Bernard Cornwell. Will be looking for more in this series.

GOOD BOOK

I have over 300 audible titles and I have to say that the narration and performance of this book is one of the best I've heard. It's a compelling universe with a great story and awesome characters

Just brilliant!

A fabulous story brilliantly read! I've listened to all three in the series now and loved them. Almost makes being stuck on the M25 worth while!

Boys Own

A rollicking good yarn! Brutal,visceral and bloody in places but also tremendously exciting and guaranteed to stir the blood. Plot is simple but who cares it’s not about that it’s about bloody vengeance!

Superb

Loves it. Rips along with the pace that a cracking yarn should. Lots of characters, but it's a testament to the writer that they don't overwhelm the plot.
Fans of Gemmell won't be disappointed

Well read, good tale

Perhaps a bit long-winded.
Recommended for fans of historical fiction. I'm looking forward to listening to the next book in this series.

God of vengeance

Too long winded he writes five words when free will do a story quite good

Nice cultural details

The manly banter gets a bit old until you think and realize that in contemporary literature, the norse behaved exactly do. Good story line, no cliff hangers, great cultural details.

ripping yarn

story of vengeance from the betrayal of his father and brothers sigurd searches for a ship and men to crew it, the tale is excellently written with great characters and detail and narrated in a page turning fury unable to put down even into morning hrs as dark as parts of the story, Giles Kristian is God of Norse writing.