All hail book bloggers and reviewers.

If you know a book blogger, I suggest you immediately sing their praises to the hills and perhaps arrange for a small offering of fruit, cookies, or gold. Seriously. I know there are some fantastic bloggers out there doing wonders for indie books, but not until I started writing the odd review on my own blog did I come to realise just what tremendous time and effort go into supporting the indie author community.

You see, despite my previous confessions regarding my habit of perpetually not finishing books, and never once to the best of my knowledge having eluded to any plans of becoming a book blogger, after my last post (see Sean Crow’s Valhalla Steel) my inbox was besieged by offers* from authors offering me books to read. 

*OK, so there were about nine of them, so it was a very small besieging. 

I did feel honoured to get those requests. As a writer, I know how hard it is to get reviews and how much they mean. Constraints on my time, however, meant I had to (politely) decline most of the requests. How bloggers do this with hundreds of queries is beyond me. Replying to the emails alone takes a lot of time, and that’s without actually reading the books or writing any reviews. So, to anyone that does this on a regular or full-time basis – I salute you.

However, amongst the books brought to my attention was ‘Hall of Bones’ – the Norse-inspired epic fantasy debut by Tim Hardie.

At the time, I was beta reading another book and didn’t have time to start anything new though I was intrigued by the premise. So with an unexpected hour or so to spare this week, I picked up a copy to idly flick through the first chapter in my usual non-committal manner with the aim of getting back to it later in the month. And then I kept on reading. 

‘Hall of Bones’ is a thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable book that seems to have flown undeservedly under the radar since its release. 

So, without further ado, I present to you my review**

‘HALL OF BONES’

‘Hall of Bones’ is a book that follows many a well-worn path. Comfortable in its styling and following similar themes and threads as other Norse-inspired tales that bring to mind ‘The Saxon Stories’ and similar works, albeit with a bit of magic and a touch of grimdark measured in with good effect. 

While some stories might come off as carbon copies of others in the genre, ‘Hall of Bones’ delivers a well-balanced mix of familiar fantasy staples and enough refreshing newness to make it stand on its own two feet. Much like spending an evening at your local pub, ‘Hall of Bones’ gives you something somewhat familiar yet entertaining, enjoyable, and with a compelling cast of intriguing characters and enough surprises to keep the pages turning.

Protagonist Rothgar is a good narrator for the story. I enjoyed Hardie’s choice to split the time spent with him between Rothgar’s childhood experiences and his later torments to allow the character room to grow with the reader. What we see is not a fully formed, battle-worn warrior, nor a ‘special child’ with inexplicable talents, but more a normal boy born into a life of high expectation, learning, and growing as he traverses a dangerous path from early adolescence to young adulthood. His journey is believable and hard-wearing. Admittedly in the latter part of the book, I did find Rothgar creeping ever so gently towards being too self-pitying (before some staunch supporting characters take him to task not a moment too soon). 

Surrounding Rothgar and his family is a complex network of various clans with allegiances that can shift and change on a misplaced comment or dirty look from across the feasting hall. With so many clans to keep track of, it can be a little confusing who is who in the greater scheme of things. However, enough time and attention is given over to each of the main characters to make it easy to define the key players – if not all of their minions and followers. 

The author has placed a handy guide in the back pages that refers to each clan and their respective members. This was a nice touch and served to cement the intricate ties and bonds that keep the world turning.

Hardie builds a world easy to envision and grimly reminiscent of true historical events in its portrayal of the hardships suffered by characters at both the top and bottom of the pile. The plight of child-bride Nuna had me drawing parallels to that of Matilda, (daughter of Henry I, whose life story is quite fascinating). 

On a related note, gender roles in ‘Hall of Bones’ are decidedly that of traditional fantasy. With an emphasis on strength and physicality being the cornerstones of manhood, while the women (the ones in power at least) play their hand more subtly. Otherwise, the women are largely assigned to the roles of home-makers, spell-binding temptresses, and lovers.

That being said, the author gives time and attention to ensuring he offers much more than cut-and-paste characters. Glimpses into the fears and vulnerabilities of his male warriors make the ragged, burly brotherhood more human. Glances of the resolve and wits of the female characters give them a welcome sense of autonomy. There are certainly some kick-ass matriarchal characters that quite honestly I wouldn’t bet against in a fight. It is also refreshing to see that Hardie does not rely on rape and sexual violence tropes as seen so frequently in these kinds of stories (though the themes are referenced). 

The plot itself is thoroughly absorbing, setting a good pace in the first half of the book with political intrigue, arranged marriages, and betrayed loyalties abound. The second half is given over to more action and magic and takes on a decidedly grimmer tone that will likely resonate with fans of Game of Thrones. The move from scene to scene can be a little quick and at times I felt a little hurried towards the end, however, Hardie builds his story to a rousing and tension-driven final act, with a semi-conclusion that lends itself well to set up for the sequel and leaves plenty of opportunity for further growth. 

Overall, ‘Hall of Bones’ is an enjoyable story for anyone wanting a quick escape into an easy, satisfying read. It’s the kind of book you could read sitting by a fireplace on a winter night. 

I found there were occasional places where sentences did require a quick second read, and a few places where an out-of-place turn of phrase did take me out of the story, however, the good qualities of this book far outweigh any criticisms.

‘Hall of Bones’ deserves much more attention than it has garnered so far and I’ll happily read the sequel when it comes out.

**I’m still not a book blogger. If you have a book coming out and you’d like me to review it feel free to ask, however, I have no intentions of starting a ‘review site’. I may pick up your book. I may not. I may say I won’t, but then change my mind. I’m flighty like that. Also, for a full list of reviewers/bloggers that you really ought to be following, I’ll be posting a non-exhaustive list of suggestions in the comments. Feel free to comment and add to it. Please do read their blogs/sites, always check for current statuses with regards to accepting review requests before contacting, and for the love of all the thundering gods, never forget how awesome these folks are.