Thunder God

by Paul Watkins

In this time of violent change a young man, struck by lightning, is believed to be marked by the gods as a keeper of the Norse religion's greatest secret. To save the Norse faith and himself, he embarks upon a journey, where he must confront not only his own gods but the gods of a people yet more savage.

"'The action sweeps across oceans and continents... As with all Watkins' work, the writing is terse and physical, the themes big and resonant.' Tatler;
'A Viking Odyssey... Thunder God vividly charts the voyages of Hakon, a fisherman's son who is struck by lightning, kidnapped by raiders, taken to Miklagard (Constantinople), where he becomes part of the Emperor's personal guard, caught up in a raid on the Welsh coast, storm-driven across the Atlantic...' The Times;
'The rich physical descriptions are matched by an equally sure understanding of the ways of religious belief... This unusual, fluent novel suggests that Watkins remains a force to be reckoned with.' Sunday Telegraph; 'A thundering good read... Watkins is a master of suspense, and his action sequences have a visceral power' Sunday Times"

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Historical, Adventure

321 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Paul Watkins is an American author who currently lives with his wife and two children in Hightstown, New Jersey. He is a teacher and writer-in-residence at The Peddie School, and formerly taught at Lawrenceville School. He attended the Dragon School, Oxford, Eton and Yale University. He received a B.A. from Yale and was a University Fellow at Syracuse University, New York. His recollections of his time at the Dragon School and Eton form his autobiographical work Stand Before Your God: An American Schoolboy in England.

Writes crime fiction set at the birth of Stalin's Russia under Sam Eastland.

Reviews

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A rip roaring,absorbing historical novel filled with action and adventure, as we follow the adventures of the young Norseman Hakon and his friends. Hakon is struck by lightning which due to Norse superstition makes him an outcast. He is later seized in a raid by the Drakkar vikings, sold into slavery and taken to Miklagard (Constantinople)and joins the Byzantine Emperor's elite Varangian guard. He returns later to Norway with his Welsh companion Cabal and reunite up with his friends Olaf and Ingolf and his enchanting beautiful sister Kari who marries Cabal, after which he raids the Welsh coast with Cabal and then is lost at sea landing up in Mexico of the Mayas. Fulling of exciting journeys and the clash between the Christian religion then invading northern Europe and the ancient Norse paganism, bloody battle scenes and vivid descriptions of new destinations. not quite an epic but an absorbing, exciting, hard to put down work of historical novel.

[WarpDrive · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gripping; a source of good, old-fashioned fun. Well-written, with an interesting story and characters.
I am happy that I completely ignored the few negative reviews.

[Perry Whitford · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young viking boy called Hakon is coaxed out into a storm by a localized spirit known as Sasser Greycloak, only to be hit by lightening. He is chosen to be an apprentice pagan priest to costal Altvik, which brings with it the knowledge of a powerful secret, but soon after the town is raided by plunderers and Hakon is taken away as a slave.

Hakon serves a hulking warrior called Halfdan for 12 years, who becomes a member of the Byzantine emperors personal militia, the Varangian Gaurd. When Halfdan is killed he wins his freedom and, in the company of a Celt named Cabal, returns home to learn the fate of his family and resume his religious duties, in the face of opposition both within and without.

Set in the latter part of the 10th century, the time when the Vikings became officially Christianized, Watkin spins a convincing, anachronistic-free tale (at least s far as I could tell) which covers three continents, links the myths of civilizations on opposite sides of the globe and explores the theme of the conflicts which arise with the dying of one religion and the flowering of another.

In the the Norse religion there are many gods and the spirit world is co-existent with the material, separated only by a thin veil, a belief system that Watkin makes real in simple, effective prose:
"Even possessions which had seen many years of service took on a kind of life, burnished into them by the sweat of their owners. You could feel a faint vibration of it; in a sword or a shield, a set of carpenter's tools or even an old pair of shoes".

Hakon retains his native beliefs in the face of Christian trickery and force, but ultimately his harrowing experiences lead him to make a very different conclusion about the utility of faith, whereby a quest story becomes a cautionary tale, as relevant today as it was a thousand years ago.

A decent read.

[Antonio Arch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paul Watkins is an extraordinary writer; I was convinced of this after reading of his childhood and education in his autobiography "Stand Before your God" and am just as impressed with his storytelling abilities in "ThunderGod".

His strength lies in his ability to imagine himself and describe to the reader what daily life might have been like in a long-gone way of life. His account of politics, economics and technology in the last days of Pagan Norway are so convincing that I imagine they might not be far from fact and reality. His characters are wonderful and you'll be relating to them personally by the end of the first chapter, even if, like me, you have no previous interest in this particular place and time in history.

This is an accomplishment of a novel!

[Henry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was going to give this book 2 stars till I realised that there was a deeper lesson about religion. This book is not as accurate and rich as Tim Severin's Viking trilogy, but makes up for it by the internal voyage that the main character went through and what he ultimately learns.

[Wren Handman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I keep thinking historical fiction is magical and getting disappointed when it isn't. Spoiler alert! There's nothing mystical in this book.

That being said... The writing is really strong, and I enjoyed learning about the world and the historical setting. As it progressed I began to feel like the plot was meandering a bit, and I didn't really feel like it was going anywhere. The one raid is very odd and wasn't that satisfying. The end, where spoiler-free let's just say MADNESS HAPPENS, was dumb. So dumb.

But the writing was lovely and I was engaged all the way through, so it still gets a solid three stars.

[Speesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being captured by Viking raiders as a boy, was clearly something of a problem in Viking times, because as with 'The Long Ships,' this is how Hakon's story starts. What follows, is an extremely interesting, powerfully affecting and very hard to put down journey through several key points and themes of the Viking world. If you are aquainted with any of the more interesting Viking legends, you'll find them referenced here. For instance, the Swedes who journeyed east, leaving rune stones behind to mark their progress. The 'Halfdan' who was with them and and is noted on those rune stones, features, and it was he who carved his name in runes on the base of the column in St. Sophia. On this level, it reminded me of Tim Severin's 'Viking' series, (which are very good, I hasten to add), however, the incidents as told here, fit more with the flow of the story, rather than checking them off on a list as Severin's books did sometimes feel like they were doing. Severin's book(s) - as 'The Sea Road' by Margaret Elphinstone - dealt with the Viking's voyages to North America, this one doesn't, quite. I don't want to give anything away, though if you are at all interested in such things, 'cutting edge' theorising about who went where and when, back then, perhaps the later stages won't be so strange. Read it, you'll be entranced and satisfied, that's all I'll say.

'Thunder God,' is probably the book Robert Low thought he was writing when he was struggling with finding (yet) another way to describe bad weather's evil portents in with the quite dreadful 'Crapbone.' And, unfortunately for anyone who slogged through that mire and wants to go knocking on Low's door asking for that time back, someone known as 'Prince Crowbone' does come disturbingly close to putting in an appearance here. Well, we knew Low was basing, however loose and dull, his books on real events I suppose.

However, 'Thunder God' is really good. It is a compelling, enthralling, perfectly written, poignant, illuminating, satisfying read. As mentioned above, there are clear echoes of 'The Sea Road,' (there's something in the Celtic waters, when they turn their hand to Thunder God Reversewriting about Vikings), in the way the Norse are fatalistically melancholy. Historical Fiction writers are agreed that they were like this anyway. It's hard to say what the book's overall theme might be. Perhaps not so much about the inevitability of Christianity coming to forceably replace the power the Viking gods held for the Norse people - though that 'peaceful,' 'turn the other cheek' Christianity effectively brought an end to the Viking age just when it was starting to get interesting, always bugs me in novels and non-fiction. Don't know about you. Perhaps it's that the characters in the book are slowly coming to the realisation that really the only 'gods' they need, that they can depend on, are themselves. The main character(s) seem to want the old gods to continue, but it's never at the expense of this new 'White Christ.' They never seem to want to defeat the new religion, unless it wants to attack them. Which it does. It always seems that the Vikings were pragmatic enough to envision this new god fitting in to their own system, with the potential of being turned to by them when his expertise is needed, like they did with their own. They can't understand why he is thought so all-powerful to not need help from other gods. Their gods basically tell them 'sort it out yourselves,' when followers of the new god pray that their new god will sort it out for them. The Norseman/woman in the street, converted to Christianity for practical, down-to-earth reasons. In order to continue doing business with their trading partners, these partners demanded the Vikings to be Christan, so they changed. The 'demanding' nature of the Christian god, is what most authors pick up on and turn it into a black against white fight that can only have one winner. And the Vikings 'lost.' The book seems to be at one with the practicality of this thought and (in my opinion) says the Viking people generally, will only progress once they come out from under the shadow of over reliance on the belief in their, or any, gods. Which in a way, to come away from the fatalistic melancholy of dependence on the gods and do it yourself, is what their gods were all about...

'Thunder God' is one to stand shoulder to shoulder with the best, most entertaining, effective and rewarding Vikings novels I've had the pleasure to read, no doubt about it.

More, equally as good as this on Speesh Reads

[Paulo "paper books only" · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is the tenth century, the Viking era is waning and Christianity beginning to supersede the old Norse beliefs. Hakon is a young boy brought up on the Norwegian coast, and, having survived being struck by lightning, he is chosen to be the priest of the old religion and keeper of its secrets. But Hakon's calling is not an easy one - there are jealousies at home, and during a raid on his village he is seized and enslaved. His journey takes him to the Byzantine imperial court, where he spends years as a member of the Varangian guard, the Emperor's elite bodyguards. Gaining his freedom, Hakon eventually returns to Norway to resume his position there. Again, stability is short-lived: this time his existence is threatened by missionaries of the new religion, and he sets out on another, even more dangerous mission that takes him further than he could have imagined, in an attempt to preserve the ancient life and beliefs of his people.
Several errors that made me not enjoy the book as it should...
First the Germanic beliefs were polytheistic (many gods), not pantheistic as Watkins describes (i.e., that they saw godhead or lifeforce in everything). His depiction of the origin of the Nordic pre-conversion belief is simply preposterous.
Thunder God is an average story with shallow characters and short on detail. I found it lacks the grit and realism of Household Gods and the historical accuracy of Severin's Viking trilogy- books that have in abundance what this book tried for.
Other Mistakes... Kari it's a man's name... (see Njal's Saga for the exploits of Kari Salmondarsson, one of the great viking heroes of all time).
In one remarkable oddity King Olaf Tryggvesson is repeatedly referred to as Trygvesson or King Trygvesson as though this were his last name. In fact, it wasn't since last names were not used in those days. Hakon Magnusson's own name poses a problem, too, since the name "Magnus" is Latin based and entered the Norse lexicon with the coming of the Christian priests. But the era in which Hakon's father grew up is clearly pre-Christian so his name is remarkably out of place.
It's just unrealistic to suggest that dragon ships were easily manageable by one or two or even three men alone as Watkins does. While he does seem to have familiarity with sailing, he doesn't convincingly translate that into a description of how Norse sailing vessels actually worked.
The dialogue and mindsets of the characters also ring false. Olaf tells the returned Hakon that their old childhood friend Ingolf "hates (his mother) for never letting him grow up as much as he hates himself for never having the courage to move out on his own." (p. 115)
There are other passages that seem unrealistic and out of time...
In the end, this is readable and, if you aren't too hung up on historical accuracy, characters appropriate to their era, and stories that are tightly plotted, you may want to give it a try.

[Emy M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quick Pointers:
*When I give a rating I try to keep them as regarding the genre of the book. For example if I review a horror novel it would be in regards to other horror themed works I’ve read, NOT every single book I laid my mitts on. I mean, imagine comparing “A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo” with “The Picture of Dorian Gray”…. HOW??!!! Either way, have fun and be good to one another.
*All out of 10

Plot: 3/10 As interesting as the read was, overall the arc itself felt kind of pointless to me. This was definitely one of those books where the journey was better than the destination. I think the author was trying to do too much all at once. There were too many plots happening one after the other and I couldn’t find a satisfactory conclusion to any of them. There’s about four book plots jammed into one and it didn’t work.

Flow: 7/10 Overall enjoyable though it could be slow at times. The best thing about this book was the writing itself. Some of the description are very unique and left a lasting impression.

The Grand Finale: 4/10 I honestly didn’t like it. I like that there was no happily-ever-after cop out ending but I felt like I got nothing. It rang completely hollow to me and really invalidated the hardships of Hakon’s whole voyage. The whole time Hakon fears and fights against this mammoth force steadily taking over everything he was raised to believe and at the end it just goes away…. What the BEEEEP??!!! Seriously though, that ending was complete BS.

Love Interests/Angles: 5/10 I suppose there was only one love tryst to speak of and I really enjoyed it but that too just fell flat on its face by the end. Life is hard and all that but why bother building the relationship at all for such a delusionary conclusion?

Main Character: 7/10 The whole book follows Hakon’s life story and I must give credit where credit is due, the guy is likable. He doesn’t really have a personality which I suppose worked in his favour because it was easier for me to step in his shoes.

Supporting Characters: 7/10 Overall I liked them but just between you and me, I want to punch Olaf in the face. You will too.

Villain(s): 4/10 There’s no one real villain here. I suppose the fear of something new, such as Christianity, invading and forcing adulation despite protest could be considered a source of discord.

Audiobook (if listened to): -

Recommend?: Not really. It’s not a bad read but I would consider this a holiday book. You know, one of those books you pick up in the airport and forget in the hotel before returning home. If you’re looking for a Viking saga there are better options out there.

[Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly astonishing book. Although it took me a few chapters to get into, once I had understood the author's style I allowed him to take me on a virtual travelogue of the Viking world, following in the lead character's globe-trotting footsteps.

Paul Watkins is a literary author who normally writes contemporary (or near contemporary) fiction, so this is something of a break for him, but he writes in an assured, confident style that would have you believe he's been authoring historicals for years.

His research is exemplary and the strength of the various settings is the book's strongest asset. As a literary author, he adopts a more philosophical style than many blood 'n' thunder writers, so this is far from an action story filled with battle sequences. Instead, it's a thoughtful, often melancholic look at the world through the eyes of a disillusioned Norse priest and his friends, enemies and allies.

Religion plays a big part of the book. The subject usually bores me but not here: I enjoyed following the character's relationship with it, and often found what was said to be profound.

Criticisms have been levelled at the book's climax, which some believe to be unbelievable. I disagree. Not only do the events portrayed have archaeological reasoning and evidence behind them, but the author's bold style is never less than believable.

My favourite parts include a gruelling boat voyage across the Atlantic and a violent attack on a Welsh village which is exceptionally well-written stuff. A beach encounter with a Christian missionary has also stayed in my mind.

Great stuff.

[Beorn · Rating 2 out of 5]

An initially promising read which gradually disappoints and frustrates.
There is undeniable some noticeable promise shown when you start this book, as the author does have a skill for rich, believable characters and detail. After a while however though he seems to fall into the trap of each sentence seeming to focus more on a nonchalant parroted description of physical details and aesthetics than building an atmosphere or something to immerse yourself.
It's all the more frustrating when you can see beneath the surface that the potential is there for a truly good read that would be completely engrossing and very memorable, the author just for some reason stops short of delivering the Scandinavian saga you can sense lurking within the pages waiting to be untethered.

Fans of Tim Severin's fiction would probably enjoy this book as it is rather similar to what books I've read of his, but if you're looking for a more engrossing, gritty or realistic Viking-centred tale, you'd be better off heading for books by Giles Kristian and Robert Low.

Overall, this book is one of those ones that starts off great, slides inexorably downhill and by the time you're midway through you wish you could start all over again and do it all differently.
There's distinctly traceable promise here for Watkins as an author, it's just that this book doesn't particularly do him many favours as it's far more filler than killer.

[Brian Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tale of a viking taken as a boy by raiders, growing up in the Varangian guard and then having various adventures as he makes his way home as an adult.
Apparently being touched by the gods, there is a conflict as Christianity tries to take a hold in their lands, and he helps to resist.
It's fairly predictable, and has been done multiple times before, so nothing really surprising in it.
The characters are well written and still make it a good page-turner of a book.

[Shay Noble · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a bit of an odd one, I neither liked nor disliked it, it was just...okay. The story took me on a journey around many different lands, religions and walks of life and I became rather attached the the main characters. If you're looking for an interesting read with a peek into the Norse faith then 'Thunder God' is for you. If not, I'd give it a miss.

[S.E. Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this novel overall, and it was well written. For me the main problem was how it ended, not so much the character's and his friends redemption, (although the narrator was a strangely sexless creature) rather the final twists, which for me were unconvincing.

[Iain · Rating 2 out of 5]

not very gripping, nothing much happens, don't remember a whole lot but was happy to keep reading it

[Sufi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Varangians kicks ass

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable but instantly forgettable tale of a young man in the Viking era who is kidnapped during a raid but eventually finds his way home.

[Nathan Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite what the title suggests, the book follows the life of a fictional Norseman from his boyhood not long after the sacking of Lindisfarne through his manhood. Through his eyes, the reader experiences life in Medieval Norway, the adjacent lands of the Sami, the Varangian guard of Byzantia, the intervening Balkan and Rus lands, southern Britain, the Atlantic, and the Yucatan under the Mayans. There's a lot to digest and I had the distinct impression that Watkins has at least a breadth of knowledge and perhaps a depth as well. A good read to add to one's historical fiction library.

The author's Notes at the end put a few things into context.

[Danamanian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thunder God tells the story of a young boy kidnapped during a Viking raid, who eventually becomes a member of the Varangian Guard. Those days were incredibly brutal. Norse ways and the Norse religion are measured against other religions, and all are found to be destructive. Good story, well told,, but I was disappointed in the message.

[T Dou · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know how Mr. Watkins did it. But he put me into the journey of a young boy name Hakon and I truly felt as if I relived through his words ❤️

[Walter · Rating 2 out of 5]

the story was a bit all over the place, was like reading 3 novellas rather than one novel.

[Sorin S]

A

[Martin Molloy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this tale of a young viking being torn away from his home. My only gripe was the alarmingly high number of print errors. Faber and Faber 0/5.

[Jagoda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I cannot express it enough how sudden, crazy and true and mind-blowing this book was. Kick in a gut I'd say.
3,5

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This work of historical fiction seems incredibly slow compared to the pace of modern viking historical fiction however it was written back in the 1990s.
On the whole though it is an interesting tale that spans continents and seas as we follow the life of one young norse lad who seems forever marked by the old gods when he is hit by lightning and survives.
He gets kidnapped by raiders, lives the life of a slave, saves an Emperor of Constantinople, joins the Varangian Guard, gets involved in a raid on a Welsh church, cast adrift at sea, discovers the ancient Incan/Mayan civilisation of southern America and all somehow makes it back to see the faith of the old gods finally overturned by Christianity.
There are not many great battles, no beserk warriors, and even the raid doesn't end successfully - it does give you a sense of how a fairly avergae and rather lucky Aesir believing norse-man must have seen his world expanding not only through trade and exploration but also due to the conquering power of Christianity.
It is what I could call 'classic' viking fiction and is not an entirely disappointing read - if you can not get frustrated by the pace of it.

[Tracey Alley · Rating 2 out of 5]

If ever there was a book that tried too hard this is it. Mr. Watkins starts with an interesting premise but he fails to live up to the promises made in the blurb. All too often I found my attention wandering and had to drag myself back into the story. It feels clumsy and clunky overall and his characters, in particular his MC Hakon, feel one dimensional and fake. The many adventures that Hakon seems drawn into become very quickly overdone. While this one shows some promise on the whole I'd steer clear.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. Well written and well researched. The first part I found more difficult because even though the narration is first person, it felt more distant, almost as if what was happening had little to do with the main character. He didn't seem to get involved in his own life until he returns home. It was odd. But it got better and more immediate after that. The book is highly anti-religion. Towards the end it was clear that the author has a barrow to push, which was a shame, because for the most part the questionning about life and faith was reasonable and realistic.

[William · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book had great potential, but turned into a flop.

The charactors were under developed and many left you wondering why they were introduced into the story line at all. The story teller alluded many times to incidentst that happened in his life but never described the incident, nor explain why it was important.

The overall story line felt rushed, glossing over nearly an entire life span without felling completed or satisfied.

I think this book will end up in my Goodwill bag.

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was going to be an utterly dreadful book and not my thing at all. I picked it up on holiday after my brother had been reading it. I am so glad I did.

It is a thoroughly interesting and thus entertaining story about Norse gods and raises some interesting issues with religion. Recommended!

[Tristan Bransby · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book floated around the ship I worked on for a while so a few of us onboard actually read it. I think the consensus was that the author started this book with good intentions. He then lost the manuscript and started writing a different book some years later, then found the first draft and somehow managed to tie them together.