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Gods of Bronze #2
Thunderer
THE STORM RISES…
A dark god demands blood sacrifice from his people and the godborn warrior Herkuhlos journeys to the west to defeat him.
But a far greater danger lurks amongst the megalithic stone circles of this strange new land that will take all his immortal strength to overcome.
On the wild shores of the cold northern sea, Sif is a young huntress of the Seal People. The spirit walkers of her tribe have mysteriously vanished and only she can find them.
Torkos the Devourer is finally free from his long captivity and now he is hunting the ancient goddess of the Seal People to claim her as his own.
But a son of the Usurper has tracked him from the east and if he is to win the war against the gods he must first destroy the godborn.
As the storm of battle rises, Herkuhlos must fight to stop the destruction of the peoples of the west, even as he questions what true strength really means...
GODS OF BRONZE is a thrilling historical fantasy series spanning the Third Millennium BC, a time when mighty gods and brutal demons still walked the earth. One immortal demigod must battle evil from the megaliths of Stonehenge and the labyrinths of the Minoans, to the city states of Mesopotamia and the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt and beyond.
This is the Heracles myth as you have never heard it before.
A dark god demands blood sacrifice from his people and the godborn warrior Herkuhlos journeys to the west to defeat him.
But a far greater danger lurks amongst the megalithic stone circles of this strange new land that will take all his immortal strength to overcome.
On the wild shores of the cold northern sea, Sif is a young huntress of the Seal People. The spirit walkers of her tribe have mysteriously vanished and only she can find them.
Torkos the Devourer is finally free from his long captivity and now he is hunting the ancient goddess of the Seal People to claim her as his own.
But a son of the Usurper has tracked him from the east and if he is to win the war against the gods he must first destroy the godborn.
As the storm of battle rises, Herkuhlos must fight to stop the destruction of the peoples of the west, even as he questions what true strength really means...
GODS OF BRONZE is a thrilling historical fantasy series spanning the Third Millennium BC, a time when mighty gods and brutal demons still walked the earth. One immortal demigod must battle evil from the megaliths of Stonehenge and the labyrinths of the Minoans, to the city states of Mesopotamia and the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt and beyond.
This is the Heracles myth as you have never heard it before.
458 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 24, 2021
48 people are currently reading
71 people want to read
About the author
Dan Davis
27 books210 followersI write action-packed sci-fi and historical fantasy. I want to immerse readers in another time and place and for my stories to be gripping adventures. You should love my complex heroes and hate the twisted bad guys.
If you like the sound of that then check out; GODS OF BRONZE (my new historical fantasy series), THE IMMORTAL KNIGHT CHRONICLES (bestselling historical fantasy) and the GALACTIC ARENA series (smart military scifi).
Thanks for taking an interest in my stories. Follow me here on Goodreads to keep up to date with releases.
You can get the Bronze Age fantasy novella THE WOLF GOD (it’s the GODS OF BRONZE prequel) now for FREE via my website: dandavisauthor.com
And why not come and say hello at my Facebook page: facebook.com/dandavisauthor
If you like the sound of that then check out; GODS OF BRONZE (my new historical fantasy series), THE IMMORTAL KNIGHT CHRONICLES (bestselling historical fantasy) and the GALACTIC ARENA series (smart military scifi).
Thanks for taking an interest in my stories. Follow me here on Goodreads to keep up to date with releases.
You can get the Bronze Age fantasy novella THE WOLF GOD (it’s the GODS OF BRONZE prequel) now for FREE via my website: dandavisauthor.com
And why not come and say hello at my Facebook page: facebook.com/dandavisauthor
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 1, 2021
This is the second novel in my Gods of Bronze series. Set in the Third Millennium BC, the godborn warrior Herkuhlos travels from his homeland on the steppe into northern Europe.
This was a remarkable time when steppe herders were migrating into lands ruled by farmers while hunter-gatherers lived on the coasts of Scandinavia. All three of these peoples are brought together in this story.
While the series draws on the myths of Herakles, it is also inspired by comparable figures from the mythologies of related peoples. In Thunderer there are elements inspired by the Norse myths of giants and gods battling and of course the figure of Thor.
In this story, Herkuhlos clashed with Torkos the Devourer also called the Boar who is determined to find the ancient goddess of the Seal People.
I'm really happy with how this story turned out and I'm especially pleased with the character of Sif and the world of her tribe and also with all the action and battle scenes.
I hope you enjoy the story. Thank you for reading.
This was a remarkable time when steppe herders were migrating into lands ruled by farmers while hunter-gatherers lived on the coasts of Scandinavia. All three of these peoples are brought together in this story.
While the series draws on the myths of Herakles, it is also inspired by comparable figures from the mythologies of related peoples. In Thunderer there are elements inspired by the Norse myths of giants and gods battling and of course the figure of Thor.
In this story, Herkuhlos clashed with Torkos the Devourer also called the Boar who is determined to find the ancient goddess of the Seal People.
I'm really happy with how this story turned out and I'm especially pleased with the character of Sif and the world of her tribe and also with all the action and battle scenes.
I hope you enjoy the story. Thank you for reading.
July 8, 2021
Wonderful book
Herkuhlos one again barely triumphs over one of the monsters he has sworn to the Sky Father to kill. We see him travel to a new country populated by several groups of people shorter than himself. I recommend this book to everyone.
Herkuhlos one again barely triumphs over one of the monsters he has sworn to the Sky Father to kill. We see him travel to a new country populated by several groups of people shorter than himself. I recommend this book to everyone.
March 23, 2022
I will not be able to face another one of these books.
The things I liked about this book and these were the things that kept me going to finish the book.
- The setting is very fleshed out and the historical research that went into creating it clearly shows. It was fascinating to be pulled into a Neolithic/bronze age Germany/Poland/Denmark.
- The writing style makes it very easy to read 150 pages for each sitting. You always want to know what happens next.
- The action sequences are well-timed and show the unfolding of a battle smoothly. I have walked away with a better understanding of the battle strategies needed with the war technology available at the time.
I walked away from this book disgusted by every character. Sometimes that is not a bad thing. You don't walk away from reading the Odyssey disappointed that Odysseus was immoral, petty, and cruel. He isn't a hero because he does noble things but because he does Great things. That is how I approached Herkuhlos in this story based on his actions from Book 1. He was going to enslave, kill more than he needed to, and oppress anyone and everyone he could because he was entitled to it. For the first 2/3rd of the book, he did just that and was painted as an bad person for doing so. I was impressed that the narrative seemed to be condemning him at all. However, by the end all the wind was taken out of my sails. It turns out Herkuhlos was not wrong for enslaving, butchering, and subjugating everyone to his rule, he just wasn't doing it godly enough! What is godliness? Go google "Top traits of an alpha male". I was perfectly fine accepting a protagonist that the world needs to stop a greater evil, sometimes your saviors are barely better than the alternative. What I cannot read more of is a story that insists Herkuhlos is growing into someone that is worthy of admiration.
While the question of "Am I supposed to like Herkuhlos?" is arguably still in the air, the reader is absolutely supposed to like Sif. She sure has a strong start. We have a young woman who has a drive to help her people by guiding them spiritually and medicinally, to uncover the mystery of her parent's disappearance, and reconnect with her brother. She wants these things because she loves her people and she seems completely uninterested in the traditional role of other women in her tribe. She doesn't look down on them, she just doesn't actively wish for the same destiny. If I had to guess, Sif was early on painted as an asexual person, with no past experimentation or desire to explore her sexuality by age 18-19. But this is Gods of Bronze, where there are no queer people or women who genuinely dislike submission to husbands. The scene where her mother actually says to her that she is too old and her womb longs to be filled and the men of the area can smell it on her? Textbook r/menwritingwomen. Would it have been so hard to include one sentence about Sif wishing for children or sex but that she is entirely unattracted to her options? It is only after she is physically offered up and taken that she does a 180 and is perfectly content with a life supporting Herkuhlos' journey and children until *one day* she will have the chance to fulfill her original dream.
I went into this book expecting to cringe at most decisions made by the characters. I was ready to embrace the setting of Greek epics and neolithic cultural structures. We would all hate to live in such a world today but it would be fascinating to see it brought to life. As much as these characters and narrators are convinced they represent virtue, we cannot agree with it. The series can't seem to decide what story it wants to tell. Is it a mythological epic story of an ancient era with minimal diversity of thought and experiences? Or is it a modern narrative of realistic people overcoming their personal struggles? If it's the first one, the long character development arcs are unnecessary. If it's the second one, represent that people are not all going to accept the status quo and dedicate way more time to character motivation and the impact of the journey on their psyches.
I hope others who continue to follow this series enjoy the ride way more than I did because there was definitely a lot worth reading here. I just can't handle a narrative that would try to convince me Odysseus-like characters are "worthy" of everything good in the world.
The things I liked about this book and these were the things that kept me going to finish the book.
- The setting is very fleshed out and the historical research that went into creating it clearly shows. It was fascinating to be pulled into a Neolithic/bronze age Germany/Poland/Denmark.
- The writing style makes it very easy to read 150 pages for each sitting. You always want to know what happens next.
- The action sequences are well-timed and show the unfolding of a battle smoothly. I have walked away with a better understanding of the battle strategies needed with the war technology available at the time.
I walked away from this book disgusted by every character. Sometimes that is not a bad thing. You don't walk away from reading the Odyssey disappointed that Odysseus was immoral, petty, and cruel. He isn't a hero because he does noble things but because he does Great things. That is how I approached Herkuhlos in this story based on his actions from Book 1. He was going to enslave, kill more than he needed to, and oppress anyone and everyone he could because he was entitled to it. For the first 2/3rd of the book, he did just that and was painted as an bad person for doing so. I was impressed that the narrative seemed to be condemning him at all. However, by the end all the wind was taken out of my sails. It turns out Herkuhlos was not wrong for enslaving, butchering, and subjugating everyone to his rule, he just wasn't doing it godly enough! What is godliness? Go google "Top traits of an alpha male". I was perfectly fine accepting a protagonist that the world needs to stop a greater evil, sometimes your saviors are barely better than the alternative. What I cannot read more of is a story that insists Herkuhlos is growing into someone that is worthy of admiration.
While the question of "Am I supposed to like Herkuhlos?" is arguably still in the air, the reader is absolutely supposed to like Sif. She sure has a strong start. We have a young woman who has a drive to help her people by guiding them spiritually and medicinally, to uncover the mystery of her parent's disappearance, and reconnect with her brother. She wants these things because she loves her people and she seems completely uninterested in the traditional role of other women in her tribe. She doesn't look down on them, she just doesn't actively wish for the same destiny. If I had to guess, Sif was early on painted as an asexual person, with no past experimentation or desire to explore her sexuality by age 18-19. But this is Gods of Bronze, where there are no queer people or women who genuinely dislike submission to husbands. The scene where her mother actually says to her that she is too old and her womb longs to be filled and the men of the area can smell it on her? Textbook r/menwritingwomen. Would it have been so hard to include one sentence about Sif wishing for children or sex but that she is entirely unattracted to her options? It is only after she is physically offered up and taken that she does a 180 and is perfectly content with a life supporting Herkuhlos' journey and children until *one day* she will have the chance to fulfill her original dream.
I went into this book expecting to cringe at most decisions made by the characters. I was ready to embrace the setting of Greek epics and neolithic cultural structures. We would all hate to live in such a world today but it would be fascinating to see it brought to life. As much as these characters and narrators are convinced they represent virtue, we cannot agree with it. The series can't seem to decide what story it wants to tell. Is it a mythological epic story of an ancient era with minimal diversity of thought and experiences? Or is it a modern narrative of realistic people overcoming their personal struggles? If it's the first one, the long character development arcs are unnecessary. If it's the second one, represent that people are not all going to accept the status quo and dedicate way more time to character motivation and the impact of the journey on their psyches.
I hope others who continue to follow this series enjoy the ride way more than I did because there was definitely a lot worth reading here. I just can't handle a narrative that would try to convince me Odysseus-like characters are "worthy" of everything good in the world.
February 1, 2023
Just as good as the first book, even if Davis' style feels a bit predictable at this point, it certainly doesn't ruin the story.
October 7, 2022
In this installment of Dan Davis's reimagined Hercules saga his young hero has hunted the yotunan (e.g. devouring demons) across the eastern steppes and into northern Europe. Wheras his superhuman strength, courage, determination, and basic small unit leadership skills have served him well against the giant monsters and their henchmen in Volume One, they are insufficient against the more sophisticated adversaries in this episode.
Dan Davis creates a world that reminds me much of Conan's Cimmeria. Thus, in my minds eye I see a young Arnold Schwarzenegger who portrays a young Hercules struggling with the fact that he can't win every battle through his own brute force nor can he count on the loyalty and obedience of followers compelled merely by custom or legal authority.
To fulfill his vow to destroy the evil Titans, Hercules needs to grow up quickly and learn to see the world as more than his personal chessboard and to figure out what makes people tick.
Dan Davis has done great job of mixing together Greek and Norse mythology with the mulish obstinacy of Robert E. Howard's Conan.
His research into the Copper and Bronze Ages in Eurasia was helped along by the scholarship of Marija Gimbutas (The Living Goddesses) and David W. Anthony (The Horse, the Wheel, and Language)
Prepare to be immersed in a deep and fascinating world where the sword-and-sorcery action is believable.
This is a superb novel. It's a long read, but quick and enjoyable. The writing style makes it very easy to breeze through. You always want to know what happens next.
Dan Davis creates a world that reminds me much of Conan's Cimmeria. Thus, in my minds eye I see a young Arnold Schwarzenegger who portrays a young Hercules struggling with the fact that he can't win every battle through his own brute force nor can he count on the loyalty and obedience of followers compelled merely by custom or legal authority.
To fulfill his vow to destroy the evil Titans, Hercules needs to grow up quickly and learn to see the world as more than his personal chessboard and to figure out what makes people tick.
Dan Davis has done great job of mixing together Greek and Norse mythology with the mulish obstinacy of Robert E. Howard's Conan.
His research into the Copper and Bronze Ages in Eurasia was helped along by the scholarship of Marija Gimbutas (The Living Goddesses) and David W. Anthony (The Horse, the Wheel, and Language)
Prepare to be immersed in a deep and fascinating world where the sword-and-sorcery action is believable.
This is a superb novel. It's a long read, but quick and enjoyable. The writing style makes it very easy to breeze through. You always want to know what happens next.
Read
December 8, 2024Good Book and Sequel
Dan Brown, being a historian has done an excellent job in this retelling of a half-God half-human hero from antiquity. As in Book 1, the battle scenes ate gruesomely gory. Early in the book I was disappointed in our heron for his ego lead him to seek the glory of men and women. He enjoyed the fruits of the flesh as he flaunted his arrogance, with disastrous consequences.
I am impressed that Brown revealed that the gods were immortal but had no power or control of the world or that within it. That's obvious to us in the 21st Century, but not so in the context of the story, so this was a monumental revelation to our hero. Yet he continued to call upon his god. Hmm.
The book ended on a strong note of hope; for our hero and for the people. I am looking forward to the next installment of this epic.
Dan Brown, being a historian has done an excellent job in this retelling of a half-God half-human hero from antiquity. As in Book 1, the battle scenes ate gruesomely gory. Early in the book I was disappointed in our heron for his ego lead him to seek the glory of men and women. He enjoyed the fruits of the flesh as he flaunted his arrogance, with disastrous consequences.
I am impressed that Brown revealed that the gods were immortal but had no power or control of the world or that within it. That's obvious to us in the 21st Century, but not so in the context of the story, so this was a monumental revelation to our hero. Yet he continued to call upon his god. Hmm.
The book ended on a strong note of hope; for our hero and for the people. I am looking forward to the next installment of this epic.
March 19, 2021
A great entertaining read
Thunderer is a good name for him, as that is what he will become. We watch Herkuhlos come of age through a well written story, a brash youth full of himself transition into a man and chief, we see him at his lowest and then at his best. Looking forward to further adventures and battles.
Thunderer is a good name for him, as that is what he will become. We watch Herkuhlos come of age through a well written story, a brash youth full of himself transition into a man and chief, we see him at his lowest and then at his best. Looking forward to further adventures and battles.
July 28, 2021
The Second book in the Gods of Bronze series takes us to Northern Europe. The people living in modern day Sweden make their living with hunting and gathering. A Mesolithic life durning the beginning of the Bronze age. This is historically correct with farmer and hearders being on the continent. In this book we see Herkuhlos grow from youth to maturity, while pursuing Torkos the Devourer.
November 12, 2021
Another good read
Yes book 2 finished and another good story about good and evil I will wait for the next one The author has been very clever if each monster gets killed in each book then he has a several more stories to tell and a long way to go before he kills them all keep them Coming
Roger Dodge
Yes book 2 finished and another good story about good and evil I will wait for the next one The author has been very clever if each monster gets killed in each book then he has a several more stories to tell and a long way to go before he kills them all keep them Coming
Roger Dodge
March 29, 2023
More like Jerkulos
Just a warning, our Herk is a bad boy for the first good 55% of the book. I think it must be unintentional hilarity at one scene in particular, I just started laughing. Still a fun read.
This author puts so much of his own research on YouTube! If you're interested in this era of human history, go watch!
Just a warning, our Herk is a bad boy for the first good 55% of the book. I think it must be unintentional hilarity at one scene in particular, I just started laughing. Still a fun read.
This author puts so much of his own research on YouTube! If you're interested in this era of human history, go watch!
June 20, 2024
same as book one in this series, if you're at all squeamish with descriptions of gore, just be aware that it can get graphic with those moments. very well written and a great storyline. honestly, i think the storyline in this one flows a little better than book one. looking forward to book three being finished and published!
July 9, 2021
unexpectedly strong character development
largely read it for it's time period, research, perspective. but have been pleasantly surprised at the quality of the writing
largely read it for it's time period, research, perspective. but have been pleasantly surprised at the quality of the writing
January 8, 2024
Great book, and an exciting continuation of the series. Our hero grows more mature, and the world we are immersed in is fascinating and historically relevant.
May 25, 2024
Book two of the series has a number of twists and turns, but leaves lots more scope for further development
June 25, 2024
Conan the Barbarian meets Mircea Eliade.
This book is the opposite of subtle. Between the descriptions and the plot points, the author makes it very clear exactly what he wants you to imagine and understand.
on top of that, the writing is very clunky. I feel like a lot of it could’ve been trimmed down, only by using less words, but also by not overexplaining every single thing in the novel.
I was constantly reminded of Conan the barbarian, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, if you want a fun read without much depth. Go into expecting that you will be disappointed.
This book is the opposite of subtle. Between the descriptions and the plot points, the author makes it very clear exactly what he wants you to imagine and understand.
on top of that, the writing is very clunky. I feel like a lot of it could’ve been trimmed down, only by using less words, but also by not overexplaining every single thing in the novel.
I was constantly reminded of Conan the barbarian, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, if you want a fun read without much depth. Go into expecting that you will be disappointed.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews