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Great Read - Another Winner From Nicola Griffith

I was a huge fan of “Hild�� and found, after some consideration, that I am equally pleased with “Menewood��.

I cannot call this book a particularly easy read, but I absolutely loved what made it that way! I felt immersed in not only the story, but also in Anglo-Saxon times thanks to a proliferation of Anglo-Saxon terms; times of day, names of months and moons, how their world was driven by natural forces and by nature. As a proud descendant of Celtic peoples I was enthralled to think that, for just I little while, I could immerse myself in what their world might have been like; how it might of smelled (rank most of the time I think!), what foods might have been cooked and served, how wounds were cared for just to name a few of my thoughts.

As for the continued story of Hild - well, it is so very well told and is peopled with such a crush of interesting and well fleshed characters that I felt as if I knew them - and, in some way, was invested in their futures and the outcomes of their bloody and vicious battles - because, make no mistake, this was indeed a time of brutality and bloodshed. Nicola Griffiths has a real talent as a storyteller who can make this time in history come alive under her well researched plot lines and skillfully created sub plots. What a talent Ms. Griffith has!

Why 4 stars and not 5 then? There were a few times when I thought things were a bit dragged out - and yet, even then, I remained fully vested in turning the pages of this most excellent book. In general I use 4 stars for books I loved reading and I tend to be rather parsimonious with 5 star reviews.

I did read this as an e-book (via the Kindle app) and I was very happy that I did because it was so much fun looking up words, phrases, place names, and other interesting tidbits as I read from an online Anglo-Saxon reference website.
A wonderful story and some historical instruction along the way - what a winning combination!

I should also mention that the afterward, historical notes, and pronunciation guide found the end of the book were excellent. I would encourage anyone who reads the book to spend a bit more time reading and learning from these pages.