Rebecca's Updates

Rebecca added 'Rán’s Daughters'

Wed, 26 Mar 2025 14:18:30 -0700

Rebecca gave 5 stars to Rán’s Daughters (Kindle Edition) by Kaitlin Felix
bookshelves: historical-fiction, favorites
I was very fortunate, lucky if not blessed to be granted an Advanced Reader Copy of this title, and I was also loosely familiar with the talent of storytelling Kaitlin had as I had read The Crescent and The Northern Star anthology which featured a short story that ultimately acts as a prequel, stage setting, for the world contained within Ran's Daughters.

I started it one evening and then by the 3rd evening I'd finished it.

It was incredibly immersive, it grips you from the start, grabbing your hair, your head and your heart so you have to cling to the edge of your seat as an exhilerating rollercoaster of events, drama and intrigue begin, echoing a feeling of very much riding the ever rising waves of a storm.

Gyda, the heroine of this book, is as strong in mind and body, as any other male viking hero of historical fiction. She stands superbly well alongside Uhtred of Bernard Cornwell's Last Kingdom series or Hrafn/Sigurd of Giles Kristian's trilogies. She faces a great deal of loss, heartbreak, betrayal and numerous near death experiences and yet she digs deep, adapts and rises again, and again, and again, learning to fight for more than her own reputation and livelihood and ship, but for those she loves - her crew of women, her daughters by bond if not by blood.

Yet there is equally a stunning cast of male characters from Kings to Jarls to oathmen, fathers and sons and foster-sons, friends, allies and enemies, that all play their part in Gyda's remarkable adventure, but she remains the centre of the tale, not once ever being shadowed by others.

The time period Kaitlin covers is a fascinating one, where the Viking kingdoms in Anglo-Saxon England are falternig if not falling, for only Jorvik remained free of the rule of Wessex's King Edward, where Dublin is dominantly norse with it's Jarl Olavi and is a key port for trade, slaves and silver. Kaitlin explores with both sides of the British Isles magnificently well with an immersive eye, capturing details and elements for the senses. Most significantly she showcases a world view of the Norse as traders, deal makers, explorers, - she never once depicts the women crew as a battalion of female warriors, they are Traders first in their own independent right as free women, albeit widowed and so have the right to use their silver to build and sale a knarr ship if they wanted. The reader will soon learn the many ways that women in Norse society could express themselves, their will and make choices regarding their lives. Not entirely free of men, but more often with support than not.

The last line of the book blurb really sums up how good this book is and how it is a very special book in breaking the mold and model of Viking Age Historical Fiction by featuring female characters prominently, intelligently and respectfully.

A saga of seasalt, blood, and gold, Ran's Daughters is a female-driven Viking epic like no other.

Rebecca wants to read 'Loki: New & Ancient Norse Tales'

Tue, 11 Mar 2025 06:21:44 -0700

Rebecca wants to read Loki: New & Ancient Norse Tales by Matt Ralphs

Rebecca is on page 222 of 368 of Odin

Tue, 11 Mar 2025 06:20:59 -0700

Rebecca is on page 222 of 368 of Odin.

Rebecca started reading 'Odin: New & Ancient Norse Tales'

Wed, 26 Feb 2025 05:36:43 -0800

Rebecca started reading Odin: New & Ancient Norse Tales by Charlie Shotton

Wed, 29 Jan 2025 13:39:10 -0800

Rebecca has read 'Rán’s Daughters'

Wed, 29 Jan 2025 13:37:58 -0800

Rebecca has read Rán’s Daughters by Kaitlin Felix

Rebecca wants to read 'Norse Myths: Tales of Odin, Thor and Loki'

Sat, 11 Jan 2025 14:50:17 -0800

Rebecca wants to read Norse Myths: Tales of Odin, Thor and Loki by Kevin Crossley-Holland

Rebecca started reading 'A Savage Moon'

Sat, 11 Jan 2025 13:12:47 -0800

Rebecca started reading A Savage Moon by Theodore Brun

Rebecca added 'The Weaver and the Witch Queen'

Wed, 08 Jan 2025 14:34:22 -0800

Rebecca gave 5 stars to The Weaver and the Witch Queen (Hardcover) by Genevieve Gornichec
bookshelves: historical-fiction
This is a truly immersive and wonderfully detailed Viking Age world where readers get to experience the rich culture, varied roles and religious practices, of the many women, from wives to daughters to grandmothers, and most significantly Volvas, or as they are termed in the novel, Witches. Readers will meet servants, slaves, and also weavers and other crafts women provided.
The cast of characters that surround and encounter the two female protagonists is as extensive as a full threatre or even a film. Each character shines and has surprises and secrets, motives and agendas, that either support or hinder the two heroines and the female figures that are the antagonists are equally challenging and it was a genuine delight and shock when one isn't revealed until near the end. I was personally impressed with the depiction of seidr magic, rituals, charms and runes used in the book. It felt very fitting and appropriate as befitting the historical era, reflected natural resources and materials available for ingredients and trance inducing herbs and plants.
It was a hugely enjoyable read from start to finish, many topics are explored and experienced in this book, from gender equality, relationships, trust, abuse, the cost of power, revenge and justice.
The book captures a small part of the lives of Gunnhilde, Mother of Kings and Eric, before he earned the nickname Bloodaxe, but as each was integral to the others rise to power, in a very turbulent period of scandinavian history, it is guaranteed to hook readers in and maybe leave them wanting to know more about the nation shaping characters they've met.

Rebecca started reading 'Echoes of Valhalla: The Afterlife of the Eddas and Sagas'

Fri, 27 Dec 2024 03:45:16 -0800

Rebecca started reading Echoes of Valhalla: The Afterlife of the Eddas and Sagas by Jón Karl Helgason