Thunder God

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 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 Best Read Thunder God [ By ] Paul Watkins [ Kindle ePUB or eBook ] – kino-fada.fr 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 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 Halfd...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 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...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...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.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 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 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 year It is the tenth century, the Viking era is waning and Christianity beginning to ...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.H A truly astonishing book Although it took me a few chapters to get into, once I had un...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 focuson a nonchalant parroted description of physical details and aesthetics than building an atmosphere or something to immerse yourself.It s all thefrustrating when you can se 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 ...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 li...I enjoyed this book Well written and well researched The first part I founddifficult because even though the narration is first person, it feltdistant, 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 andimmediate 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 f I enjoyed this book Well written and well researched The first part I founddifficult because even though the narration is first person, it feltdistant, almost as if what was happening had little to do with the main character He didn t seem to get invol...

• English
• 02 September 2017
Paul Watkins
• Paperback
• 321 pages
• 0571217982
• Paul Watkins
• Thunder God