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To me, this book seems to be the epitome of a Boy's Own adventure. Of course, I could be wrong and simply biased in my judgment because of my own essential femininity, but.... Osric is a misfit. The year is 802 A.D. and he has lived in Abbottsend for two years, apprenticed to Ealhstan the carpenter. Ealhstan is mute, having lost his tongue for some offence. Nonetheless, his work is valuable to the community and although Osric is feared by many because of the blood clot in one of his eyes, his work, too is useful. Osric has no memory of his life prior to his life in Abbottsend but one day, his community is visited by the Viking Sigurd and his rapacious crew. Obviously Osric's ability must have stemmed from the company of Vikings, otherwise, surely, he would not have come by their language with the facility that he displays when he is coopted into Sigurd's savage company. Sigurd's reaction to Osric's marred eye is different from the superstitious villagers' reaction. He claims that Osric's eye is from Odin, so he is not averse from taking the lad - and Ealhstan - with him. Osric is needed to replace one of Sigurd's men, who is killed when the Norseman's attempts at trade fail and they meet with treachery from the villagers. Killing seems to be an essential part of Osric's nature, so he settles happily into life in Sigurd's band as they go from place to place, engaging in bloody battle with both farmers and warriors alike. It is Sigurd who honours Osric with the name "Raven." When Sigurd and his men encounter English Ealdred, they are set the task to recover the Book of St Jerome, a book containing the four gospels, from King Coenwulf of Mercia, into whose hands it has fallen. The strength of this novel, for me, lies in the description of the various cultures and places as seen by Raven. The descriptions of the way religion plays an enormous part in the lives of both the English and the Norse is fascinating. The book is part of a trilogy. Raven will, of course, be older in the next episode and no doubt there will be progress in the romance which begins with an attraction to English Cynethryth. I just hope there will be less rapine and pillaging in the next novel, but I really don't have much hope of a respite.
Reviewed by Denise Pickles, April 2009
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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