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skconaghan 's review for:
The Half-Drowned King
by Linnea Hartsuyker
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An epic tale akin to Beowulf in its content (but not in its telling, for there is literary genius in that ancient work). This was long and involved and takes a fine while to get to the climax, though it starts in the midst of the action.
There was a bland disconnect to characters for the first half of the novel, but in the second half, this improves and we get a bit more depth in various internal struggles.
One does have a lump of pity for Svanhild (the sister) in her yucky situation, but then she makes the most of it (as I imagine women did at that time, and still so often do...) and she triumphs over her own fears and abhorrence. She becomes selfless and caring—though she stands up for herself in all her actions, and this endears us to her over the course of the novel.
The dialogue was fierce and full of emotion: all the stuff of kings and warriors, and in one sense, I had to often remind myself that the author was a woman because this brute dialogue so often felt like it was coming from a man. The action scenes, thick with blood and violence and the thoughts of men at war (overwhelming guilt and remorse, anger and sorrow) gave way to cold and calculated political exchanges. A little romance skimmed the pages, but even in these, there was less connection to the characters than necessary to engage in the emotion of these wee affairs—for most of these mere sexual exchanges were also political or instinctual, brought to us in scenes of mindless pillaging and rape and exchanges of daughters for alliances. Ugh. What a world to endure as a woman!
Overall, this was a decent 3.9 —highly proficient and an obvious work of extensive research and much heart; I wanted to relate more to the characters—to feel their highs and lows—and if I can’t have that, I want the writing to be literary genius in even a little way, to sense more through the beautifully crafted words than is offered in telling, but please reel me into the emotion and drama! And while emotion and drama were present, I wasn’t quite in the thick of it, any more than any other decent storyteller could have compelled me with the description of scenes and the revelation allowed through dialogue.
There was a bland disconnect to characters for the first half of the novel, but in the second half, this improves and we get a bit more depth in various internal struggles.
One does have a lump of pity for Svanhild (the sister) in her yucky situation, but then she makes the most of it (as I imagine women did at that time, and still so often do...) and she triumphs over her own fears and abhorrence. She becomes selfless and caring—though she stands up for herself in all her actions, and this endears us to her over the course of the novel.
The dialogue was fierce and full of emotion: all the stuff of kings and warriors, and in one sense, I had to often remind myself that the author was a woman because this brute dialogue so often felt like it was coming from a man. The action scenes, thick with blood and violence and the thoughts of men at war (overwhelming guilt and remorse, anger and sorrow) gave way to cold and calculated political exchanges. A little romance skimmed the pages, but even in these, there was less connection to the characters than necessary to engage in the emotion of these wee affairs—for most of these mere sexual exchanges were also political or instinctual, brought to us in scenes of mindless pillaging and rape and exchanges of daughters for alliances. Ugh. What a world to endure as a woman!
Overall, this was a decent 3.9 —highly proficient and an obvious work of extensive research and much heart; I wanted to relate more to the characters—to feel their highs and lows—and if I can’t have that, I want the writing to be literary genius in even a little way, to sense more through the beautifully crafted words than is offered in telling, but please reel me into the emotion and drama! And while emotion and drama were present, I wasn’t quite in the thick of it, any more than any other decent storyteller could have compelled me with the description of scenes and the revelation allowed through dialogue.