Robert Low's Oathsworn Series

JRTomlin · Post by **JRTomlin** » Thu April 14th, 2011, 10:35 pm

Has anyone else read this? I am rather a huge fan.

http://www.robert-low.com/

They're fantastically well researched and well written, in my opinion. Good Viking fiction is darn hard to find, but this is it.

parthianbow · Post by **parthianbow** » Fri April 15th, 2011, 9:29 am

Yup, read 'em all. Fantastic reads. So too are Giles Kristian's Blood Eye trilogy, the third of which, Odin's Wolves, came out last night. Rob Low's new book, The Lion Wakes also came out yesterday. It's about William Wallace et al and is just as good as his Viking books.

Watch out on You Tube for the 12 minute short film that Giles had made for his launch - I saw it in a cinema in London last night. Way cool! To give you a taster, check out this Viking filmby the company Giles used, Urban Apache.

annis · Post by **annis** » Fri April 15th, 2011, 9:58 am

I second Ben - the Oathsworn books are terrific and I also love Giles Kristian's Raven series (review I did for Sons of Thunder here). Just finished Lion Wakes which I found compelling, though it's very different in style to Low's Viking series. Robert Low has said he might come back to a novel about the uncanny Crowbone (Olaf Tryggvason) from the Oathsworn at some stage- I hope he does.

parthianbow · Post by **parthianbow** » Fri April 15th, 2011, 11:40 am

He will be coming back to Crowbone, Annis. The book's written, edited, ready to go, but his publishers have decided to sit on it until the new series takes off. I know not why. I don't want to wait, however!

annis · Post by **annis** » Fri April 15th, 2011, 9:15 pm

Good news, Ben, but yeah, could be a long wait, assuming it will be a couple of years before RL finishes with the Kingdom series- sigh...

Btw, I should say that I used the phrase "From the fury of the Northmen, O Lord, defend us" tongue-in-cheek for my SOT review. It doesn't actually date from the Viking period, contrary to general belief, but it is an entrenched part of popular Viking mythology. I know its blind use drives Robert Low to beserkr fury

I wouldn't be surprised though if the Northmen were the foe Rabanus Maurus had in mind when he wrote in his ninth century hymn Veni Creator Spiritus
Far from us drive the foe we dread,
and grant us Thy peace instead

Carla · Post by **Carla** » Sat April 16th, 2011, 9:36 am

That's one of those quotes that if it isn't true it ought to be

It's probably so persistent because it sums up the popular view of the Norse raids in 10 words flat; an economy the saga makers would have admired.

I came across the Oathsworn series only recently on the recommendation of an acquaintance, and was most impressed with the first one (haven't read the other two yet). Something about the style captures the flavour of the sagas, and that's not an easy feat.

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Sat April 16th, 2011, 11:33 am

I began reading The Lion Wakes one but couldn't get into it. The dialect kept snagging me and it wasn't clear who was telling the story - it was like being in a room with a lot of people all bellowing at once and you didn't know who to turn to for proper conversation. I thought there were some great turns of phrase and moments of prose, but I wasn't sold enough to persevere.

parthianbow · Post by **parthianbow** » Sat April 16th, 2011, 1:56 pm

[quote=""Carla""]I came across the Oathsworn series only recently on the recommendation of an acquaintance, and was most impressed with the first one (haven't read the other two yet). [/quote]

There are actually four Oathsworn books at the moment. More for your pile!

Carla · Post by **Carla** » Sat April 16th, 2011, 2:34 pm

Good point, I had forgotten about The Prow Beast. So many books, so little time....

parthianbow · Post by **parthianbow** » Sat April 16th, 2011, 2:36 pm

Arrr, I know. I sometimes feel like giving up, and never reading another post on here, or another book review section from the paper, or the Amazon recommendation lists. And then my eyes see a title, or a great cover, and I start reading...and end up buying something