Another challenging gem in Ms Gill’s historical fiction collection!
Having read plenty of books by this author, I was absolutely looking forward to her new historical fiction, Ring Breaker. Spoiler alert – the start of a series! (Fans will not mind this fact – I do believe they are expecting it:).)
The story is a Viking saga of Skarfr, a boy skald with a hint of more to come in the future. Adventure, magic, customs, bloodshed, endless political intrigue, brutal power struggle and my favourite – a slightly awkward acquaintance blossoming into a fated love (feels so weird to use ‘romance’ in a Viking saga like this one). The first chapter grabbed my attention instantly, with some brilliant lines by the author I have come to cherish so much, when she paints a detailed picture in a seemingly simple string of words.
Surprisingly, I must admit I struggled through the first third of the book, struggled to relax and get into the story and characters (with the exception of Hlif, the unusual girl with a knack for survival, not action-like, but diplomacy and knowing when to keep quiet). I wondered why it was taking it so long for me to get into the Viking world, especially remembering how enchanted I had been by Gill’s Troubadours and her ability to depict a world so different to ours in technology, yet similar in what drives people.
Ring Breaker has so many elements I deeply cherish in this author’s work – a meticulous understanding of the social, geographical and political elements of the era she writes about, deep dedication to character development, brilliantly paced events and the unfolding of relationships, brutality and passion depicted as plots unfold and not written in just to please the average reader with spectacle… She challenges the reader to learn while thinking, imagining and feeling all at once. She does it in Ring Breaker, too.
However, I was still struggling. Then it dawned on me – it was the language I had problems accepting. Not the author’s syntax style, but the Norse terminology and names. As always, Gill strives to be as authentic as possible, so in naming characters, places, customs, important objects, etc., she uses the Viking terminology appropriate for the time, respecting her duty to the readers and her mission as an author of historical fiction. It turns out it was the melody and sound of that language that represented an issue for me – it felt like trying to swim against huge, crashing waves. For me, the melody of that language is rough, rugged, almost brutal and merciless, just like the time of the e ents. Nevertheless, you live and you learn, so I did. Having discovered my own weakness (my sensitivity towards the sound of a language), I was able to adjust my swimming/reading technique, and read on. (Skarfr and Hlif have Estella and Dragonetz to thank for my persistence, the correlation between these series here not mentioned without reason, as Gill’s Troubadours will know.)
Naturally, Ms Gill’s plot did not disappoint – moreover, the ending of this first installment of the saga is fully promising and inviting for the fans who will wait in anticipation to see how Skarfr and Hlif move on in this turmoil of power struggles, bathed in blood, superstition and religion, and hope for a different life, in which they face a new mythical creature (one of my favourites but not spoiling here).
Overall, those who wish to learn about Viking history by being transported to the year 1139 should read Ring Breaker. Those who enjoy meeting a myriad of characters from those times, ranging from a beggar to a ruler, should read Ring Breaker. Those who wish to see how men treated women and how women treated men in poor and wealthy families then, and how much humanity has or has not progressed since then, should read Ring Breaker.Those who loved The Troubadours and would love to see the connection, should read Ring Breaker. Rise to the challenge – time travel with books!
Ring Breaker on Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B9P6TZ87/
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