Wings of the Storm (3) (Sigurd) Paperback – March 1, 2017

I have now read six books by Giles Kristian. All the Viking novels. This last one Wings of the Storm was roller-coaster exciting and as with all of his novels informative and fascinating -- whether it's about Norse mythology, Viking weaponry, or Viking culture. Giles Kristian knows how to write a splendid novel. And talk about beautiful and poetic similes. I found myself continually highlighting his creative similes throughout all of his novels. Extraordinary imagination. This guy is THE DUDE in crafting a great Viking saga.

Great saga with great battles. Must read for the adventure seeker. I read all three and was riveted the whole time.

Such a good and brutal viking saga. I recommend reading all Giles and miles Kristian works. I have yet to be disappointed

I often thought Sigurd did some truly troubling things. Not that he was stupid, just didn't make highly intelligent or invite ful decisions.Also, I was bored to tears about the heavy debt of words extolling getting blasted drunk. For me its just irritating. The action was fairly good in its decisions. Good pacing in the action sequences. Too much introspection give tripe that didn't move the plot along.

Sigurd and his wolves, at the service of Dane warlord Alrik, find themselves besieged by Alrik's nemesis Guthrum. Surviving the siege, surly capture, and bloody sacrifice to the gods, Sigurd continues to follow his Odin-favored fate by turning foes into allies and raising a powerful warband to challenge the oath-breaker King Gorm Shieldshaker himself. The final confrontation is a savage affair with no quarters given, and ends Sigurd's saga as it began, in blood and gore.Both Sigurd and Runa come of age in this 3rd volume of the trilogy, rising to the Norns' challenges despite grievious wounds, bitter setbacks and the loss of faithful comrads.Set in a very genuine medieval Scandinavian setting, peppered with raw humor and bloodthirsty feuds, the serpentine story showcases the brotherhood of warriors in desperate times, the grim toll of faithful oaths, and the decisive value of sly cunning over brutal brawn. This Viking trilogy is my first read of Giles Kristian and has won me over as a fan!

Read the Raven series previously and while I liked them very well, I like this series even better. Giving me background on how the "Raven" crew all came together, and combining that with good writing, very good characters, and a decent plot all make a great book and a great series.The major part of the characters I liked was that many of the supporting characters were well written, they were unique as were their back stories. Many times in these type of books, the main character is written well, but all others blend into a porridge of sameness. In these books, these characters are all unique and that makes it easy to know, follow, identify with, (and occasionally mourn) these other characters as well.Highly recommend.

This is the 3rd book in the rise of Sigurd series, although I think the first one is the best of the 3 books this one is definitely a good read and I would highly recommend this series to any one who is a fan of Viking novels and or Vikings in general, or if you are just looking for a great adventure story with good action and great characters. I highly recommend this series for anyone who is interested in the dark ages too.

A time when men lived and died with only a thought to fight, kill and die honorably. And where each passing minute could be your last.

The journey continues for Sigurd and his loyal crew, lots of surprises and a great battle sequence at the end of the book.Great reading with good strong character's makes a page turning novel.

I am a prolific reader especially in regard to military and historical fiction more often than not based on real events.I write this review based on my decades of experience as such a reader and writer of thousands of reviews.Book three of the trilogy. Sadly the worst.This is a reasonably gripping storyline and manages, unusually, for this type of book to weave conflicts into a series of seperate tales without repetition following repetition of the same battle moves etc.I get the impression that this was very rushed. Repeats, word for word a great deal of book two.The tale progresses with our hero of the day building his close group of sidekicks. The myth and lore is very interesting.It gives the overwhelming feel of just how brutal the life must have been and just how murderous those in conflict must have been.Our hero has had some hard fights and developing both his reputation and a larger group of followers.He builds huge wealth and an armyVengeance, betrayal and blood.Going to a fight in which he is hugely outnumbered. He preveils.A readable tale, not quite a page turner but not far from it as I read this very quickly to in turn begin the nextOverall, worth the read to finish the trilogy but not close to as good as the first two books.It dies badly

Today is a sad day for me because I have finished Giles Kristian’s ‘The Rise of Sigurd’ trilogy’. I now forever say goodbye to Sigurd Haraldarson and his men. The trilogy will no doubt long remain in my top ten favourite trilogies for many reasons. Be it the story-telling, which is excellent and feels very in-keeping with how you would expect Vikings to act. The characters were top-notch as were the relationships they had with one another and the world around them in general. It could also be the raw violence and the brutal ingenuity in which Kristian wrote his battle scenes.It could be any one of these things and many more besides, all I know is that I just wish there were more books featuring these characters. I am, however, very happy to know that I have his other trilogy to get stuck into at some point. So looking forward to more Viking goodness in my future.As a big fan of historical war fiction, and a big fan of the Viking period in general, it was great to see this trilogy done so well. The no-nonsense style of the Vikings came flying off the page with every passing chapter. Giles’ writing style seems to fit the Viking time perfectly.The Vikings give any author a rich amount of lore to go along with as far as society, religion, raiding etc … goes and Kristian used it greatly. I particularly enjoyed how well he captured the god-fearing ways of the people and how religious fear and the overwhelming desire to prove themselves to the gods came through.The trilogy was filled with memorable characters both good and bad. My personal favourites being Black Floki (a man who, with a weapon in his hand, is a warrior of such skill that even the gods would think twice before fighting him). Olaf, (one of Sigurd’s father’s men and perhaps the most respected warrior amongst them. He’s always good for a bit of sarcasm and general poignant thoughts). Asgot (a godi/Viking priest who speaks to the gods and casts curses in their name). Svein, (a big, red-headed giant of a man who smashes his way through his foes) and, of course, Sigurd. Sigurd is ‘Odin-favoured’ which essentially means he is lucky and skilful to the point where men believe Odin is watching over him and sees him as a favoured champion.At its core, The Rise of Sigurd is a trilogy of vengeance. Sigurd seeks to kill King Gorm for the king’s betrayal and butchery of his family. The only mistake the king made in killing Jarl Harald and his kin was that he left Sigurd alive. Sigurd’s quest is to find men, the fiercest of warriors, and to eventually build and army to challenge King Gorm. What ensues is three books of Viking brilliance ended perfectly with Wings of the Storm.I’d highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys the Viking period and to anyone who is tempted to try and get into the dark nature of the Viking times.

I have now read all 6 books. I have given it 5 stars as the books have just been a rollercoaster ride. With one betrayal i really did not see coming.The 3 book prequel really did explain some things, and some really sad things too.Despite the raw and rough life you still cannot stop really feeling for some of those characters and can only wonder what horrors that they have endured to make them the way they were. But also respect them for their love and loyalty to each other.I hope now I have read where Sigurd come from, Mr Kristian will tell us Ravens origin.Great read, many thanks.

It felt a bit rushed to try and wrap the story up in places, maybe it would have worked better with one more book in the series. In my opinion this was the weakest of the trilogy, I didn't enjoy The Rise of Sigurd trilogy as much as the Raven trilogy. I liked the back story and seeing some of the characters from Raven (Uncle' Olaf, Svein, Bram the Bear, Black Floki , Asgot the godi). Sadly I didn't seem to enjoy the story as much,with the ending feeling like a let down after what started as such a good trilogy.