Northern Wrath (The Hanged God Trilogy, #1)

by Thilde Kold Holdt

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Northern Wrath is the first book in a historical fantasy trilogy by author Thilde Kold Holdt. Released 27th Oct 2020 by Rebellion, it's 616 pages and available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is epic campaign historical fantasy realism at its best. The plotting is so well crafted and seamless - bound and true to its roots of Scandinavian and Viking history and belief systems that it's difficult to tell where realism ends and shades into fantasy. The characters are wonderfully rendered and believable. It's compellingly written and exactingly put together. I'm frankly astounded and truly impressed that it's a debut novel.

I won't give a precís, other reviewers have done that. I will say that despite being a hefty doorstop fantasy, the action and characters move the plot along at a good pace - I never found the story dragging or overly convoluted. There's a fair amount of graphic violence and some body horror, along with frank descriptions of violence done to animals.

There will be inevitable comparisons between this book (and presumably the rest of the series) and Harry Harrison, Guy Gavriel Kay, and Brandon Sanderson. I submit that this book compares very favorably and I'm excited to see what's in store in future from this author. Definitely one to watch.

Five stars. Highly recommended to fans of campaign fiction, scandi-fantasy, and immersive doorstop books.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes