Book: The Godless World (Winterbirth, Bloodheir)

[Munsu]

Well, I just recently started this book. I'm about 100 pages in and I'm really liking it so far.

This is the debut novel for a guy called Brian Ruckley, and it's the first book of a trilogy called 'The Godless World'.


Synopsis:
It is a world of ice. It is a world of blood. It is a godless world.

An uneasy truce exists between the Thanes of the True Bloods.

Now, as another winter approaches, the armies of the Black Road march south, from their exile beyond the Vale of Stones. For some, war will bring a swift and violent death. Others will not hear the clash of swords or see the corpses strewn over the fields. They instead will see an opportunity to advance their own ambitions. But all, soon, will fall under the shadow that is descending.

For, while the storm of battle rages, one man is following a path that will awaken a terrible power in him – and his legacy will be written in blood.



Reviews, commentary etc.

"If you are into big, bloodthirsty fantasy sagas, this one is well worth checking out." - Cheryl Morgan, reviewing for Emerald City.

"Winterbirth is written with great assurance and tells a gripping story that builds to a grim climax. No one who enjoys heroic fantasy should miss this." - Lisa Tuttle, reviewing for The Times

"An epic tale of revenge, betrayal and greed... an intriguing and imaginative story." - Dreamwatch

"This is a solid banquet of fantasy with plenty of diverse but complimentary courses and a rich red wine to accompany it; the religious warriors recall the troubled world of today while the main narrative is classic Heroic Fantasy - it can hold its head up high alongside accomplished masters such as the great David Gemmell." - Forbidden Planet website product review.

"An impressive piece of storytelling, fantasy writing at its best." - Dave Martin, reviewing for www.thebookbag.co.uk.
http://www.brianruckley.com/winterbirth.htm

Anyone here know about this book or has been reading it or has read it? For the time being I recommend it to you guys.

http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/51/9781841494241vr5.th.jpg (http://img299.imageshack.us/my.php?image=9781841494241vr5.jpg)

[Stitch]

If I've already seen the Lord of the Rings movies, do I really need to another trilogy like it?

[Abdula]

Lemme know how it turns out Munsu, I'm always looking for something to read but I'm kinda ambivalent since the last book you recommended to me turned out the be horrible. Well that's not exactly true, Wizard's First Rule was a great book, it was the other books in the Sword of Truth series that sucked, so its not you.

[Munsu]

Lemme know how it turns out Munsu, I'm always looking for something to read but I'm kinda ambivalent since the last book you recommended to me turned out the be horrible. Well that's not exactly true, Wizard's First Rule was a great book, it was the other books in the Sword of Truth series that sucked, so its not you.
Yeah, I don't feel quite confident when recommending a book as I don't understand book readers much. But, I did only recommend Wizard's First Rule (it was the only one I had read at the time), so I get some points for that :p.

As for this book, I've enjoyed it... it has a good mixture of the supernatural and good old sword fighting. I'll say this, it has quite a few characters in it, and they all get their fair share in the spotlight. Although there's one particular character that you might feel he's the main one, but overall everyone gets a good portion of the action.

The thing I liked most about it, is that it paid a decent amount of attention to the history of the world, and it refferences many times specific dates and eras and their significance to the current times.

I also liked how each chapter starts with an excerpt of some real book/diary (in their world) about a particular subject. It sets the mood for the chapter, plus it adds to the mythos of the groups of people, their beliefs, and their views of the world.

It starts off fairly slow, but it picks up as it goes on. I'll say this, for it to be his first novel, it's quite good and enjoyable. Again, you won't feel as he's an innovator or anything... you've probably read countless of novels like this one, but it's an easy read. At least I found it so. Everywhere I've seen online they praise the novel, so I can't be that far off the mark. But you people are too picky.

One thing to keep in mind, is that it doesn't have a good climax and it has a slow start... if you can get through that, I think you might enjoy it.

With that said, I haven't read the second book yet, I'm waiting for it to arrive. I've heard it isn't as good as the first one though, but that seems to be all talk.

[Abdula]

Sounds good, I'll see if I can pick it up sometime. From the way you described it and how balanced and well thought out the book seems to be, I think I'll find it enjoyable. I hate books that focus in too heavily on the main character and seem to ignore everyone else until its convenient and I'm not interested in an over the top climax either. Just as long as it makes sense and provides a satisfactory conclusion to the story.

I may be picky but once you get to know me I'm easy to please;)

[Munsu]

I just got my Bloodheir copy, hopefully I'll read it within a week or two. Not really in a mood to read at the moment. But I'll update on it when I do read it and give some of my impressions.