Thursday, December 22

Book Review: The Unbroken Line of the Moon by Johanne Hildebrandt

Author: Johanne Hildebrandt (Translated by: Tara F. Chace)
Title: The Unbroken Line of the Moon (Sagan om Valhalla #4)
Genre: Historical Fiction & Fantasy
Pages: ebook
First Published: October 1st 2016
Where I Got It: My shelf (Amazon freebie)

In this grand saga of love, war, and magic set in the tenth century, young Sigrid is destined to be the mother of the king of the Nordic lands that would become Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and England.

A devout believer in the old Nordic gods, Sigrid is visited regularly in her dreams by the goddess Freya, who whispers to her of the future. Though Sigrid is beautiful, rich, arrogant, and matchlessly clever, her uncanny ability to foresee the future and manipulate the present guides her through dangerous politics as a bloody war between Vikings and Christians rages on.

Sigrid’s father wants her to marry Erik, a local king, to secure the peace between the Goths and the Swedes. Thinking she is doing Freya’s will, she accepts the marriage offer, only to find that her destiny lies not with Erik but with Sweyn, a warrior who dreams of dethroning Harald Bluetooth, the legendary ruler of Denmark. Will Sigrid sacrifice her will for the greatest Viking kingdom of all time, or will she follow her heart at the risk of losing everything?

This was shockingly good. I didn’t expect to love this book. Why you may ask? Well…this was an Amazon freebie. It is for sure a hit or miss with anything that is free and especially Amazon book freebies. I except to either hate them or mildly enjoy them. This was one of those rare gems. I actually loved this. 

This book follows a few characters, but the main character is Sigrid who is a devout believer in the old Nordic gods. The goddess Freya gives her little hints and guides her to her intended destiny. She agrees to marry Erik to secure peace between her land and his lands. However, this was kinda an oopsie, because that was not who Freya meant. She was actually supposed to marry Sweyn whose plans are to dethrone Harald and unite all the lands as one. A huge mess of course.

At first, I didn’t really care for some of the POVs, but once all their roads finally met it all made sense and I liked them. I really loved Emma. Sure, she was an insane little thing, but she was the most interesting character in the story! The author actually did a good job with the switch between POVS, I was never confused. So huzzah on that. 

Oooooh religion…you nasty thing you. You truly know how to bring the worst out of everyone. So much blood…so much hatred. So sad. I loved how the author seemed to accurately bring this to light and wasn’t shy around the brutality of the time and of the hatred.

This is a translation from the original Swedish language and I felt the translator did an excellent job from my point of view. Like anything, I’m sure some things were lost in translation or not correct. I’m sure the original is WAY better, but since I do not speak Swedish….I do not have a point in reference. However, this flowed well and the story didn’t seem at all choppy or confusing. Yayy. 

My only complaint is that there are 3 books before this one, but they have not been translated yet, so I won’t be able to read them or anything after this book until they are. 
However, I do not feel that I missed anything, so this does well as a standalone. 

I am really wanting to read the next one! Gah!!!!! I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT! I know some but she is such an aloof historical figure…some historians even doubt her existence. Sighs. Women from that time are always forgotten because they were not worth writing down. So sad. :/

Anyways….this was a good book. The writing was good, the action had me on the edge of my seat, the characters were interesting, and the ending left me wanting more. I might have to learn Swedish now…GAH! Add that my list of languages I need to learn. LOL! I highly recommend this to those that like historical fiction that is a wee bit dark and has fantasy elements involved. Out of five stars, I’ll give this 5.












4 comments:

Melliane said...

it's so nice when you're surprised like that

Carole Rae said...

Yes! A good surprise. :D

Blodeuedd said...

I read the two first, they were depressing

Carole Rae said...

Ugh. I still wanna read them!!! Maybe you can translate the books for me!