Back in February, in my first
ever Sword & Sorcery Roundup, I had said I’d be showcasing an upcoming S&S
novel titled Raknar: The Northman penned
by Ryan W. Aslesen. Well, the time has come to talk about Raknar’s first outing
in audiobook format. Do the contents of the promising cover art deliver the
goods? You bet they do, and then some! Raknar
was released on Audible on March 21st, 2023 but the paperback/kindle
versions of the novel were published on July 23rd, 2022. The
audiobook is narrated by Michael Kramer.
Here is the book’s official
synopsis: “The heart of a Northman beats
only for more blood.
Heir
to the Bear Clan of Valheim, young Raknar anticipates the day he will become
chief and lead his clan across the sea to pillage foreign shores. When his
village is sacked, his clan put to the sword, Raknar must forge a new destiny,
alone.
Captured
during a raid on the Kingdom of Acheron, Raknar is enslaved by the diabolical
Queen Zakara. She forces him to fight as a gladiator in the pits, but her true
interest in Raknar lies in the fulfillment of a dark prophecy that will provide
her an heir and unlock unworldly power.
Escaping
to the exotic land of Byzantia, Raknar steals to survive, captures the heart of
Princess Yabala, and is banished by the emperor for his impudence. Unable to
win Yabala’s hand, he becomes a raider on the steppes, certain he will never
see her again. But the gods have other plans for him. When Raknar learns that
Queen Zakara has kidnapped Princess Yabala, Raknar must return to the dungeons
of Acheron to face the queen and her fell sorceries once and for all.
Raknar: The Northman is the first stand-alone novel set in the
gritty Hystoria fantasy world.”
Ryan Aslesen is a bestselling
author who’s written over a dozen military sci-fi novels in the Crucible and War's Edge series. To my knowledge, this is his first venture into fantasy/Sword
& Sorcery. He’s no doubt a seasoned writer, and it shows because this is a
hell of a fun book! Fans of Robert E. Howard’s Conan will especially get a kick
out of Aslesen’s Raknar character. He’s a barbarian cut from the same cloth as
Howard’s Cimmerian. It feels like this could easily have been a young Conan
story. It’s different enough not to call it a Conan pastiche, but it retains
the essence and the ingredients that make a great Conan tale. In fact, I
enjoyed Raknar: The Northman more
than I did last year’s new Conan novel, Conan: Blood of the Serpent.
There’s an awful lot going on in
this story and it moves at a fast and furious pace. The book is filled with a
ton of action (at times quite brutal), lots of sex, and a colourful cast of
characters that populate Raknar’s world. Aslesen uses modern vocabulary in his
dialogue to depict these characters from a bygone era and it makes the story
more exciting. We get to see Raknar’s evolution from a teenager to a young man and
witness him having to navigate obstacles that will contribute to make him a
strong warrior and eventual leader of men. He plows through many battles, gets
intimate with a plethora of women, and triumphs over adversity whether it be in
gladiator matches or against fantasy creatures. There’s a bit of sorcery/fantasy,
but overall, the sword portion is more predominant than the sorcery part of the
book. Michael Kramer gives a fantastic performance narrating the nine plus
hours worth of storytelling. From his delivery to voicing the different
characters involved, he keeps the flow of the book going and maintains our
attention for the duration.
If you’re looking for your next
fantasy or Sword & Sorcery listen/read, then look no more—Raknar: The Northman is bound to satisfy
your cravings. It’s a standalone story and I find that refreshing when it seems
nowadays that almost every new fantasy book that comes out is part of a trilogy
or ongoing series. Here’s hoping we get another volume of Raknar’s adventures
soon with a simultaneous print/audiobook release next time.
Rating: Five
stars out of five
Get your copy on Audible
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