Sword of the War God

There are ways of writing a historic epic. The current trend is more towards long drawn-out sagas over several books, sometimes up to twenty or more. This allows you to really get to know the characters and read about them for decades, keeping you and the author busy for years. They are great but can be a little slow and some books feel like filler. Another option is to write one stonking adventure in a single tome. Throw it all in their; action, betrayal, real life characters, folklore. Behold Tim Hodkinson’s Sword of the War God. 

Like many of the Barbarian clans of Europe, The Burgundars had been managing to fight off the waning power of Rome, but in one battle the Romans brought with them a formidable ally in The Hun. With their cruel tactics and horsemanship, The Hun are the critical factor in a battle that leave the remaining Burgundars spread across the known world. This story is of how this clan reformed to take on the might of Rome and The Hun, with the aid (or hindrance) of a mighty blade. 

I do not like to read too much about a book before embarking on reading it as I have been burned before with spoilers on the back cover that reveal a secret from the end of the novel. I instead like to go in afresh and I am glad that I did with Sword as I did not know what to expect. I read it as a straight historic novel, and as my knowledge of 5th Century Europe is a little poor, I did not cotton on that several of the characters are more folklore than fact. 

Reading it straight did not detract from the story, it has that classic historic fiction feel to it. The opening act is the downfall of our hero and then the rest of the book is their resurrection and revenge. Hagan is initially the centre of the book, one of the survivors of a brutal battle with The Hun, but as the book progresses, we also follow the story of The Burgandars King and the King’s sister. These three friends begin to drift apart as the reality of power gets closer. 

To the side of these characters were some names that felt familiar to me; Wodnas, Siegfried, Lokke. Turns out that this is a retelling of the origins of the Norse Gods! However, it is not told in a fantastical manner, but like any other historic tale that would have been based on true history. The book felt heightened to me, but only in the way that a Bernard Cornwell story does. An embellishment on reality, rather than a true falsehood. 

With characters like Atilla in the book, it is grounded in the real. The battles are brutal, the life of many of the characters is harsh. Heroic characters like Hagan are flawed, sometimes making the wrong decisions. Even the sword itself is not cartoonish. It is simply a well-made blade that people have given a sense of power to. Who wields it is no God. Atilla's own brother pretended to have it for years and it did him no harm – until Atilla decided enough was enough. 

There is a lot going on in Sword and on occasion it does feel like the kitchen sink has been thrown in. It is set over many years and takes in many events. I like a solo outing, but there is a reason so much historic fiction takes place over a series of books and Sword may have been better served with an extra book or two. This would have allowed Hodkinson to explore the God aspects of the book a little more. As someone not looking for them, they passed me by completely as just more historic characters. I would not consider the book fantasy, but pure historic fiction. It takes the feel of that genre and applies it the origins of a myth. It works well as a pacy epic full of betrayal and battles, one that fans of historic fiction will enjoy.