Mark Robson
Dragon Writer
I'm not quite sure how I've overlooked Susan Price for so long - she's certainly written enough titles for me to have noticed her. However, I just finished Odin's Voice on the train a couple of days ago and thought it might intrigue a few here. I believe that Odin's Queen is now available as well, which I may check out in time.
The basic premise of this seems to be a split society in the far future of freemen and bonders (slaves). Religion is very mixed. It's almost as if the vikings, romans and greeks had all given equally to religion and that Christianity had never happened. The lead character in the story, Kylie, begins as a bonder, but appears to have some affinity to the god Odin. People begin to believe that she speaks for him, and thus a group of wealthy people buy out her bond and set her free. Kylie is clever, however, and declares herself still bonded, but to Odin. She takes the name Odinstoy and becomes the priestess in Odin's temple.
At the same time as Odinstoy is gaining her freedom, a spoilt rich girl is losing hers. The two characters share certain experiences and an interesting twist of fate sets in motion a series of events that could lead both of them to the gallows.
The cover bills this as a thriller, though having read it, I would question that description. The book is fascinating, and there is a fair bit of tension in the latter few chapters, but it doesn't really live up to the promise of the quoted 'fast paced thriller' on the cover. I thoroughly enjoyed the story. The characters are well drawn and Susan is clearly a very accomplished author, but I was a bit annoyed by the packaging which didn't match the content. The picture of the girl's face on the cover does match the description of Odinstoy to a startling degree - it's almost as if Susan had the picture to describe the character from, rather than the other way around, but the plot lacked the pace that I was led to expect.
Don't get me wrong here - the story is great and I found myself compelled to keep reading - it just lacked the action I was led to anticipate from the quotes on the cover.
The basic premise of this seems to be a split society in the far future of freemen and bonders (slaves). Religion is very mixed. It's almost as if the vikings, romans and greeks had all given equally to religion and that Christianity had never happened. The lead character in the story, Kylie, begins as a bonder, but appears to have some affinity to the god Odin. People begin to believe that she speaks for him, and thus a group of wealthy people buy out her bond and set her free. Kylie is clever, however, and declares herself still bonded, but to Odin. She takes the name Odinstoy and becomes the priestess in Odin's temple.
At the same time as Odinstoy is gaining her freedom, a spoilt rich girl is losing hers. The two characters share certain experiences and an interesting twist of fate sets in motion a series of events that could lead both of them to the gallows.
The cover bills this as a thriller, though having read it, I would question that description. The book is fascinating, and there is a fair bit of tension in the latter few chapters, but it doesn't really live up to the promise of the quoted 'fast paced thriller' on the cover. I thoroughly enjoyed the story. The characters are well drawn and Susan is clearly a very accomplished author, but I was a bit annoyed by the packaging which didn't match the content. The picture of the girl's face on the cover does match the description of Odinstoy to a startling degree - it's almost as if Susan had the picture to describe the character from, rather than the other way around, but the plot lacked the pace that I was led to expect.
Don't get me wrong here - the story is great and I found myself compelled to keep reading - it just lacked the action I was led to anticipate from the quotes on the cover.
