Rooms of Ruin

Once again Erik Henry Vick has delivered. He has created his own unique world based on elements drawn from Norse and other mythos. The characters in his mythos are all very human. They all have flaws and weaknesses that make them unique and humanize them. Norse God, check. Treated with deference by his family, well, guess you have to read the series. This is shaping up to be a very special series. His first novel in this series "Errant Gods" was the best novel I have read in the last 2 to 3 years. I read about a book a week so that is quite a few books. This novel is equally as good and shows every sign that the trend will continue. If so, that would put this series into the top five series I have ever read in fifty years of reading. This is a story of an epic quest to end an ancient evil. Woven in with it is a long and deliciously conflicted back story since, after all, Gods live long lives, even when they're not truly Gods. The main character suffers from a curse which exhibits itself as the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. This is something that Erik knows about from real life and this weakness is what makes this character truly approachable. Yes, he is a hero but that doesn't mean that his life is a bed of roses. Killing a dragon might be tough, but so is getting out of bed in the morning. That type of complexity shows up again and again. The situations are complex, it is not a brave knight and his crew showing up to battle a faceless all powerful evil, it is a flawed human leading a party of people with a long and conflicted history with those they oppose. And that is where this series becomes something very special. It's in the complexity of the situations, nothing is absolute, there are limitations on all the characters involved. Some of these are external, some are self imposed by the character's nature. This not just true of the main characters it includes the entire supporting cast. And that makes the characters and the world he creates far more enjoyable and believable than most novelists ever achieve.

Book 1 introduced a phenomenal world of incredible characters and just a slight twist of mythology from the Viking age. The first one won me over as a fan but this second one.....this one took it to another level. I have read a few books in my time and it is not often the author can "one up" the story in the sequel. It generally acts like a gap filler for the most part and brings it all together in the third book (if it is trilogy). Erik Vick not only expanded his story but took it to another level. Thoroughly enjoy the banter between characters and the action is off the charts. The new view of the Norse myths is really incredible but be warned, just because it is a twist on the myths make them no less powerful. Think Stargate meets Norse Mythology but with a flare that is just flat awesome.

Erik Henry Vick is a great writer. I have not read the first book in this series, so I was afraid I would spend half the book trying to find out who is who and what they did. However, By the first few pages in the second chapter I felt set to read the book without being lost. Erik Henry Vick is a awesome writer this book is just as good as his other books. It grabes your attention and keeps it. It has gods and creatures of Norse legend, rune-weaving, shape shifting and black magic. Read this book and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.