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Reviews (2)
14 Aug, 2017
Surprisingly smart
I bought Vikings because it looked pretty good, much in the mold of Rome or Game of Thrones, but I had few expectations other than that it would be slick and entertaining.
It is so much more (akin to both Rome AND Game of Thrones) - the narrative leaves you guessing; the characters twist and turn, some (like Ragnar) are genius, whilst others (Horic, Jarl Berg) simply flail in his wake. But with a family like his (Lagertha especially but increasingly Bjorn) and his comrade, Floki, well, even though there are tensions and disagreements, the intelligence and cohesion are quite spellbinding.
What really hooked me were the forays into religion - not something I've seen elsewhere - and the equation between older theologies and more recent inventions. So that the series introduces us to concept and metaphor which are entirely suitable and yet all too rare in a piece of epic historical drama.
This, along with the strands of character development (where a character lives long enough!) have continued into the Norse infiltrations into both Britain and Frankia, with the Vikings learning from trial and error and impending doom seeming to hang over any who oppose them.
Which when you consider the Norman hegemony which came to grasp all of Europe during the next milenium is pretty clever.
23 Nov, 2016
Quad Walker
Halo is a rare game which actually deserves the toys which are produced on its behalf.