The Six Kingdoms have existed in tentative harmony for generations, each country kept safe by a “kenning” or magical ability, each one specific to a certain kingdom. The peace is shattered when an invading fleet of pale, nine foot tall warriors, called Bone Giants, run rampant over the coastal cities, slaughtering everyone they come across. The kingdoms, reeling from the attack, must race against time to ensure their survival. But surely the world will never be the same again.

I really enjoyed his book, but I have to say that it probably would have been a dud if written by a different author. This book is, in essence, a 600 page flashback. A novel-length world building tome. Yet it works. It’s crazy, but it works.

When the story opens, the invasion is months in the past. The book follows Dervan, a scholar set the task of writing down the tale of Fintan, a bard. It is the bard’s duty to tell the story of the invasion and the subsequent retaliation by the Six Kingdoms. Every night, Fintan stands on the wall of the refugee city and tells another part of the tale. His bardic gifts let us hear the story from devious politicians, poor hunters, forest dwellers, scholars, and soldiers. Intermixed in all this are the gifted, the lucky (cursed?) few able to control one of the kennings.

The book is huge, the story is epic in scope, and the world beautiful and terrible in all its detail. Hearne has created something incredibly ambitious, and he does it well. As I said, the format of telling the story in a series of flashbacks is odd, and it took me a bit to get into it, but I was hooked soon enough (though I have to say I do hope we get some more direct action in the next book). The plot would tend towards Game of Thrones-level darkness at times if it weren’t for Hearne’s sardonic sense of humor shining through. The brief moments of levity are enough to offset the horror of invasion, betrayal, and mass slaughter.

Any one looking for a new epic fantasy series to dive into (I’m looking to you, Game of Thrones folks!) should invest some time into this book. Fans of Hearne’s Iron Druid series will also likely enjoy this book, though it is certainly a different creature from that fantastic urban fantasy series.

An advance copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book I've ready by this author, but it definitely won't be the last. I really enjoyed this book and already look forward to the next book in the series. It starts a bit slow and seems to start in the middle of story which is confusing, but if you stick with it, you will be greatly rewarded. This is the first book in the series, so a great deal of it must be devoted to world building. This is high fantasy, which means we are introduced to a lot of characters, multiple countries and the various cities in them. But, there is plenty of fighting and action, so don't despair.

The various countries follow different gods and have different social structures. Some of the people in each country are blessed with special gifts, called "kennings". These kennings provide the person with a special skill linked to the earth's elements. When the kingdom's peace is interrupted by an invasion of giants that they've never encountered before, the kingdom must scramble to protect itself and try to repel the army.

The story of the invasion, and some of the central characters involved in it, are told to the war's survivors through a bard named Fintan. His special kenning gives him a photographic memory and the ability to change his appearance into a likeness of the person whose story he is telling. The story is told from several character's perspective, with multiple storylines occurring at the same time.

This is a very good start to what I expect to be an engaging, intense series.

Of all the things I expected to feel when I picked up Kevin Hearne’s new epic fantasy, boredom was not one of them. Unfortunately though, there it was, creeping up on me despite my immense efforts to give this book a chance. It actually pains me to admit this, because I love Hearne and he’s an awesomely funny guy who normally writes great stories, but as much as I tried and tried to like this, something about A Plague of Giants just did not work for me.

Granted, the book opened with a promising and energetic introduction, setting the scene for a charismatic bard to take the stage before a crowd of weary but optimistic survivors who have all gathered in the public square to hear him recount the history of the Giants’ War. By using his magic, a particular kind of kenning that allows the bard to take on the forms of different people, he begins adopting the physical appearances and voices of the book’s many characters, each of whom have a unique story to tell related to their experiences during the giants’ invasion. Subsequently, we are treated to a parade of these narratives presented to us one after another, letting us see a different character’s perspective each time.

The pattern is sometimes broken, however, with glimpses into the present as the bard, Fintan, becomes embroiled in drama resulting from his storytelling. His sections with Master Dervan, a scribe who has been tasked to record everything Fintan recounts, act like interludes to show the day-to-day happenings between each cycle of performances in the square.

Speaking as someone who believes that time jumps and multiple timelines should be employed both practically and sensibly, trying to navigate my way through this novel was a convoluted nightmare. The first few character POVs intrigued me, but as they gradually began to stack up with nary a sign how everything might be related, my interest swiftly plummeted. Even when the bigger picture started to come together, it was too late and my enthusiasm failed to come back. That said, it’s important to note that in his acknowledgements, Hearne mentions that serial storytelling was something he’s always wanted to try and I applaud him for his efforts. It’s only my bad luck that I happen to be antipathetic towards this particular format, and later I also felt that it was completely wrong for what the author was trying to accomplish.

I hate to say it, but characterization was probably one of the first casualties of this approach. Quite simply, I was inundated and overwhelmed by the sea of names and cultures which were all just given perfunctory nods before being swept aside in favor of frenzied action sequences, and as a result, nothing managed to stick. More authors need to realize that while including diversity is wonderful and important, if your characters are weak and underdeveloped, then the gesture itself loses a lot of its meaning and intent. Incredibly, out of the dozen or so character POVs, there was not a single person in this story I truly cared about. Not. A. Single. One. Usually, when it comes to me and books, that’s the kiss of death.

Still, it wasn’t all bad. For one, I was really impressed with the world of this novel, which consists of six different nations each with their own unique customs and cultures. Among those traditions is the magical gift of the kenning, of which there are five when this story begins, though later on a sixth is discovered by a character from Ghurana Nent, making it one kenning specific to the peoples of each nation. Rooted in natural magic, kennings can manifest as different powers depending on the element upon which they are based. While not everyone has a kenning, those who are blessed with it must be cautious not to use too much of their power, because the more they draw on it the more it robs them of their life span. Those who are not careful and who stretch the limits of their power can find themselves aging years in the blink of an eye.

Bottom line: A Plague of Giants is certainly an ambitious novel, which must have required a lot of planning and forethought. The incredible world-building is a testament to this, and also why it greatly pained me to have to write this negative review. When all is said and done though, I still maintain that priority should have been on characterization first, and the novel’s failure to do this in my eyes made it a tough read, one that I had to grudgingly force myself to finish even if it meant skimming through some sections. Maybe it was the format that completely ruined it for me, but I doubt I’ll be continuing the series even if the next book is presented in a more traditional and linear manner; I just can’t muster the interest to keep on going.

Looking at other reviews though, it appears readers either loved this book or didn’t, and as disappointed as I am to be in the latter camp, I would not discourage anyone from giving A Plague of Giants a try—especially if you’re a fan of the author’s Iron Druid Chronicles and would be curious to see what it’s like for him write something completely different. Here’s hoping you’ll have better luck with it than I did.

This book was told in a really, really interesting way. Similar to The Kingkiller Chronicles in a way, this story is told by a bard, but instead of telling his own story, he tells the stories of others to create one giant (#sorrynotsorry) narrative about a series of events. He tells the story not only of the characters but as the characters night by night. I really liked that. It was told in the first person, but actually told secondhand by someone with perfect memory who was told the story and is retelling it with the flair that only someone with his specific powers can do.

The book opens with a Dramatis Personae – a short description of most of the characters here – with drawings of each of them. I really liked that, because having a good idea of what they looked like was neat. It’s an awesome reference for using as you read.

This world has all of a sudden been invaded by giants. Seven or eight foot tall pale and extremely gaunt men and women that nobody has ever seen before and nobody can understand. They must have come from across the once-thought-uncrossable ocean, but nobody knows why. They’ve killed everyone they’ve come into contact with and gone on their way. So, where did they come from and why?

Characters in this book have ‘kennings,’ which is like a very specific magical power depending on where they live. Each land has a kenning. There are five so far that we know of: Fire, Wind, Water, Earth, and Plants. Some people in their respective lands choose to gain powers based on the kenning of the land. They risk their life for the chance. Their vocation is based on their kenning in most lands. For example, Tallynd is a tidal mariner. She can control water. She can more or less become water, allowing her to travel very quickly across long distances of ocean, change the currents of the ocean, and breathe underwater. It comes with a cost though, and the cost is years of life. The more she uses her power, the faster she ages. So, she’s a tidal mariner. The most powerful kind of water-kenning user. She guards the ocean from invaders, looks for things along the bottom, helps boats entering or exiting the port… that kind of thing. That’s her kenning, and that’s her job.

There’s so much more going on here than the invasion of the bone giants. There’s also the displacement of an entire nation of other giants (these ones being giants that everyone does know exist- they’re locals from the land of the first kenning). An entire nation has had to evacuate their land due to a volcano eruption. They move to a spot of land that seems perfect for them, but… well it’s kind of owned by someone else, and is on the borders of a land that protect their trees with religious zeal and who rather do not like the idea of a people known for their production of steel and glass cutting them all down to feed their forge fires.

So, the story all begins to come together as you see it from the POV of several people from several places around the world who have different reasons to be where they are, and different skins in the game. It’s a really interesting way to lay a story out. There are really neat little details abound too, like different idioms and slang used in different lands. People from Forn (plant kenning) use idioms about roots, growing, fertilizing, and things of that nature (#stillnotsorry) to reference or explain things in their everyday life. Characters in this book are men, women, gay, strait, and just about every skin color under the sun, and none of it mattered in the grand scheme of things. They were of course noticeably different races and genders, but aside from those noticeable differences, were all just people to everyone else. Not better or worse, but different, with a different story. That was pretty awesome.

And finally… what I thought of it, all told. I admittedly struggled to stay interested in this one in the beginning. It’s wonderfully written, and there was nothing in it that I found inherently off-putting, but I found that it didn’t immerse me as much as I hoped it would right out the gate. I ended up reading another book in between chapters 1 and 3. This is rare for me, as usually I try and power on through one book at a time. I found myself finding excuses to do other things, putting it down every few minutes, that sort of thing. However, this passed after I got used to the story, and became more immersed in it. Truth be told, I think this happened right around Abhi’s story’s beginning, as I really liked him as a character. I didn’t care quite as much for anyone else, though. I suppose this sort of thing is bound to happen to me every now and then. I liked the setting. I think it’s a really interesting world, with a really well thought out and well executed magic system. While it wasn’t my favorite Kevin Hearne book, I still think it was a really, really good book all round.

Thanks to the author, Random House/Ballantine, & NetGalley for the advance copy of this book.

Great characters, telling the story from many different viewpoints. I want to know more about this world.

A Plague of Giants (Seven Kennings #1) by Kevin Hearne is a book I requested from NetGalley and the review is voluntary. I adore Hearne's Druid series! I couldn't wait to read this but it is nothing like what I was expecting. It started out with about ten characters each telling something in their own chapter apiece, then a kind of summary chapter putting some of this together. Then another round of several characters each having their own chapters then a summary chapter and repeating. Lots of strange names for characters that was hard to keep straight. The way it was told was not appealing to me at all. I am a big fan of his but I won't be following this series, which this book...wait for it...has to be continued! Yes, I hate books that don't finish! ugh! I love you Mr Hearne but I will stick with the Iron Druid. I can't keep up with the many levels of color codes and all of that. Thanks for letting me try the book NetGalley. I do adore the book cover, super awesome!

I requested this title from NetGalley because I love Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid Chronicles. This is not the Iron Druid Chronicles.

Hearne introduced an interesting new world. There are Keenings and giants and unexplored countries... It sounded very promising and exciting.

The writing style was different than what I was used to. It's told through a bard performing for a group of refugees, with the bard taking on the "seeming" of the characters and switching between them to tell the story of the war. I thought it was a fantastic idea, fun and new.
Then I tried to read it.
It really seemed to slow the pace way down. Everything was in the past tense. It was a "How we got here" kind of thing. Which is interesting. But there was also a story about the bard and the man who was copying the stories down for record, which happened in the present.
The switching between the characters pulled me out of the story and never allowed me to develop a connection to them. It took me a while to even feel any real interest in them because I knew it would be switching to another character shortly.

If I'm really honest, this was just okay for me. I struggled so hard even starting it. I actually read about 3 chapters and put it down. If it weren't for the simple fact that this was an ARC Read-for-Review, I would have DNF'd it. I'm glad I stuck with it, though. The ending saved a little for me but at the same time, left some pretty big questions unanswered. I'm just not sure if I'll be back for book 2 to hear them.




ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for honest review

Plague of Giants by Kevin Hearne
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
To all Iron Druid fans, this is nothing like the Atticus novels (which are spectacular)! Plague of Giants still has the feel of Hearne's writing, filled with passion and humor but the story is unlike anything I've read before.
Hearne has created a wonderful world of magic and giants, and abilities that we all dream of as children (and still secretly do as adults). The whole book is a mental treat, akin to summer evenings sitting around the campfire, listening to the best storyteller in town tell the stories that everyone has been eagerly anticipating.
I highly recommend this book, and I am eagerly anticipating the next book in the series!

The book was interesting. I did have difficulty following along at times. I found myself rereading parts at times. I did enjoy the story and will follow the series.

In this exciting new series Keven Hearne has created a fantastic world where anything can happen and usually does. Travel with a talented Bard with a fun sense of the absurd and a quiet historian who is to spy to determine if the Bard is a spy. And while this tale may echo some of the headlines in todays news we can guarantee you will enjoy this story more. This is epic fantasy at its finest.

Well…this is one of the hardest novels to rate that I have ever experienced. It is at times, absolutely brilliant and at other times, maddeningly frustrating.

First, the positives:

The author, Kevin Hearne, well beloved for his urban fantasy series, "The Iron Druid Chronicles", has proven time and again that he is a master of detail and can weave a great plot. For this new series, “The Seven Kennings” trilogy, he has created an amazing and fascinating world with a well-thought-out magic system. This is true epic fantasy, and in his own words, the plot summarizes as follows:

“A continent that has enjoyed centuries of peace is abruptly attacked by two different giant armies and its people must figure out how to stop forces that appear unstoppable. It’s a second-world fantasy and has nothing in common with Iron Druid — this is a completely new thing. And it’s truly epic, twice as long as any of my Iron Druid books at 624 pages.”

The characters are well-designed, unique from each other in every aspect and come from different cultural backgrounds based on their locale and or access to the various kennings (sources of various types of magical powers). This is a world I would like to know much more about and discover more about how it all fits together.

I love it when an author breaks the mold. Especially an author who is immensely popular for a certain style and then takes risks anyway to explore his/her own passions. Hearne’s storytelling technique in this novel (and presumably for the following two books) most definitely breaks the mold. He uses a bard to tell most of the story…a framing device for a much larger tale…a bard that each day tells the story of the attack of the giants to an audience of refugees. The really cool thing about this bard is that he can physically transform into the person whose point-of-view he is currently relating, including all of their memories he has been privy to. So each day, the bard transforms into 2 or 3 or 4 different people and tells the story of the attack from very personal viewpoints. There is also an intriguing spy plot to the novel and in fact, a major aspect of the novel is the very nature of the bard himself who becomes an unreliable narrator. We readers must decide whether or not he is trustworthy with a true, necessary, and even cathartic tale to tell or if he is peddling lies.

Sounds wonderful but unfortunately, most of it just didn’t work well for me. We readers are plunged right into the middle of the action from the get-go and exposed to dozens and dozens of unfamiliar terms, including place names, character names, strange terminology, etc., all supporting the world building more than the story itself. I am no stranger to dense or challenging fantasy and I feel comfortable that this sort of opening will all mesh together and gel before long. But that didn’t happen here, at least not for a long while. For the first half of the novel, I came close to giving up on it several times.

Since the bard takes on the persona of whomever is telling the tale, he is always describing events from a first-person perspective. While this can lead to more empathy with characters in normally-constructed novels, here it adds to the confusion. No matter which character you’re reading about it is always “I” did this and “I” saw that. These individual stories are also told in a non-chronological order so the time frames also get confusing. And since this is fundamentally a story about war, many of the characters suffer severely and/or die. That’s Ok with me except that sometimes we’ll be sailing along with a character only to have the viewpoint switch and find out that the previous character has just been killed. I never really felt connected to most of the characters and so didn’t really care too much for their fates, a sure sign that all is not well for the book.

So, yes, I was frustrated for most of the first half of the book and I really only kept reading because I did identify with a couple of the characters and was interested in their stories. But the second half of the book did, finally start to gel and I began to gain a better understanding of how all the moving parts fit together. The complete story of what was transpiring and to whom was becoming clear. I wish I had book two ready to go, mainly for fear that I will need to learn all of this over again, a chore I am not relishing. I will have to decide if I am willing to undertake that effort or if I will stop here and pursue other works.

So…to the rating: 2 stars (at best) for the first 25-50%, and 4 stars for the second half. Some sections, particularly near the end when we finally get to experience the battle below “Godsteeth” are definitely in 5-star territory. But taken as a whole, I must settle on 3 stars.

I love this world! The cultures built around the elements are rich and easy to live in. The characters are strong and well defined.

Difficult to get into...very different from the other series.

As an avid reader of the Iron Druid series, I was unprepared for Hearne's new venture. I read about 10% of the book and was bored with the story. The novel centers around a war, and is told by several voices, each telling their part of the same story and portrayed by one bard. It builds slowly and has none of the wit or humor that I associate with the author. I think it will find an audience, but I don't think the novel is for me.

The format of the writing was very distracting. I felt their were way too many characters and I lost interest about 200 pages in. I do not plan to finish reading this book.

Hearne writes a complex and masterfully detailed plot of a world where you risk your life to gain magic and you use your life up to use it. Diverse and original, with intense world building, A Plague of Giants is definitely one of a kind read.

I loved how the storyteller took the form of each character transferring the dictation to a semi- “first-person” point of view. I loved the entire concept but in the end, I struggled with this one. 3.5 stars for me.

It took me a while to find myself intrigued and even longer to find myself drawn in. I'm chalking it up to it being the first in a new series with lots of world building. The overall concept is there and makes you want to go on. But even the conclusion left a lot open-ended, which I'm assuming is for the next installment, but still leaving me feel there was just not enough.

I received this ARC copy from Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine - Del Rey. This is my honest and voluntary review. A Plague of Giants is set for publication October 3, 2017.

My Rating: 3.5 Stars
Written by: Kevin Hearne
Print Length: 640 pages
Publisher: Del Rey
Publication Date: October 17, 2017
Sold by: Random House LLC
Genre: High Fantasy

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I love immersing myself in a well-constructed world, and Kevin Hearne took me there in A Plague of Giants, the first in a new fantasy series, Seven Kennings. No stranger to world-building, Hearne begins his story with the story of how the kingdom was invaded by giants and introduces us right away to the characters who will carry to story forward. For sure, this is dense, epic fantasy replete with unusual place and person names and people blessed with special gifts. The complex language and landscape alone will likely put off casual fantasy readers, but die-hards will lap this up. I look forward to the next entry in the series. Recommended.

As a fan of the Iron Druid Chronicles, I had high hopes for this new series by Hearne.

The writing is fantastical and intricate. There were so many different characters and places and all of them had their own language, gifts and then there were the giants.

It was a lot of work to try to remember everyone and who was who. I have to say that this is one series I think I'll pass on. Even my husband who is a huge fan, couldn't get past the first chapter.

If you are a fan of Hearne, definitely give it a read! It may be just your cup of tea!

“A Plague of Giants” is Hearne’s first entry in a new fantasy series. This entry novel is a perfect illustration of the old adage, “War is Hell.”

This reviewer has enjoyed Hearne’s novels for several years, and eagerly looked forward to this new novel. Unfortunately, this novel is written in a manner which this reviewer is prejudiced against. As the first novel in a new series, the novel had too many differing points of view. Switching to a different character for each chapter makes it extremely difficult for a reader to feel engaged with any character. At times, I considered abandoning the novel in favor of another story. There was zero investment in any character until reading a little more than 30% of the novel. For many, that is 20% too much.

After 30%, the novel became a pure joy to read. There were some characters more interesting than others. This made it tedious reading some points of view when it really wanted to get back to the interesting characters. This made “Giants” a page-turner at times.

I would love to give this novel a four or five-star review. I liked it, I truly did; however, given the issue of too many multiple points of view for the first novel in a new series, I believe a three-star rating is a better overall rating.

The series has huge potential and I look forward to seeing where this story will go.

Note: An ARC was received from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I’ve been reading Kevin Hearne for a few years now (his Iron Druid Chronicles), so when I saw that he had a new series coming out I really wanted to see what it was all about. Plague of Giants is the first book in a new series that examines the path to war in a fantastical world where “blessed” people are granted special powers.

When I first started the book, I was a bit confused because you are kind of dumped into a fantasy realm with little to no background about what is going on at all. Although I found this a big jarring because a few “technical” terms are used within the first few pages and it takes a bit of catching up, you are eventually drawn into the whole store seamlessly.

The story is really told primarily from two basic vantage points. The main character that drives the story forward is a storytelling bard who has the ability to transform into anyone and tell the story from that person’s perspective. It’s this constant shifting in perspectives that allows you to get a real feeling of the history of the main conflict from people all across their known world. The second vantage point happens more in real time and is a scholar who has been tasked with capturing the bard’s stories for posterity. Admittedly, there’s a bit more intrigue than just simply writing a story, but you get a general idea about how this book progresses.

As for my review, I enjoyed it once I got into it. It was kind of fun to get swept up into a new fantasy world with its own rules and guidelines in fashion similar to some of the best “word creators” out there (C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, etc.). I also enjoy how Hearne tackles a variety of modern issues (including a number of lesbian and gay issues) from the vantage point of a completely different world with its own unique value structures, norms, and traditions. I would definitely recommend to anyone who has a desire to read fun, interesting, and unique fantasy.