Hild is a book I’ve been looking forward to with unalloyed anticipation, ever since Griffith mentioned it on her blog a long time ago. I was thrilled to get an early NetGalley copy to read. And then, for awhile, I was floundering. It’s a huge story, populated with a great many characters, many of whom have similar names. Or if not similar, equally unfamiliar to the modern ear. There were a lot of words to puzzle out contextual meanings of (as the glossary in the e-Galley was too complicated to keep flipping back and forth to) and a lot of movements that would have been easier to visualize with a map. All of these things, I think, will be resolved in the final editions.

So I was slow to get into the meat of the story, but I’ve loved Griffith’s past work so much I kept on. About 30% of the way through the book, I was hooked entirely. The characters came alive for me, and I was transported to early England. I could smell the fires (and worse) and the jessamine that Hild and the queen wear. I could hear the sounds of battle and of song.

I fell in love with Hild and with her time. I grew to care deeply about what seemed to me to be happening right now, but really happened hundreds and hundreds of years ago. There are priests of Woden, priests of Christ, alluring slave girls, brave warriors and braver seers. There’s enough botanizing to keep me happy, and sumptuous descriptions of what there was to eat, washed down with mead and small beer. Griffith’s prose can’t be beat.

I can’t wait for the book with maps and genealogy information. 4.5 stars for it as read with no maps, no family trees & a hard-to-access glossary. I will read it again, and no doubt love it more the second time through. I want to read the NEXT Hild book already.