Ragnarök by Ari Bach

RagnarokLGTitle: Ragnarök
Series: Valhalla #2
Author: Ari Bach
Genre: Science fiction/Lesbian/Young Adult
Length: Novel (350 pages)
Publisher: Harmony Ink Press, Dreamspinner Press
Heat Level: Low
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥3.5 Hearts
Blurb: After a year spent hunting for Mishka and Wulfgar, V team is no closer to finding them. If they’re going to locate their nemeses, they’re going to have to break some rules. As they begin their most dangerous mission yet, the stakes grow higher than they ever imagined as they uncover not only the subjects of their hunt, but the greatest threat the Earth has ever known.

To save the planet, their path will take them across the globe, across the solar system, and deeper into their relationships with each other than they’ve ever dared to look. Sacred bonds will be tested, the closest alliances will fall, and Violet will come face-to-face with a far more daunting and dangerous challenge than saving the planet – her growing love for Vibeke – a lover that could be her salvation, or the cause of her ultimate downfall.

ISBN: 978-1-63216-624-1

Product Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5785

Reviewer: Prime

Review: This book is the second in the Valhalla series, which should be read in order as it has an ongoing story line. However, in saying that, I have not read book one and have had no problems with following the story. Ragnarök was an interesting choice for me. I do love sci-fi, but I have not read a lot of lesbian same sex fiction. However, just the name Ragnarök attracted me. It’s all about the Viking connection for me. I love history, particularly Norse mythology. However, as much as this is a good book, for various reasons, I am torn with this one. It is certainly a niche story.

The first book is called Valhalla, which many will recognise this as the Norse Viking belief that warriors who die in battle pass to the afterlife aided by Valkyries to reside in the hall known as Valhalla in Asgard with the god Odin. Ragnarök, this book, is named after a Norse poem, which basically talks about the End of Days. After the death of some key gods and many natural disasters which lead to the flooding of the earth, two humans remain to repopulate (not good for genetic diversity!) and the surviving gods will return to mortal realm (or Earth if you like the Marvel Comics version of the Norse gods).

Onto the actual story itself, it was easy to get into. I think it was the level of detail that drew me in, making it so easy for me to imagine this dystopian world of the future. However, the flip side of this being was that this detail occasionally made this a tad on the tedious side. But I am willing to overlook that.

The world we are presented with is partially recognisable to what we know now, but then again this is a few centuries into the future where Norse mythology has apparently taken root again, at least in order to organise resistance/military units. There have also been some catastrophic disasters that have changed the face of the earth. We dive straight into the action of Violet, the main character, who is undergoing a dangerous jump during a mission and a fight midair involving some pretty nifty, futuristic fighter jets. There is some jumping about, again this got a little tedious on occasion, but at the heart of this story is Violet and the beginning of her romance with Vibeke. Both Violet and Vibeke are very strong characters, though for some reason I don’t know, I found myself liking Vibeke more than Violet.

The action does not let up throughout the story, so it was an exhausting novel to read. If it weren’t so exhausting, I probably would have rated it higher. But the ending, oh wow, it was great and totally not what I expected. Neither did I expect to like an ending like this, which is most of the reason for the decent rating. I don’t mean this in a bad way, but the ending of it was my favourite part purely because of how it played out. Though it does make me wonder if Ari Bach is misleading us just a tad and there is going to be another book.

Some sci-fi you can read and know that anyone will enjoy it, but this is the type of sci-fi where you need to enjoy the genre. There is an abundance of sci-fi terms, some of which found in various other stories, but if you’re not into the genre, it may take more concentration to keep a track of what is going on. There is also biology jargon such (e.g. RNA and DNA), but I’m sure it’s nothing that will put anyone off and nothing beyond other sci-fi books.

* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *