A big thanks to Titan Books for the digital galley of this book thru Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my known.

Holy smoke! I wasn't expecting to get an early access of one of my anticipated reads this year. Set in a rich Viking fantasy world brimming with fickle gods, magic, and warrior priestesses, I reveled and lost myself in this enthralling novel. Such a solid first book for a duology!

The story followed Hessa, an Eangi warrior priestess of the Goddess of War. Blessed with their goddess's fire, they were known as fierce warriors who could turn their enemies' bones to dust with their scream. Unable to follow Eang's command to kill a traveler, Hessa was banished as a priestess. When she was gone and praying for forgiveness, her village was slaughtered. Now, she seemed to be the last Eangi priestess, she went to find the traveler to fulfill her goddess's command and win her favor. However, on her journey, she slowly unravelled and learned the truths about the gods, and her deep-rooted beliefs and devotion began to waver.

It has been a long time since I read a book that completely sucked me in. Hall of Smoke just did that. With its intriguing plot, on-point world building, well-detailed magic system, and interesting characters, I had this constant feeling to know about it more. The twists and turns were totally unexpected and surprising, and higher stakes were at play. Also, thankfully, there was no unnecessary romance included here. My favorite thing about this was definitely how the gods were not just some "higher" presence. They were prevalent and played key major roles to the plot. They interact with the characters, and their actions greatly affected how the story would go. I rarely read books that had this kind of element, so it was a refreshing reading experience for me.

Hessa, the main character, was a reliable and likeable character and narrator. She was loyal and had a strong sense of justice. Her journey of redemption was full of hardship and heartbreaks, yet she remained determined to surpass those things. Since I experienced and saw the world she lived in through her eyes and thoughts, it felt like I'd been on a journey with her. The truths she uncovered made me question things as well.

Overall, Hall of Smoke by H.M. Long is a fantasy book to watch out for. It is so much more than just a story of redemption. It is thought-provoking, and I'm sure readers will love this. Brace yourselves for this wild, fantasy adventure!

5/5 stars!

Hall of Smoke details a world where the disputes of the gods end in burial pyres. It is a book that asks us what we will do when our hand is forced? A contest of gods wrenching against their powers, choosing their opponents and allies. Who are we to question the gods, to deny their powers, to reject their advances? While I thoroughly enjoyed the ways Long explores humanity's roles in a world of gods, the ending felt abrupt considering the layers of action and intrigue.

The old gods are awakening and they are ready to unleash their newly awoken powers. But where do humans lie? In this world where we can make deals with the gods, how much power over our own lives do we truly have? Hall of Smoke presents a world of smoke and murder, of demons and danger. I enjoyed this epic fantasy in terms of the world building, the constant pace of action, and the thematic exploration, but I didn't feel as connected to the main character as I wanted. Hessa is everything I would have thought I'd love instantly.

Unfortunately I DNF'd this book. about 1/5 into it. I found the protagonist interesting but there was way too much info-dumping for me to really get into it. 3-star rating to keep it from affecting the overall rating too much

This book grabbed me from the very first page. Hessa is an Eangi - a warrior priestess of the goddess Eang. As the story opens, she reveals that she has displeased her goddess and awaits a sign from Eang about what is to become of her. But as she waits, a dark fate befalls her family and her village.

I was immediately invested in Hessa, and I was dying to see what would happen to her. Her voice is compelling, engaging, and accessible. I loved the slow unveiling of the mysteries in her past, as well as her journey toward redemption. I've read several "Viking" inspired fantasy worlds, but this was the first one that felt truly real to me.

I would absolutely recommend this to lovers of Viking stories or YA fantasy readers looking to branch out into Adult fantasy.

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Hessa, is a warrior priestess. She is brave, strong, and on a mission. I enjoyed the character of Hessa, through the grief you can feel her pain but also route for her during her travels and the events that take place. I enjoyed reading her backstory to learn more about the times before the events of his novel. Overall, I felt she was a solid character to follow as a main character.

Long's writing of the history and environment in Hall of Smoke was well written and easy to follow. I felt the history was interesting and helps translate to the current culture in the story. The pace of this story is slow, and it took me to the halfway point to get into it. However, I can not say this is the fault of the story or because I don't read fantasy very often. Overall, I think the story was well-developed and an interesting concept.

I gave this novel a ⭐⭐⭐⭐ review. I felt the story and characters were solid; however, the pace was on a slow side. This was a great debut novel! Great Job H.M. Long!!

Thank you Titan Books and H.M. Long for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Hall of Smoke is releasing on January 19, 2021 💛

HALL OF SMOKE - H.M. LONG

This is a Viking and Norse pantheon-inspired fantasy, where the gods directly influence the lives of their followers. When Hessa, a warrior priestess of the Goddess of War, returns from an attempt at atonement to find her village murdered by raiders, she unknowingly sticks her foot into the beginnings of an ethereal war. As she struggles to complete her goddess-given task, Hessa must try to determine who is the most righteous in this war that she knows almost nothing about.

I know little about the Viking/Norse pantheon, so this was fascinating to read. This is a novel with a complex plot, world-building, and scene-setting. There are a a bunch of different nations with their own gods and all having various political and martial relationships with each other.

The story is mainly Hessa's journey to complete her task, with much of the driving factors of the plot being obscured. And these are slowly revealed to Hessa and the reader as she progresses. While I didn't necessarily feel connected to Hessa, I was enthralled with the pantheon and trying to understand them and what was going on behind the scenes as more and more was revealed. There were some unexpected twists and turns which are fun.

While, overall, the novel was a little slow for me and I honestly don't understand how the powers work, I was invested in story and the end was satisfying. And so if you like a military-minded fantasy about questioning power, filled with active gods, and focused mostly on the journey of a single character you will enjoy this one.

Thank you to @titanbooks and @netgalley for an advanced e-copy in exchange for an honest review!

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

The beginning of this book was amazing. I was instantly grabbed by the opening and the pacing through the first third of the book was quick and action packed. It pulled me in and made me want to learn more about the world. However, there was a point in this book where the character was taken to one spot of the world and then she had to travel all the way back to where she started so she could fulfill her quest. The whole chunk of the journey was hard for me to slog through.

Hessa was a really intriguing character, but she was the only character we learned anything about. I get that she is the MC but there were a ton of other characters we meet and they were all surface level. There may have been two or three other characters that are given any semblance of a personality at all. This, sadly, took me out of the story and made it hard for me to connect with Hessa's journey. I just wanted to get into more worldbuilding and how the magic system actually worked. I love stories where gods are real and concrete, and I wanted more of it. We don't really get super deep into the gods and who they actually are until 70% of the way in. Now, the ending was really good, but I don't think it made up for the whole middle of the book just being a bit boring to me.

Overall it just wasn't a book that stood out to me in sea of fantasy. There will be people that love this book because it is really well written. I just found that it wasn't for me.

What an epic tale of gods, war, religion and the struggle for power.

Hessa is an Eangi - a warrior priestess blessed with the power of fire from Eang the Goddess of War. She was given a vision with instructions to kill a certain visitor to her village. However when the time comes, shes reluctant to break Hearth Law and kill the smiling kind man she has invited into her home. Unfortunately this means she is exiled and forced to seek atonement in the temple of the goddess. It is during this time of atonemenet that her entire village is wiped out by a maurading party. Devasted by the loss, she goes seeking the man she didnt kill to make it right with her goddess so she can free the souls of her loved ones and hopefully join them in the high halls after death. Hessa's journey takes her all over the empire where she faces all manner of perils . The gods of New and the Gods of Old are waging a war and your faith could mean life and death depending on where you stray and whom you encounter.

I really enjoyed this book and read it in one sitting, Hessa is a strong character who despite being dogmatic in her faith soon starts to open her eyes and question the nature of her reality (hehe). She meets a whole host of characters whom you dont know whether to trust or not. The world building is well done as is the mythlogy of the gods. They feel like a cross of Norse, Roman and some Asian deities, There is a strong theme of blind faith and devotion to gods that runs through the book especially as they are often so fickle or twisted in their intentions.

Have I said I really enjoyed this? 4.2 Stars /5

𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: Warfare violence

Hall of Smoke is a fantasy story set in a world where Gods and Godessess can freely interact with their followers and at the same time their prayers are significant to each other.

So the story starts where Hessa the main character-eangi, who is banished because of disobeying a a task that she must complete in which she failed to do so. Now, Hessa journeyed to complete it after being freed by the person whom she is tasked to kill in order to be forgiven.

𝐏𝐋𝐎𝐓

The story mainly relies on the Gods/Goddesses, the history, Hessa’s journey on fulfilling a task- and is basically a plot driven story. The writing-story telling itself is lovely, I love how it was narrated flawlessly and at the same time can be considered as a slow-burn plot as to how the author tells it. I really appreciate how the author does not shoved many informations in a single scene and instead takes her time to tell the story and let the reader absorbed all of it before shoving another one.

The world building itself is simple and at the same well thought and written. I really enjoy the history of the Gods and Goddesses and wished we could get a prequel story about them. I find some of them complex and at the same time full of mystery that needed more exposure.

I enjoy the action scenes. The fighting scenes really reminds me of how the Vikings fight- with the axe thing and the character description.

I also wanted to point out that sometimes, the narration and the telling can be a little too much in which I find sometimes dragging. As well as how the author describes the geogprahic or the scenes in some parts of the story.

The part at the almost end the uncovering of truths and betrayals and some twist, I felt that it was lacking, I wasn’t that mind blown nor that affected until the very end.


𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒

This is one of the reason why I’m hesitant to give Hall of Smoke a higher rating. The characters doesn’t seemed to be that interesting to me. They lacked personality and development. I just can’t connect or I failed to be attached to them.

Most of the times, the main character and the supporting ones doesn’t seemed to be the that important to the storyline because of their lack of development and sometimes were overshadowed by the development of the plot.

The Gods and Goddesses might be a little bit interesting as I find them complex but not enough to be attached. I think, Eang- The Goddess of War of the New World and Ogam- which is her son, are the only one whom I find more interesting because of how they were written but not that much to make me love them.

Although I really liked that Hall of Smoke does not have romance in it and more shows of Hessa’s indepedency.


𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐋

This is good read. The writing-the story telling is so good. I really enjoyed the history of the Gods and Goddesses- which is my favourite thing in this book.

I might have had a problem remembering their names as they really have unique ones but I’ll get to remember them, thanks to the glossary and the map at the end of the book .

I’ll have to say that I’m in the middle of okay and liking this book. I enjoyed the story telling, Hessa’s quest to fulfil the task and at the same time uncovering truths and betrayals which I find lacking and underdeveloped and some scenes that I felt the execution was anticlimactic and felt lacking.

I just hoped that the characters were developed, this might be a plot driven book but the character also have an impact on the overall result of the story-which the book failed.

Overall, this is a good read. 3,5 ⭐

𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙂𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬.

See this review and more at my blog, The Scribe Owl!

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

2.5/5 stars

I wanted to like this so much more than I did! Unfortunately, it missed the mark in a couple of places. I love all the ideas behind it, but they just weren't executed right for me.

In Hall of Smoke, we follow Hessa, a warrior-priestess of the goddess of war called an Eangi. Eangi have the power to kill an enemy with nothing more than a scream. Banished for disobeying her goddess's command to murder a traveler, she prays for forgiveness alone on a mountainside. She comes home to find her village razed and the inhabitants dead. As old powers emerge and her beliefs are challenged, Hessa tries to find a way to right her wrongs and fall back into her goddess's favor. But is that what she really wants?

I think the one failing that killed the book for me was the pacing. I don't mind slow pacing normally, but I swear absolutely nothing happened for about 100 pages after Hessa's village was raided. It regrettably led to places where I was disinterested or even bored while reading.

I swear, the pacing messed up every aspect of this novel for me. I think I would have liked the characters, but after the pacing put me off I had a hard time appreciating what else was happening. Hessa had a fantastic character arc, but she was one of the only characters we actually followed. All the side characters were very side characters. It was a book about Hessa and no one else, which I understand, but I would have liked more main-ish characters.

The character that comes closest to being a main side character was Nisien, who I really liked because he was also a very complex character. He used to be a soldier in war, but he was released from duty and got to go home. Ever since he regarded his time in the army with a mix of the shock that comes with battle and a strange sense of nostalgia. Seeing him manage that was very interesting, and a definite highlight of the novel.

The relationships were more told than showed, especially with Hessa and her husband, Eidr. She always told us that she loved him, but we never really got to see any depth to it. I think that's one of the problems with killing off characters so early in the book: the audience doesn't have time to get attached.

Again, I'm so sad that I didn't like this book more than I ended up rating it. I was very excited, and it pains me to give it this rating. This is only the author's debut novel, so I still think that she could churn out something amazing. I wouldn't exactly recommend this book, but I'd keep an eye on the author to see what she makes next.

Hessa is an Eangi: a warrior with the power that reminds me of a berserker, that can melt her opponents' brains if they are close enough. She is isolated in the beginning of the novel because she disobeyed her Goddess and failed to kill a man called Osmaskat who seeked hospitality at her village. This act will cost her everything and set her on a journey to try and correct this mistake. Through her journey she learns that the Goddess she warships has little regard for her and that there is a big battle brewing between the old gods and the new.

This was a very original read, with a well thought out and rather unique world building. But it was also rather slow paced, and lacked a certain emotional build up. I'm not sure why that is so, we get Hessa's POV and she has a big internal struggle, questioning everything she grew up to believe in as well as a tragic background and a massive case of survivor guilt. But as she travels and forges bonds with several characters, the less I could understand or connect with her emotions or feel for her. However, on the plus side side she has many cool fight scenes and an interesting set of powers.
Thank you so much to Titan books and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book..#HallofSmoke #NetGalley

This was such an interesting but fun read! I loved the unique magic system, and how we're just immediately thrown into the story, with backstory being fed to us gradually. Plus I'm always here for stories featuring gods being jerks and stories featuring large, fluffy dogs.

Hall of Smoke is a Viking inspired fantasy novel which follows Hessa’s journey on her quest for redemption after she disobeyed her Goddess’s orders to kill a traveller. What an epic adventure this is and I became totally immersed in the story. Most of the book is centred around Hessa’s trek to find the traveller she should have killed previously and the characters she encounters along the way. It is well written, the plot is engaging and it is well paced and flows nicely from one event to the other. There are some fabulous action-packed fight scenes and the story is overflowing with interesting and unique characters and creatures.

The world is rich and detailed and the author takes the time building up and developing this world. The culture, religion and mythology is fascinating and the politics and relationships between the different tribes is very intriguing. The rivalry between the warring gods made for some intense reading.

The vast cast of characters makes it a little difficult to follow at times and I found the character glossary at the back essential to keep track of who is who. Hessa is hands down my favourite character and leaves the biggest impression. She plays an excellent leading role as she is such a strong and determined warrior with a unique magic system. I enjoyed the flash backs to her life before the events at the Hall of Smoke and we learn a lot about her back history. I was really drawn to Osmaskat’s character, I found him really intriguing and Ogam is another favourite, I enjoyed his humorous repartee with Hessa.

Hall of Smoke is a beautifully written novel with an exquisitely detailed world. It is long but engaging, with an intriguing plot and enough plot twists to keep the reader fully invested in the story. There is not much romance in the book, personally I would have liked to have seen more, and for Hessa to have found love again, but I will definitely be reaching for the next book.

Thank you to Titan for the beautiful paperback and eARC of this book.

Hall of Smoke follows Hessa, a warrior priestess who is atoning for her mistakes when her village is attacked, as one of the only survivors, Hessa’s journey to redeem her mistake and kill the man she was supposed to leads her to answers she does not expect.

I did enjoy the concept of the book; I liked the setting and world that the book was set in and there were a lot of interesting characters throughout including various gods/goddess’. I just found the writing style was not for me, the book was really hard to read – it was way more descriptive than I thought it would be and although I liked the world building at the start, I felt like the way everything was always described made the book drag on and a longer read than it needed to be. The first half of the book was hard to get into because the main character is constantly moving around, there is not enough time to get to know the new characters and process the information before she moves on, it was very repetitive and dragged out.

The second half was better, I liked the action scenes and the reveals that the main character uncovered however I do still think that the book dealt with way too much. So much goes on in the book and yet because of the slow pace it seems like you have learned very little about what is going on, the ending itself felt really rushed and was disappointing – I expected it to be more dramatic with the way it was build up and yet hardly anything happened before things got resolved.

3/5

Thank you Titan for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

A fantastical high fantasy adventure with a magical warrior and the gods that rule this realm.

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
Hessa is an Eangi – A warrior that worships the Goddess of War that gives her powers to kill her enemy with a scream.

While banished for disobeying her goddess decree to murder a stranger, her village is razed to the ground. Hessa must strive to win back her goddess favor. Through her journey she learns that the gods are dying and her trust within her goddess starts to fade, she is caught between a battle between the old gods and the new.

WHY SHOULD YOU READ IT?
A heart pounding quick read, the pace does not let down as Hessa goes from one part of things to another in this story. I really enjoyed watching this novel unfold, the story had many layers and questions that needed answered.

The only concern I had is that I felt I wasn’t given the time to properly come to connect with Hessa before being thrust into the chaos. I did feel the god aspects were interesting but again, it was hard to fall in the middle of this story without context. Maybe a map at the beginning would have been helpful but I felt lost sometimes.

I would of enjoyed a slower build up about her and her life. I felt the style was more not really to my taste but the concept was enjoyable and the many aspects of the world were fascinating.

A must read for epic/high fantasy readers that love adventures. A great new voice in epic fantasy.

Rating: 3.5
Hall of Smoke by H.M Long
Standalone
Publish Date: 19 January 2021
Cover Rating: 7/10
Adult – Fantasy - Adventure

A viking-inspired world reminiscent of Skyrim, a fierce Xena-esque warrior-priestess capable of melting her opponent's bones with her power, and a brooding war between an old and new generation of gods.

What's not to be intrigued by? Sign me up, point me to the nearest monastery. This was a wild ride.

I mean ride, literally. 80% of this book is travelling.

Hessa of the Eangi is a devoted zealot of the Goddess of War. She was tasked with killing a man for reasons unknown, and her failure at the beginning of the book is the impetus for her banishment and subsequent quest for redemption. She travels around her homeland, running into friends and enemies alike, of the human and god variety, in search of this one mysterious man whom she may kill to please her goddess. Along the way, she comes to understand, and to explain to the reader in detailed exposition, the complex politics of her homeland and the new wave of dogma threatening everything she knows about her religion.

The structure of this tale is very loose and linear and may deter folks who enjoy a traditional plot structure. There is a lot of meeting people, leaving, coming back, getting familiar with characters who then leave just as characterization was starting to form. The development of Hessa's relationships to other people doesn't really get the chance to take root in anyone particular.

That aside, this story is action packed. Combat sequences are aplenty, very convincing, and well articulated. Hessa is a stoic, admirable heroine with her own insecurities to work through, and watching her redemption arc was satisfying. The world itself is unique and feels solidified by the lore, though at times the exposition feels unnecessarily heavy handed.

Would highly recommend to lovers of a viking inspired story.

Thank you to netgalley for providing a digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book started out super strong. I was hooked in the beginning but then it just slowly tapered off for me.

The story with the gods, the new and old, the mortal yet undying gods was really interesting but I just could not connect with the characters.

It felt like there were so many different plot lines and different things happening all at once that I struggled to keep them all straight in my head.

The middle was a lull for me. Lots of traveling and meeting people, more gods, and their backstories, and honestly, I just didn't find myself caring.

The end picked back up and I liked how the last few chapters wrapped everything up.

The writing was really good I just don't think this was one for me, but it was still really good especially if you are a fan of Vikings!

Hessa is an Eangi priestess, a worshipper of Eang - the Goddess of War, and a soldier in her army. Ever since she was young, Hessa has been tasked with one very important task - to kill a traveller with golden eyes. When she fails to complete thisbtask, she is banished by her people.

The story starts with Hessa making an arduous journey to Eang's shrine to beg forgiveness at the Goddess's feet or face her wrath. While she is in exile, Hessa's town is attacked and destroyed by the enemies. She soon discovers that the entire region of Eangen settlement has been obliterated by the enemy soldiers and by the cruel twist of fate, she is now the only warrior of Eang left alive.

In order to make things right and exact revenge, Hessa sets out to search the golden eyed traveller and finish her task once and for all. On her journey, Hessa encounters several Gods and demigods and uncovers some vicious secrets that were buried ages ago. Things are not what they seem. The Goddess that she grew up believing in, is not exactly who she portrays to be. Dark powers are rising in the North, there's a war brewing amongst the Old Gods and the New Gods and Hessa finds herself stuck right in the middle of the power politics.

While this book had a promising premise, I found myself getting confused by the progression of plot. I kept having more and more questions about why certain events were happening the way they were, and the direction in which the story was headed, and I was not getting the answers to these questions from the storyline. To me, random things seemed to be happening at random times. There was no smoothness to the continuity of the story.

There were many times when Hessa is shown to grieve her family and friends who were slaughtered by the enemy. As a reader, I could not connect to her pain. Because I felt that I was not given proper understanding of the depth of the relationship between Hessa and her family. Ofcourse there were some flashbacks. But it wasn't enough for me to actually grieve their loss in the story. For me they were simply some vague side characters who were killed off right at the start of the book. This made me feel very disconnected from the emotional aspects of the story. Infact there were many such occassions in the storyline where I found that I did not care about the MC's emotions.

Coming back to the plot, till almost 70% in the book, I had no idea what was happening or why it was happening or where the story would go. It was a jumble in my mind. Upto this point, throughout the story, the characters were just randomly doing some things, and to me as a reader, it did not make any sense as to how that was relevant to the overall story.
Eg - Hessa wants to kill the golden eyed traveller. But Why? What's his relevance to the plot? We are not shown or told any of this until much much later!

We do get all the clarifications in the last quarter of the book and the pace picks up a lot. Things get more interesting after this point and the stakes are higher. I personally enjoyed the last 1/4th part more. But the first 3/4th part of the book was a struggle for me. I had to push myself to get through it.

Hessa, as a MC is very solid and strong. It was really amazing to see her grow into her role and make her own decisions.She is smart and courageous and does not back out from doing the right thing. Even though she was faced against Gods and creatures stronger than, both physically and mentally, she did not waver and stood her ground. I liked the fact that there is not much attention given to romace in this book, the story does not require it.

The ending, if not surprising, is well executed and satisfactory. Some parts of it were obvious, but it was well written and answered all my questions that were bothering me right from the start of the book.

Overall I will say that this was a solid read.

Why don't we have more Viking/Norse inspired fantasy??

Hall of Smoke by H M Long is here to change that! It takes the Percy-Jackson-esque concept of a pantheon of fallible gods who insert themselves into human affairs, and puts a Nordic twist on it. Our protagonist is young but fearsome Hessa, a warrior who worships the Goddess of War. As we meet her, she has failed a task set for her by her goddess Eang, and is desperately seeking redemption. But something is afoot with the gods themselves, and the closer Hessa gets to the task she has been set, the more she has to start questioning everything she's ever been taught about the world and her god.

This novel has questing, a complex society and system of faiths, warriors, battles between both humans and deities, raw magics, as well as an exploration of Hessa's grief and loneliness. I liked the way her grief was depicted - sometimes fantasy stories can be a bit like "oh, person I love is dead... oh well, quest time!" Not here. Hessa's grief is a tangible thing and her sense of being alone in the world feels stark and realistic. There is also no romance aspect to this story, which sets it apart from a lot of other fantasy.

I did find the middle section of the book fairly slow moving, falling into the typical Tolkein-esque "travelling" trope so common in fantasy, however the ending comes in with a bang and some epic battle scenes and shifting allegiances. Hessa is alone for much of her journey and although she forms some alliances/friendships, I did kind of miss the relationship and character building you find in other stories. Overall though, I'd have to say I really enjoyed this book. It was fresh, epic, unique and heartfelt. I loved the brutal Norse inspired world and gods, and I found the ending satisfying. If you enjoy a gods and humans type of story and love the idea of a Nordic setting, I definitely think this book is worth checking out.

I’ve never been entirely enamored with Norse mythology. Or at least, I’ve never been exposed to it in a way that has subsumed me in the ways that Greek mythology has permeated a lot of western pop culture. When I get snippets, there is a small part of me that begins to crave, but I never fully take the plunge. Sure, I know few of the names of the gods, along with several denizens of their bestiary, but it’s not ingrained in my psyche like the Greek myths. So when I saw a debut author releasing a Norse inspired fantasy, I just had to put on the Dark Horse list. Hall of Smoke, by H.M. Long, despite it’s rocky start, is a worthy read with the feel of a legend in the making.

The story follows the Eangi warrior priestess Hessa in her journey to earn back her goddess’ favor. Hessa recently fell out of Eang’s grace by not killing a traveller that stayed within her temple, as she was ordered to do. Hessa was just following hearth law, so the visitor came and went. While Hessa was waiting for a sign from Eang to know how to gain back her favor, Eang sent the very subtle omen of having her home village raided and burned down by a band of Algatt warriors. Her husband was killed and the survivors were enslaved, her goddess nowhere in sight. Hessa tries to fight back with what little fire of Eang she had within her, but she is ultimately captured herself. Hessa herself is then sold to Omaskat, the man her god demanded she kill. In a scuffle she breaks free, is whisked away by a river miles away from her home with only one goal in mind, vengeance.

There was a lot I like about this book, but before I get to that, I do want to address the main issue I ran into while trying to get into the story. The first third of the book was a slog for me. Generally, this is somewhat a me issue, since I generally dislike straight forward first person perspectives, but I just didn’t find Hessa all that compelling on her own. She’s a bit narrow minded and blind to the world around her beyond her duties to the Goddess Eang and preparing for the annual raiding parties by nearby tribes. It makes sense, but I just found it hard to care for the struggles she was facing. It didn’t help that a lot of her internal monologue felt very repetitive. The aspect I did enjoy the most about this time in the book was Long’s description of the environment. However, once the reader experiences the Gods Hessa has to contend with, the story kicks off and Hessa truly begins her journey.

Hessa really starts to shine once she encounters Nisien at a place known as Oulden’s Feet, named for the god of the Soulderni people. Here she has to contend with someone outside her village, and learn more about their ways. Nisien works as a good foil because he’s seen a lot of the world, since he used to be an auxiliary in the Arpa (similar to the Roman Empire) army. I particularly liked that meeting someone who was not a raider of her lands, and being cared for by them doesn’t really seem to change her, as much as it allows her to open up. Not long after meeting Nisien, the pantheon of Gods within Hall begins their parade, and what a parade it is. Long’s Norse themed gods were a delight, and the story she weaves within her tale is filled with nice twists and turns fueled by Hessa’s choices and the whims of the gods. Ogam, the son of Eang and Winter (yeah, THE WINTER) steals the show every time he shows up. He has an unmatched charisma and bravado that really sets him apart from the other humans and gods Hessa encounters. Every encounter she has with something in the world feels meaningful in a mythical way, and it became fun to just explore the land with her while she tries to carry out her mission of revenge.

The land itself feels alive and breathing. Obviously, there are many gods, and each one seems to have their own tribes of people worshipping them and carrying out their will in the mortal realm. There are conflicts spurned by belief, as much as there is acceptance in their existence. There is an ebb and flow to the land and the people that Long portrays quite well, even as it starts to fall apart. The regions felt solid, but breathable as if most of the people didn’t recognize any sort of borders (except for the Arpans) beyond their particular villages and places of worship. There is a map at the end of my copy, but personally, I think Long captures the feeling of knowing the land, without the map. There are places that Hessa feels comfortable in, and there are places that are mythical to her, even though they are not hundreds and hundreds of miles away. I truly felt transported to another world where the vastness of the world had yet to be realized by the people you were engaged with and it was magical.

Long has written a solid debut. Sure it has a rocky start, but if you stick with the story just a little bit, it will definitely be worth it. The descriptions of the land, and the people who inhabit it are fun and mesmerizing. The mythology is a blast in it’s own right, and Hessa’s journey through it truly is fantastic. I didn’t even get into how enjoyable the action scenes were, but I was honestly more impressed with the rest of the book. It is Hessa’s story, and Long does an admirable job of making the revelations feel like they are hers and not just an expansion of the world. If you are at all interested in Norse inspired fantasy, I definitely recommend you check out Hall of Smoke.

Rating: Hall of Smoke – 7.5/10
-Alex