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War God Nights of the Witch War God Trilogy Book One Graham Hancock 9781444734379 Books

Download As PDF : War God Nights of the Witch War God Trilogy Book One Graham Hancock 9781444734379 Books

War God Nights of the Witch War God Trilogy Book One Graham Hancock 9781444734379 Books

I really enjoyed this book, I like well researched historical novels that are long enough to give you a sense of being there, not feeling let down by being so sort you feel like you just read a movie script.

I especially liked the weaving of the known history with the Supernatural in a way that is totally in keeping with the cultures in question. It took me awhile to realize what was going on with "The" War God - and I won't say anymore and be a spoiler but lets just say once I did figure it out I think I understood things a lot better.

The only reason I didn't give this book five stars is that I was a little overwhelmed by extremely detailed battle scenes which I'm sure my husband would love (we've both done a lot of historical re-enactment and he does fighting) but eventually just made me feel a bit lost and like I wanted my story back. I think this is a personal preference in reading styles, so those who like military fiction are likely to really enjoy these pages, but I just can't handle them after while (and I feel the same way about the long battle scenes that are sometimes in my husband's own novels).

I also felt just a tiny bit unconnected having so many point of view personages to follow, again I realize this is a popular modern style of writing and useful when you have multiple stories to tie together. But I couldn't help remember how gripped I felt reading the novel AZTEC years ago, which is done as an "autobiography" of the view point personage; and while I thought Mr. Jennings went way over the top in his descriptions of some of the darker stuff, I did feel very connected to his point of view Character; whereas in War God I felt most connected to Tozi the young "witch" girl and Pepito (a young boy of similar age). After while having so many others to try and sort out because a bit hard to deal with, and I realized I was starting to confuse them - that said, I like novels with lots of characters so on balance I would rather have this problem that the usual tendency of modern historical novels to only have five or six people in them.

Still, all in all, I could not stop reading until far into the night for several evenings when I should have been sleeping, always the sign of a good book.

And three cheers for Mr. Hancock for refusing to hide the Aztec's blood lust for sacrifices behind some PC modern revisionist screen. That's because serious historical know that the Aztec's had gotten so out-of-control in this department, that their neighbors totally hated their guts and many were happy to side with Cortez, even saw him as a deliverer from the evil Aztec Empire, especially at first.

Yes, other tribes had similar practices but not nearly to the same degree; the Aztecs were a society that had gone totally out of control on this issue, needing ever expanding wars to bring back prisoners to execute. That in no way takes away from the many amazing things they accomplished as a people; their temples, public buildings, social structure, agriculture, writing (of which precious little is left), military skills etc - but to ignore it also skews history (and I have a degree in history and anthropology).

I am not sure however, that I would have portrayed Moctecazuma in exactly the way that Mr. Hancock has chosen to do so, but his presentation is highly believable and fits with the story (as well as some of the limited historical records).

All together, I recommend this book to anyone; a great combination of history and supernatural fantasy without a vampire or ware-wolf to be seen!

I am waiting happily for the next installment!


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War God Nights of the Witch War God Trilogy Book One Graham Hancock 9781444734379 Books Reviews

I approached this one with caution and came away impressed, glad to have read it, and looking forward to the sequel. It's a fascinating and occasionally breathtaking novel. Hancock has a knack for writing compelling fiction. It's funny often when people write reviews of his non-fiction books they'll say they read like good thrillers. This one is compelling as fiction but also had enough historical detail to keep me interested beyond the plot and to make me think about the Spanish conquest of Mexico in a different light. I was very grateful for the endnote by Hancock giving an overview of the types of "fictional" elements he introduced into the book (such as combining a couple of historical events into a single event in order to keep the appropriate pace for a novel) because this clarified things and allowed me to come away from the book with a deeper overall understanding of that period in history--which Hancock really does bring alive. Granted, this is Hancock's take on it--even non-fiction historical books have an author's "take" on events--but it seems to be a very well-informed take. Mixed in are supernatural elements and hints of the non-orthodox elements of history that Hancock is known for investigating in his non-fiction. For me, the blend was good.

It's not a perfect novel. For example, the style of switching perspective from character to character from short chapter to short chapter was a bit jarring at first; I found it unnecessary and it ended up taking me out of the narrative for a few short moments. (Perhaps this was done to "hit the ground running" and introduce the large cast of characters and plot threads quickly; still, for me it was too much at first.) However, this stylistic approach shifts as the book goes on; the sequences become longer and occasionally blend together. Ultimately this worked, especially given the large cast and numerous plots the book juggles. If it hadn't worked, I would've put the book down; as it was, I did end up turning pages (on my ) rather quickly and not getting bored.

There is an immense amount of blood and gore. Very graphic. I won't pass judgment on it. It did give a pretty visceral impression of the whole human sacrifice element of the Mexica and other peoples, and of what battle was probably like at the time. Character-wise the book is diverse and interesting. There are a few semi-saccharine moments and lightly-drawn characters, but in general all are developed to help drive the story forward and to offer possible insights into their historical counterparts.

Ultimately I guess we could call this a "sprawling epic," one that wraps up the first part of its story at the end but leaves a huge section to be developed in the next installment. I hope we don't have to wait too long. As I said at the beginning of this review, I didn't really know what to expect from this book but it really was quite fluid, exciting, surprising, and enlightening. Very impressive.
I absolutely love this series. I was a little apprehensive at first with the difficult names, BUT I downloaded an app to help me pronounce the names/places (I hate not to know). The storyline has everything; love, sex, gore, adventure, and fantasy. Of course it also is historical so you're learning while you read! I love being transported to a different world each night. I have read all three and loved them all. Now I have to plan a trip to Mexico to see the ruins of these AMAZING places.
I really enjoyed this book, I like well researched historical novels that are long enough to give you a sense of being there, not feeling let down by being so sort you feel like you just read a movie script.

I especially liked the weaving of the known history with the Supernatural in a way that is totally in keeping with the cultures in question. It took me awhile to realize what was going on with "The" War God - and I won't say anymore and be a spoiler but lets just say once I did figure it out I think I understood things a lot better.

The only reason I didn't give this book five stars is that I was a little overwhelmed by extremely detailed battle scenes which I'm sure my husband would love (we've both done a lot of historical re-enactment and he does fighting) but eventually just made me feel a bit lost and like I wanted my story back. I think this is a personal preference in reading styles, so those who like military fiction are likely to really enjoy these pages, but I just can't handle them after while (and I feel the same way about the long battle scenes that are sometimes in my husband's own novels).

I also felt just a tiny bit unconnected having so many point of view personages to follow, again I realize this is a popular modern style of writing and useful when you have multiple stories to tie together. But I couldn't help remember how gripped I felt reading the novel AZTEC years ago, which is done as an "autobiography" of the view point personage; and while I thought Mr. Jennings went way over the top in his descriptions of some of the darker stuff, I did feel very connected to his point of view Character; whereas in War God I felt most connected to Tozi the young "witch" girl and Pepito (a young boy of similar age). After while having so many others to try and sort out because a bit hard to deal with, and I realized I was starting to confuse them - that said, I like novels with lots of characters so on balance I would rather have this problem that the usual tendency of modern historical novels to only have five or six people in them.

Still, all in all, I could not stop reading until far into the night for several evenings when I should have been sleeping, always the sign of a good book.

And three cheers for Mr. Hancock for refusing to hide the Aztec's blood lust for sacrifices behind some PC modern revisionist screen. That's because serious historical know that the Aztec's had gotten so out-of-control in this department, that their neighbors totally hated their guts and many were happy to side with Cortez, even saw him as a deliverer from the evil Aztec Empire, especially at first.

Yes, other tribes had similar practices but not nearly to the same degree; the Aztecs were a society that had gone totally out of control on this issue, needing ever expanding wars to bring back prisoners to execute. That in no way takes away from the many amazing things they accomplished as a people; their temples, public buildings, social structure, agriculture, writing (of which precious little is left), military skills etc - but to ignore it also skews history (and I have a degree in history and anthropology).

I am not sure however, that I would have portrayed Moctecazuma in exactly the way that Mr. Hancock has chosen to do so, but his presentation is highly believable and fits with the story (as well as some of the limited historical records).

All together, I recommend this book to anyone; a great combination of history and supernatural fantasy without a vampire or ware-wolf to be seen!

I am waiting happily for the next installment!