Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Sword of the White Horse Review
So I recently finished reading Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Sword of the White Horse by Elsa Sjunneson
I'd rate this a 4 out of 5 stars.
Below the read-more I'll go a bit in-depth on what I liked, disliked and ect. This is NOT spoiler free, so if you want to avoid spoilers do not read this review.
THE PLOT:
A Celtic warrior defending her people from Viking raiders infiltrates an ancient sect to save her homeland, in this gripping original saga set in the world of Assassin's Creed ® Valhalla
Mercia, 878. Witch-warrior Niamh discovers a new order called the Hidden Ones is seeking to establish a foothold in Lunden. Her land is already scarred by Viking raiders, bloody wars, and clashing cultures. Determined to protect what remains of her homeland, she infiltrates this new group to discover whether they stand with her… or against her. Yet when Niamh learns the Hidden Ones have stolen an artifact sacred to her people, her own loyalties are challenged. Casting aside newfound alliances and friendships, Niamh soon discovers that betrayal comes with a heavy price and it will take everything in her power – her gods willing – to survive.
I loved the plot!
It was quick paced, a wonderful mix of classic Assassin's Creed with Arthurania mythology.
This takes place around the time of the Wrath of the Druids DLC, so Eivor is now firmly in place as the new Jarl of Raventhorpe and Hytham is busy helping rebuild the Hidden Ones power in England.
It has a lot of female characters supporting each other, female characters that have varied personalities and aren't treated one-dimensionally.
It has a decent discussion about trauma and prejudice and how the two can become linked. It also deals a lot with the Norse colonization of England and how both the Norse and Christianity are attempting to destroy the local religion and traditions.
There is some implied SA, but it's in the background of Marcella's character, and it's not in-depth in any way, so just a head's up.
I really enjoyed learning more about the witch-warriors and the Women of Avalon. Very interesting group that I hope future AC content talks about more.
THE CHARACTERS:
I love the main character, Niamh of Argyll. I want a game with her so bad. She's interesting, full of love for her people, the land and their traditions. She's clever, stubborn and tough, but also very aware of her own trauma, prejudices and is willing to own up to her mistakes. Over the course of the book we get to watch her grow and learn to trust others outside of her own people; such as Valka and Hytham. Anyways, I love her and desperately want more content with her.
Hytham as always is wonderful. In this book he's definitely a little more subdued at first, still dealing with the ramifications of his injury and is now learning how to fight while permanently disabled (still unsure what his actual injury is? It seems to be something to do with his back that affects his lungs). He is still hurting by Basim's "death" and is now channeling his former mentor by trying to be more open and trusting of those around him. His sarcasm and temper still jumps out in moments and I love it every time.
Valka features heavily in this book and I love seeing how close she is with Hytham. They're obviously very close friends and she plays a pivotal role in repairing the relationship between Hytham and Niamh in the end of the book. Her and Niamh and some great conversations about their different cultures, their abilities as seer/witch and the repercussions of the Norse's colonization of England and surrounding lands.
Marcella is a character I love to hate. Deeply hurt and running from her past, she's the current leader of the Hidden One's bureau in London. I'm not going to say too much about her because of spoilers, but in a nutshell; she's a butch but I want to know more about her. I hope she eventually grows as a person and becomes a better leader who learns to looks past her prejudices like Niamh learned to.
Eivor does feature briefly in this, but more as an antagonist. If you're someone dealing with main character syndrome from playing AC Valhalla, you probably won't like this book, since it calls out the hypocrisy of Eivor helping to try and colonize England and trying to kill Niamh when Niamh steals back a relic that belongs to her people, that Eivor previously stole from it's resting place.
Anyway, I definitely enjoyed this book and recommend it!
A smaller amount of memes, slightly less effort, and "oops, all Basim and Hytham!" once more... And I didn't even realise until writing this caption that it was exactly two months since the last meme compilation. That's 1/6th of the year ago....
