How far would you go to remove a threat to your family? Would you murder a friend? Hank Jensen knows what he won’t do. He won’t judge someone based on what might happen. Hank has enough on his plate. He battles his curse daily. He faces threats to his family’s safety from dragons, demons, evil men and Svartalfar, and dark, vengeful gods. Through it all, his Isir friends have supported and aided … Through it all, his Isir friends have supported and aided him. When a dark figure swathed in power tells him one of them will betray him, Hank can’t—won’t—believe the worst. She urges him to eliminate the threat—to kill the person she suspects, or at least send the potential betrayer packing. But Hank is not the kind of man that turns his back on his friends.
The exciting sequel to the 2018 Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards Silver Medal winner for Fantasy
If you like fast paced, tightly plotted stories set in a mythical landscape filled with mystery and deadly traps, then you’ll love Erik Henry Vick’s imaginative Blood of the Isir saga:
Errant Gods—book one
Rooms of Ruin—book two
Wild Hunt—book three
Wendigo—a standalone novella
★★★★★ “The author is a master at creating suspense, developing subplots in the story that leave readers suspended, wondering what could happen next… The setting is a magical world with unique elements, the conflict is phenomenal, and the plot is well imagined and executed with brilliance.” — Divine Zape, Readers’ Favorite
Will you stand with Hank against the forces of evil?
more
Listen up everyone! The recipe for today is you take one debilitated cop and mix him with powerful gods, malevolent beings, terrifying dragons and deadly shapeshifters. You then sprinkle in his wife and son and combine all these ingredients together into a different dimension. Stir the concoction thoroughly and you will end up with one awesome story which takes epic fantasy writing to a whole new level! There can be very little doubt that Rooms of Ruin by Erik Henry Vick is a wild ride which will engross and captivate readers everywhere!
Rooms of Ruin is Book 2 in the Blood of the Isir Series. Essentially, the story focuses upon Hank, our New York cop, who finds himself trapped in a multiverse world and seeking to find a way home for his wife Jane, and their son Sig. The only way to make this happen is to travel in this new world to the distant Rooms of Ruin. It is here that the pathways which connect the two worlds can be restored and Hank can thus bring himself and his family back home. If only it were that easy!
To bedevil matters, Hank must battle a curse which has burdened him with a devastating disease. On top of this he must clash with his nemesis, the Dark Queen, who commands armies and all types of evil and deadly creatures. They are tasked with one main objective…trap Hank Jensen and his family and ultimately destroy them! Fortunately for the Jensens, they are not in this predicament alone. They are in fact accompanied by a powerful and magical group of their own who are sworn to protect them and have even bestowed powers onto Hank and Jane. It is a race against time as Hank and his crew scramble to escape the grasp of the Dark Queen and ultimately find their way home. Can they succeed in their quest? Or are they doomed to spend an eternity in a foreign and hostile land?
The theme of this novel is very clearly a good versus evil one. However, to clearly illustrate and project this theme, the reader is taken on a wildly exciting fantasy adventure. The story is full of battle scenes and non-stop action which is cleverly tied together by meaningful dialogue. There are quite simply no “lulls’ in this epic novel. The author also illustrates the unique depth of his imagination as the plot unfolds. While there may be Norse mythological components to the story…do not be misled. This is clearly Erik Henry Vick’s world! It is his creation…and what a concoction it is! I found myself stopping as I read to actually contemplate the level of creativity and imagination that this author possesses.
While the plot is captivating and engrossing, so are the many characters in the novel. Other than Hank and his family, there are numerous other players such as Meuhlnir, Mothi, Sif, Veethar and Althyof. Each has their own unique powers and they are developed in a very incremental and thorough fashion. I had trouble at first keeping all the various characters straight in my own mind. However, it was not long before that was no longer the case and I became deeply vested in their development and inevitable outcome. As the story progressed, Althyof became on of my favorite characters, even though I actually had little use for him at first. Other than their individual development and captivating powers, I found the humor and obvious caring which was shown between the different characters to be truly engaging. They may have been magical and godlike in their own right…but they all revealed themselves to be uniquely human in many respects.
For me personally this novel has everything a reader could possibly hope for. A captivating plot, imaginative and believable setting and fully developed, complex characters. There are some violent scenes in this novel yet I believe it would be suitable for all adult readers. Young and old alike! I give it my highest recommendation!
5 out of 5 Godlike stars for this one! *****
Book 1 sucked me in but this one is over the top. Hank and Jane transport to the land of Vikings and the terrifying adventure really begins. Definitely a must read. Can’t wait for the next book!! Thanks Erik..
Rooms of Ruin, Erik Henry Vick’s 2nd book in the Blood of the Isir series, keeps getting better and better! Erik’s ability to create different worlds is unparalleled. The settings are imagitive. The creatures are frightful. The storyline continues to be fast-paced and unique, filled with adventure, danger, and unimaginable obstacles. The characters are endearing and well developed, most brought forth from book one. I hope he continues to write in this series!
Once again Erik Henry Vick has delivered. He has created his own unique world based on elements drawn from Norse and other mythos. The characters in his mythos are all very human. They all have flaws and weaknesses that make them unique and humanize them. Norse God, check. Treated with deference by his family, well, guess you have to read the series.
This is shaping up to be a very special series. His first novel in this series “Errant Gods” was the best novel I have read in the last 2 to 3 years. I read about a book a week so that is quite a few books. This novel is equally as good and shows every sign that the trend will continue. If so, that would put this series into the top five series I have ever read in fifty years of reading.
This is a story of an epic quest to end an ancient evil. Woven in with it is a long and deliciously conflicted back story since, after all, Gods live long lives, even when they’re not truly Gods. The main character suffers from a curse which exhibits itself as the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. This is something that Erik knows about from real life and this weakness is what makes this character truly approachable. Yes, he is a hero but that doesn’t mean that his life is a bed of roses. Killing a dragon might be tough, but so is getting out of bed in the morning.
That type of complexity shows up again and again. The situations are complex, it is not a brave knight and his crew showing up to battle a faceless all powerful evil, it is a flawed human leading a party of people with a long and conflicted history with those they oppose. And that is where this series becomes something very special. It’s in the complexity of the situations, nothing is absolute, there are limitations on all the characters involved. Some of these are external, some are self imposed by the character’s nature. This not just true of the main characters it includes the entire supporting cast. And that makes the characters and the world he creates far more enjoyable and believable than most novelists ever achieve.
Erik Henry Vick does it again! Hank Jenson and his family, continue their adventures abroad in the dimension populated by gods and creatures of Norse legend. Do you want a Rune-weaving and shapeshifting story? Do you want far-out technology at war with deviant. black magic? How about sarcastic humor and wolf puppies? This continuation of the Jensen family saga is well worth your time, do not miss this wonderful work. of verbal wit and high adventure! You won’t be disappointed!
Erik Henry Vick is a great writer. I have not read the first book in this series, so I was afraid I would spend half the book trying to find out who is who and what they did. However, By the first few pages in the second chapter I felt set to read the book without being lost. Erik Henry Vick is a awesome writer this book is just as good as his other books. It grabes your attention and keeps it. It has gods and creatures of Norse legend, rune-weaving, shape shifting and black magic. Read this book and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Stop everything – your new favorite author is here!
In Rooms of Ruin, Book Two of The Blood of the Isir series, Erik Henry Vick continues the gripping tale he began in Errant Gods, the first of the series, building more and more tension and excitement as he does so. His sweeping imagination, his detailed and convincing world-building, his characters and the interplay among them, and his deft skill in writing and storytelling makes this series the most engaging reading I’ve enjoyed in many a year. I haven’t encountered a new author I’ve enjoyed so much since I first discovered Stephen King all those years ago, nor been enraptured by a series like this since the DT series. Set aside a day just to read this treasure – better yet, set aside two days and read Errant Gods first. When you’re done with them both, read his novella Wendigo for a refreshing dessert.
I cannot *wait* for Book Three — but I guess I’ll have to.
I was amazed at how much I loved this book. Very well written. If I would have had a choice I wouldn’t have put it down to do other things that I had to do.
Marooned far from home, will they ever get back? Allow a LONG weekend to read this part of the epic. I read an ARC and this voluntary review is my own opinion.
The story of Hank continues in another wonderfully written, keep you on the edge of your seat, page turner. Loved this next story with Hank and Jane and cannot say enough about how this sucked me in to the point of NOTHING gets done around the house until the book is read! Great job!!! Can’t wait to read the next story. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors!!!
Book 1 introduced a phenomenal world of incredible characters and just a slight twist of mythology from the Viking age. The first one won me over as a fan but this second one…..this one took it to another level. I have read a few books in my time and it is not often the author can “one up” the story in the sequel. It generally acts like a gap filler for the most part and brings it all together in the third book (if it is trilogy). Erik Vick not only expanded his story but took it to another level. Thoroughly enjoy the banter between characters and the action is off the charts. The new view of the Norse myths is really incredible but be warned, just because it is a twist on the myths make them no less powerful. Think Stargate meets Norse Mythology but with a flare that is just flat awesome.