New Book Alert: Sons of Kings: Shadow of the Raven by Millie Thom; Engaging Violent Read About Slavery in 9th Century England

New Book Alert: Sons of Kings: Shadow of the Raven by Millie Thom; Engaging Violent Read About Slavery in 9th Century England

By Julie Sara Porter




Spoilers: Apparently, historical fiction novels about slavery is this year's epic fantasy because this is the second book about slavery that I read in a week. Like Shiri, this is about a young person whose home is targeted by an enemy army. Their family is either wiped out or missing leaving them the sole survivor and the protagonist is forced to become a slave in the presence of their enemies. The main differences between this and Shiri are the settings and particularly the protagonists. Shiri was about a girl in Ancient Egypt while Shadow of a Raven is about a boy in 9th century England. Because of this, the Shadow of a Raven goes places that Shiri does not by taking its protagonist down a more active violent vengeance seeking path that Shiri’s gender and status deprive her of.



Eadwulf is a prince in 851 Mercia and is the son of King Beorthwulf and Queen Morwenna. His life consists of hanging out with his more active best friend, Aethelnoth, sleeping during the study sessions headed by his tutor, Sigehelm, hunting for animals, and watching as his father and other men fight with the often raiding Danes. He is in training to be king himself one day, that is until the Danes make a surprise raid on the Mercian kingdom orchestrated by Beorthwulf's brother, Burgred (thereby taking his place as “Worst Uncle Ever” since Scar from the Lion King). Beorthwulf is killed and Eadwulf is separated from his mother, friends, and kingdom to become a thral or slave with Sigehelm to Jarl Ragnar Lothbrok, a Danish chieftain. In slavery, Eadwulf has two goals in mind and two bodies on his soon to be hit list: killing Burgred, for his betrayal of his family and Rorik, the Danish chieftain who commanded the raid and took Morwenna to serve as his concubine.

Meanwhile, in the nearby Wessex kingdom tensions arise when the elderly dying King Aethelwulf takes a much younger wife, Judith which doesn't sit too well with his oldest son, Aethelstan. Aethelstan and his brothers squabble over their inheritance and shares of the kingdom. Oh yes, and Aethelwulf’s youngest son, Alfred is predicted to become a great king surpassing his brothers. (History will prove this prediction right since Alfred grows to become King Alfred The Great.)

Shadow of the Raven is an exciting dramatic novel with a few setbacks. The subplot involving Alfred's family so far seems unnecessary since there appears to be little to no interaction with the Eadwulf plot. Their worlds will probably connect at a future date in a later installment, but for now the two plots could have easily been two separate novels instead of crammed into one.


However, the Eadwulf story is strong and easily the most involving plot in the book. It's not hard to compare this book to Shiri since they both feature characters forced into slavery. Neither book is inherently better than the other. They just differ in terms of choices that characters make and how they approach their lives of bondage.

Shiri is a more stoic character who endures her servitude with patience and inner strength. She is limited by being a peasant woman from an outside village who has very little chance of gaining meaningful allies. She lives out in the desert where escape is impossible even fatal. She is also threatened with the death or disgrace of her lover, Joseph and daughter, Tiye. So she can only submit to her treatment, but also show love towards Joseph and Tiye who are respectively married to and raised by a wealthy Egyptian woman who is Shiri’s mistress. For Shiri, she must endure patiently and wait for better days.

Eadwulf however is a more action fueled character. While serving in Ragnar's household, he is made enemies with Ragnar's abusive wife and bullying sons. Eadwulf’s abuse at their hands escalates to the point where the sons hunt him down for sport. However, Eadwulf finds a supporter in Ragnar's oldest son, Bjorn who then takes the young man to serve on his ship.


Here is where Eadwulf is able to take action in the face of his slavery as compared to Shiri. Eadwulf learns about seamanship, fighting, and forsakes his family's Christian religion for the more proactive Norse gods. As a sailor and fighter on the ship, he is forced to reconcile his Mercian upbringing with his current actions as the Danish crew frequently rape and pillage the places they land on. Besides working out his aggression in these raids, he earns Bjorn's loyalty and protection. This is especially cemented when Eadwulf saves Bjorn's life from an approaching arrow earning him the new name, Ulf.


Besides becoming a fierce and at times ruthless fighter, Eadwulf shows tremendous heart especially considering the people in his past. While he once thought of Sigehelm as a boring dull dud and the butt of his pranks, Eadwulf begins to recognize his tutor's quiet strength and self-sacrifice towards him. He also has some moving heartfelt reunions with long separated friends and family members. He bonds with Bjorn's youngest brother and becomes close to his younger siblings particularly taking an almost fatherly interest in his younger brother, Jorund. He also has a romantic relationship with Freydis, Ragnar's daughter and Bjorn's sister.

Unfortunately, it is his relationship with Freydis that reminds Eadwulf that he may be liked by Bjorn and Bjorn may be a loving kind master, but Eadwulf is still a slave. He learns that as a thral, he is still property and therefore still subjected to their rules and those who were once his strongest allies could very quickly turn on him.


Shadow of a Raven is an engaging but dark and graphically violent book in which characters are brutally stabbed, raped, molested, decapitated, whipped, and the protagonist goes from a wide-eyed idealistic naive prince to a hardened warrior with several bloody kills, rapes, and village destruction to his credit. However, it is a very realistic and exciting look at life in 9th century England and demonstrated the lengths that some will go to fight for revenge and for their freedom.