This great war of our time has indeed been terrible, and I am still struck with its horrors, waking up in the night sweating.

Kevin Hearne, author of The Iron Druid Chronicles gives us a tale told by Fintan, Bard of the Poet Goddess Kaelin.  A fleet of Bone Giants, tall, thin people with bone armor on their torsos and arms, is on its way to kill anyone in their path to find the unknown Seventh Kenning, a form of magic given to a blessed few.  People blessed with kennings are charged with defending their homes at any means against the giants who are invading their land.  Kennings include moving the earth, building and destroying walls, moving water, talking to animals, communicating by roots and stems, and taking on the voices and likenesses of others to inform the masses of what is to come.

This is a 640-page, epic story of terror and wonder with an assortment of interesting characters.  At times the story was confusing with all of the characters and plot lines, which is what took me so long to finish it.  I would have appreciated an Appendix of all of the characters and their kennings more than the tables that were provided.  In all it was a very fascinating, unique story and I love the cover of the book.  However, it was too long for me and I do not plan to read the next book in the series.

You can read more about the author, Kevin Hearne at http://kevinhearne.com, http://facebook.com/authorkevin and Twitter: @KevinHearne.

Thank you to Mr. Hearne, Random House Publishing and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.