Bafta and Academy Award-nominated
screenwriter Menno Meyjes’ first novel is the
exhilarating and highly original Blood Axe.
Meet Alistair…

Book blurb

Alistair is a Norse-mythology obsessed, neurotic, well-read and deeply unpopular teenage boy. He lives in Staines with his bulimic older sister Belle and their depressive single mother, an Amazon worker and weekend protester of the third runway at Heathrow. Alistair is in therapy. And he does not fit in with his classmates, ‘normal’ teenagers who bully him for being different. But when he is struggling, Alistair does not pray to God – Alistair prays to the Norse Ull, and in trying to summon him, he accidentally conjures up the formidable Erik Bloodaxe. Erik idiosyncratically adjusts to contemporary living while Alistair and Belle attempt to conceal his identity from their mother. When Erik abruptly leaves Alistair’s house, Alistair tries to follow him by climbing through the rabbit hole in the base of the oak tree where he prays to Ull. Transported to the tenth century, Alistair meets Erik’s wife – the fearsome sorceress Gunhild and Alistair’s Norse adventures begin…

As we accompany Alistair to and from the tenth century – a world far removed from his suburban house, where Bake Off blares in the background – we also travel with him through the ups and downs of adolescence and his blossoming relationship with Madelon, a Dutch girl from history class.

Vivid and mesmerising, this extraordinary title from Bafta- and Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Menno Meyjes is The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole in the universe of Marvel, by way of Bukowski and Nick Cave.

My thoughts

Well! What a weird and possibly wonderful thing Blood Axe by Menno Meyjes is. Alistair is being bullied and immersing himself in his beloved Norse mythology he prays to Ull who sends him Erik Bloodaxe.

Alistair is in therapy, he is unpopular and his home life is not what it might be. His sister is bulimic, his mother works for Amazon and is a dedicated opponent to the third runway at Heathrow. No father is present. Alistair doesn’t know how to help his sister and with his mother, between working and protesting, seemingly physically and mentally absent, he looks to his favourite Norse mythology for inspiration, distraction and help.

When Erik Bloodaxe actually makes an appearance in Alistair’s life things take a bit of a leap away from reality or so it would seem. The story goes on with Alastair moving between the present and the tenth century. It’s a mind boggling story told from Alastair’s perspective which might not be entirely accurate. As we go to and fro between the two worlds we are told that both his mother and sister are aware of Erik but believe he is some kind of actor. In the tenth century we learn about Erik, Gunhild, how they came together, what life is like there through Alistair’s eyes and what he experiences.

Through all this Alistair begins to notice Madelon and they become close. She’s interested in Alistair and his strange ways. He tells her about Ull and Erik, the mythology. It isn’t long when a series of events happen that shake Madelon.

Alistair believes that he must give up on his time travelling, give up on Erik and succumb to the present day reality that he needs help. But is it really the case? After a while Alistair makes a decision and we are left wondering what is real, what is the truth!

This is a rollercoaster ride of life for a troubled teenager. A teenager who has developed a way of coping with his life that has become increasingly difficult and he finds himself unable to understand what is real or imagined. In the end he makes a decision. However, not surprisingly given the author’s usual area of work, Menno Meyjes leaves the reader a tantalising but somewhat frustrating cliffhanger.

This book is aimed at teenagers who may appreciate this kind of ending more than I do nowadays but that doesn’t take away from the unique way of writing about the mental health of a teenager who is struggling to relate to his peers, who it seems is being bullied and has no proper support, his therapist is not very well thought of by Alistair, on which he feels he can rely.

For me this story has the potential to become a source for young people to learn, to understand about mental health, mental illness and to open up a conversation on this with friends, parents and teachers.

Thanks

With thanks to Grace Pilkington at GracePilkingtonPublicity for the invitation to read and Menno Meyjes for an eCopy of Blood Axe by Menno Meyjes for the purpose of sharing my thoughts on Blood Axe.

Information

Published: 8th May 2025 | EBook EXCLUSIVE | 290 pp

Buy: Amazon

Author

Menno Meyjes was born in 1954 in Bloemendaal, Noord-Holland, Netherlands. He is a Dutch-born screenwriter, film director, and film producer.

Meyjes moved to the United States in 1972 and studied at San Francisco Art Institute.

Menno Meyjes is the screenplay writer of The Colour Purple, which was Bafta- and Academy Award-nominated. He is also the winner of a Goya Award and gained global recognition for co-writing Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. He also wrote and directed the films Max with John Cusack in 2022, Martian Child, and Manolete. Meyjes has lived in the United Kingdom since the 1990s.

He has now released his first novel Blood Axe as an ebook-exclusive in May.

Menno Meyjes Website | Instagram | X