The Quick View: A great Viking historical novel worth the time to read and worth four stars.
I admit it: I'm easily influenced. Last summer I heard about this on NPR and was curious enough to pester my college library that had a copy (being an alumni has its priveleges).
Its about a strapping young Viking lad by the name of Orm who 'joins' a raiding party that takes him far afield from the familiar northern lands. As far as the Iberian Caliphates where he and his fellow Vikings are enslaved. And that's only the first book in this collected trilogy.
I liked this book for numerous reasons:
● Orm is very much the archetypical Viking.
● That I've dug into a lot of Norman European history - and this comes up to the edge of the era.
● It takes things far a field - Moorish Spain and the Roman (Byzantine) Empire. It shows the reach and scope of the Viking travels.
● The gathering for the thing in the north.
● Plots and intrigues among the Vikings - with the possibility of a duel between the various factions.
● The constant question of "How do we hang on to and dispose of the treasure?"
● It reminds me of David Drakes North World (or is it the other way around?)
I admit it: I'm easily influenced. Last summer I heard about this on NPR and was curious enough to pester my college library that had a copy (being an alumni has its priveleges).
Its about a strapping young Viking lad by the name of Orm who 'joins' a raiding party that takes him far afield from the familiar northern lands. As far as the Iberian Caliphates where he and his fellow Vikings are enslaved. And that's only the first book in this collected trilogy.
I liked this book for numerous reasons:
● Orm is very much the archetypical Viking.
● That I've dug into a lot of Norman European history - and this comes up to the edge of the era.
● It takes things far a field - Moorish Spain and the Roman (Byzantine) Empire. It shows the reach and scope of the Viking travels.
● The gathering for the thing in the north.
● Plots and intrigues among the Vikings - with the possibility of a duel between the various factions.
● The constant question of "How do we hang on to and dispose of the treasure?"
● It reminds me of David Drakes North World (or is it the other way around?)
