Terrible. the writing is extremely juvenile and the spacing of the margins seem indie as opposed to published by professionals. I do understand this is a childrens book but I have read indie middle grade books that displayed better writing style and had better formatting. The terrible writing is especially obvious when the main character's half brother tells the tale of the illfated journey and the main character inwardly states his half brother really knows how to spin a tale yet that tale is poorly told and choppy. I can hardly believe HarperCollins was involved in the production of this book, it doesn't seem well edited for content or sentence structure.
The author gives gives a lot of details that paints of picture culture of the time but also manages to develops the character well. The main character is likable and many will cheer for Halfdan as he meets his challenges. As a teacher I wish more authors would write like this.
Loved it, can't wait to read the next ones, its very much like Tamora Pierce's Tortall books
Love this series! You really need to start with book 1 so you don't miss any of the action. The writing sucks you right into the story and you become lost in the viking age. Its a series I'll read again and again.
