Reunited, Audun and Ulfar have a new sense of purpose: to ensure that the North remains in the hands of those who hold with the old gods. To do this, they must defeat the people who seek to destroy all they have ever known with the new White Christ. But these are powerful enemies and if they have any chance of victory, they must find equally powerful allies.
In Trondheim, King Olav, self-appointed champion of the White Christ, finds that keeping the peace is a much harder test of his faith than winning the war. With his garrison halved and local chieftains at his table who wish him nothing but ill, the king must decide how and where to spread the word of his god.
And in the North, touched by the trickster god, something old, malevolent and very, very angry stirs…
My thoughts:
I think this one was the best of the series. I read it in a day, it felt so light. Just like it should. Many historical books put in useless facts that only drags down the book. Here he balanced it well, I felt like I was there, and then he mixed it with mythology and made it believable.
Audun and Ulfar are back together. They are still immortal, and they know that things are happening. A big showdown is coming.
First we have King Olav, arghh he made me so mad! So raping women who do not believe in Christ is ok. You are going down Olav, you and your religion! I kept waiting for ships to sail...if you catch my meaning... *whistles*
But then we have the dark evil parts. Loki has a willing pawn who wants to start Ragnarrök. And that is so not ok. There is a lot of darkness going on there. You are going down Loki! He is as he should be a trickster and no nice.
As you can see our two heroes who are not really heroes, just men, and have their job cut out for them. Armies are marching. Trolls are coming. Loki is laughing and the Gods are watching.
Conclusion:
I used to read a lot of his fic set around this time, but ever since I started reading in English, not so much. A shame really, it's always interesting. It's fun, and this book is a mix of fiction and mythology. A great mix that works. gy. A great mix that works.
Hardcover
Published July 2nd 2015 by Jo Fletcher Books
The Valhalla Saga #3
Historical fiction fantasy
For review
Good to hear it was a fun mix of fiction and mythology
ReplyDeleteI do love that
DeleteOooo Norse mythology! Yes please:)
ReplyDelete;)
DeleteKing Olav sounds like a horrible, evil cad. But I do really like the sound of regular people rather than heroes trying to fight the good fight.
ReplyDeleteHe wanted to spread what he thought was the right religion. Which was funny cos actually Gods came to him and told him things
DeleteI think I have to look this series up!
ReplyDeleteYes do
Delete:)
ReplyDeleteI do love those books
ReplyDeleteAlways fun to revisit an old favorite author, esp when it sounds like the new book was pretty good. :)
ReplyDeleteTrue :)
DeleteDo you know how many books are planned? I was interested in this series, thought it might be a trilogy and was waiting to just grab all the books at once.
ReplyDelete~Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum
Stupid blogger, wont let me reply, sigh!
ReplyDeleteMogsy,
I do think it is a trilogy. It ended, it was the end. The end. Of course there could be more
Yey vikings! I have that first book somewhere...
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised that this is "light". From the points you've mentioned, those are heavy hitters.
ReplyDeleteSo, there is death and stuff. But the writing felt light M)
DeletePoor Loki....
ReplyDeleteLoki is an evil trickster, not the hottie misunderstood guy from Thor ;)
DeleteWell, dang, this sure sounds like an amazing series. Yet it's new to me :( Sometimes, I'm really disappointed with myself. The Valhalla Saga - I'll look for it. Great review, Linda :)
ReplyDeleteThat is cos you did not know me when I read book 1 and 2 :)
DeleteSnorri. I love that name. Fitting that he's writing a book involving Ragnarrök!
ReplyDeleteI always lol when I read the name, here it means something else...with an e on the ending it's another name for a peen
DeleteHmmm. I'll have to think about these ones. :)
ReplyDeleteOlav sounds horrible!! It's amazing what people think is okay to do in the name of religion. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteI know, sad
DeleteI gotta read one of Snorri's books. I know him from Facebook and meaning to read some of his stories, this one sounds like a good read and a page turner!
ReplyDeleteThey are cool. And brutal at times
DeleteUgh... you keep reviewing interesting books that are the 2nd, 3rd or 4th in a series. I have too many books already in my TBR pile!!
ReplyDeleteI know...I am evil ;)
DeleteYou have me curious Linda! I have not tried this author
ReplyDelete;)
Delete