Swords of Good Men - Snorri Kristjansson

To Ulfar Thormodsson, the Viking town of Stenvik is the penultimate stop on a long journey in this riveting adventure of clashing Viking powers. Tasked with looking after his cousin after disgracing his father, he has traveled the world and now only wants to go home.

Stenvik is different: it contains the beautiful and tragic Lilja, who immediately captures Ulfar’s heart-–but Stenvik is also home to some very deadly men, who could break Ulfar in an instant.

King Olav is marching on Stenvik from the East, determined to bring the White Christ to the masses at the point of his sword, and a host of bloodthirsty raiders led by a mysterious woman are sailing from the north.

But Ulfar is about to learn that his enemies are not all outside the walls.

My thoughts:

At first I will admit that this will not be the historical for everyone. This is about war, fighting, a siege, death. You get the idea.

Ulfar comes with his cousin to Stenvik. And he is not the only one. King Olav is coming there too, and others to plunder and kill. But before that Ulfar falls for a mystery woman (yes those things can never end well). And we gets to see the tension in the city. It was a brutal time after all.

The raiders and King do not come at once. We get to see city life, the raiders planning and King Olav telling people his way or the highway. Yeah, I have never been a fan of those who say this religion is better, follow it or die. So I can't really be on his side then. Go back to your heathen ways Norway, do not listen to Olav.

Ulfar, he was interesting. Because he starts of, not naive, but in a way yes. He grows and sees the bloody side of things. It's not like he is a stranger to fighting but things will get messy in this town.

Vikings as they were. A time of Thor vs White Christ. Tensions in society and like always, people doing things they should not do.

Conclusion:
And the end, rather evil wasn't it? I will not tell you but it certainly made me wonder what Ulfar is up to next.

cover
works

Paperback, 352 pages
Published June 5th by Jo Fletcher Books
The Valhalla Saga #1
Historical fiction
for review