Swords of Good Men by Snorri Kristjansson
King Olav Tryggvason wants to unite Norway under the White
Christ while another army, followers of the Norse Gods and led by a mysterious
woman, wants to return to the old ways and crush the spread of
Christianity. The town of Stenvik lies
halfway between two armies. Swedes Ulfar
and Geiri have one more town to visit on their town of the surrounding regions
before returning home to Sweden.
Unfortunately that last town is Stenvik and they are there when the
armies start to converge.
The action jumps around a lot so until you really have the
characters established firmly in your brain it can be a bit confusing. The author puts place names prior to the
jumps which helps a lot. There comes a
point where all is clear and the story just takes off.
This is a brutal account of the siege of a Viking town that
really hits home with how brutal, yet ingenious, warfare was at the time. Technically this is a fantasy book, the army
led by a follower of the Norse Gods uses magic, but it is not
ever-present. People who don’t like
fantasy but are fans of military historical fiction will find a lot to like
here. Especially since the ending is ripe for a sequel.
If you love the television show
Vikings (I am a huge fan) I think you’ll read this identifying parts from the
siege of Paris sequence as well as wondering what they will be incorporating
into next season.
