Anny P. (wolfnme) reviewed on 5/15/2006 + 3389 more book reviews

The Northmen attack Hordaland in retaliation for a raid on Sognefjord a month ago. In the assault they kill her renowned story telling father, the skald Magnus Silver-Throat and capture amongst others his two children, Rika also a skald storyteller and her brother Ketil as slaves of the Jarl of Sogna. The ruler's younger brother Bjorn the Black led the raid that imprisoned Rika, who vows to kill him.

Bjorn decides he wants the courageous skald, but knows he must ask his sibling for permission. Instead of showing his appreciation the Jarl displays his jealousy of his brother's success. Still even as Rika and Bjorn begin to fall in love, the Jarl promises her to his Byzantine trading partner as he loathes his sibling and gives him nothing even what he earned.

This exciting Dark Ages romance takes the audience on a deep tour of Scandinavia and the Byzantine Empire with a deep look at the societies of both. The story line is action-packed as the two lead protagonists fall in love while landing in one escapade after another due to the betrayal by the treacherous Jarl, however, whose loathing seems cartoonish. Sub-genre fans will welcome Diana Groe to the circa tenth century world with her fabulous debut historical.

Harriet Klausner

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