| Title | : | The Last Berserker: An action-packed Viking adventure (Fire Born Book 1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 361 |
| Publication | : | Published February 11, 2021 |
One Christian king
Karolus, newly crowned King of the Franks, has a thorn in his side: the warlike Saxon tribes on his northern borders who shun the teachings of the Church, blasphemously continuing to worship their pagan gods.
An epic battle for the soul of the North
The West’s greatest warlord vows to stamp out his neighbours’ superstitions and bring the light of the True Faith to the Northmen – at the point of a sword. It will fall to Bjarki, Tor and the men and women of Saxony to resist him in a struggle for the fate of all Europe.
The Last Berserker: An action-packed Viking adventure (Fire Born Book 1) Reviews
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3.5.
A strong plot mixed with excellent set pieces make this an enjoyable book. The characters were intriguing and I liked their relationships. The language of the book continued to pull me out of the story and small details hindered my enjoyment. The fault with being a dark-ages geek I guess.
If you want some hyping up for The Northman, come and read this berserker action tale. -
There is a moment, not far into the pages of Angus Donald’s exciting new novel The Last Berserker, when the protagonist wonders out loud what he is doing there, “among this vicious gang of blood-drunk lunatics.”
It made me laugh because I was feeling exactly the same way at that point.
This is not a book for the faint-hearted. From the first page, one must gird up one’s loins for the world we have entered.
This is late 8th century Northern Europe, a time of untold amounts of blood-letting and conflict; between the Franks on the one hand, led by the Emperor Charlemagne and fired by the new faith of Christianity, and the Saxons (ably assisted by Danes and assorted other northern tribes) on the other, holding out against them in defence of the “old ways of the North”.
Into this world so fraught with violence and deception, is thrown a comparative ingenu, Bjarki Bloodhand, a young man raised on a miserable sliver of land somewhere in the Danish archipelago. Unprepossessing in looks, simple in brains, but sweet in nature, it’s fair to say Bjarki is not your conventional hero. However, his naivety is so endearing that for all the bloody mayhem that he endures and wreaks himself, you cannot but come to love him dearly.
And that poor kid has to endure a good deal. He has a gift (or curse, depending on your viewpoint). Violence lurks in him, a savagery beyond his control, which puts him in hot water as soon as we meet him. However, when a mysterious one-eyed wanderer called Valtyr saves him from the noose, Bjarki embarks on an astonishing journey of transformation, from simpleton fisherman’s boy to the commander of an elite force defending the North from an invading Frankish army. During his travails he seeks to become a Rekkr – a berserker – a warrior with the rare ability of invoking the “gandr” spirit of a fierce beast (a bear in his case) during combat which makes him all but invincible. The Rekkar are as feared by the Franks as they are respected by the Saxons and Danes. But they are a dying breed, as the title of the novel suggests.
Fortunately, accompanying him nearly every step of the way, is Tor Hildarsdottir – a skilled shield-maiden herself, and daughter of a legendary Rekkr. She wants nothing more than to honour her father’s memory by becoming a Rekkr as well (her preferred gandr being the wolf). Acerbic, irreverent, and often very, very funny, she is the perfect foil to the lumbering innocence of Bjarki. She rarely addresses him as anything but “oaf” but he never seems to mind. For me, their friendship was the beating heart of the book and carries the narrative through some pretty harrowing (and thrilling) situations. Their growing appreciation of each other’s skills creates an unlikely friendship untroubled by romance, but nevertheless infused with great affection and respect. There are just damn good company and I would happily follow this pair wherever they chose to go.
And they do roam extremely far and wide. From the low-lying Danish Isles, through dark Germanic forests to the majestic palaces of Charlemagne’s imperial city of Aachen, thence to the final climax at the Dane-Work, the earthen rampart built in defence of Jutland.
All this is rendered with the vivid brush-strokes of Donald’s wonderful prose. Indeed he delivers a masterclass in world-building throughout the novel. His attention to the physical detail of both the pagan North and the more civilized cities of the Frankish Empire is remarkable. But particularly impressive is his re-imagining of the thought-world of the pagan warriors, especially with regard to the making of a Rekkr.
With The Last Berserker, Donald has given us the first cut of some serious Dark Age beef. By turns heart-racing, intriguing, and touching – I can’t wait for more. -
The Last Berserker strikes with the thundering power of Thor's hammer. Angus Donald effortlessly transports us into the blood-soaked kingdoms of early medieval Europe, where the old beliefs battle for survival against the implacable wave of Christianity, and the armies of the greatest leader of the age, Karolus, King of Francia. The tale of young Bjarki Bloodhand, finding his calling as a fabled berserker, is rich with the earthy depth, historical detail, intrigue, violence and adventure that we expect from Donald. But it is the likeable duo at the heart of the novel, Bjarki and Tor, that makes The Last Berserker stand out. Characters are what readers remember, and Donald's masterful creations will live on in the imagination long after the final page.
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I received the ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
"𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙜𝙞𝙛𝙩, 𝙍𝙚𝙠𝙠𝙧. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙙𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙝. 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙, 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙬𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚?"
"𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙜𝙜𝙡𝙚. 𝙒𝙚'𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙣, 𝙬𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙬𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙚. 𝙁𝙤𝙡𝙠 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙜𝙜𝙡𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙, 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧, 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙚, 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙨. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙙𝙨 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩; 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙪𝙥𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙣, 𝘽𝙟𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙞. 𝙔𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩."
🐻771AD, Saxony, Northern Europe. Bjarki Bloodhand of Bago and Tor Hildarsdottir of Svearland journeyed towards the First Forest. Their destination is Irminsul, the One Tree that links the Nine Worlds of the Middle-Realm, where the community of Fyr Skola resides. They teach their students how to summon their gandr, the animal spirit to become the legendary Berserkir/ Rekkr; the frenzied warriors of the north. But becoming a Rekkr is not that simple as Bjarki and Tor had expected and before they could even succeed in obtaining their gandr, the entire Saxony is plunged into turmoil as Karolus, newly crowned King of the Francia who wants to bring all the pagan lands of the North into the light of the Christian Church invaded Saxony. In this dire situation, the Saxon Duke Theodoric seek help from the Fyr Skola to send their legendary warriors in their fight against Francia. But how will Bjarki and Tor fought and survive against the Frankish might without their gandr? Will they ever succeed in becoming a Rekkr or ended up dying in the hands of Karolus?
🐻The book - 1st in the Fire Born series - is based on the King Karolus/ Charlemagne of Francia's crusade against the neighboring Saxons which is narrated from the POVs of Saxons, Bjarki, and Tor. The author is well versed in Saxon history and Norse mythology which shows in every chapter. I'm amazed how immaculately he explained and established the concept of Rekkr, the community of Fyr Skola, and its training in the book. There is also a historical note at the end of the book which explains the historicity of the story to the readers.
🐻This is the 1st time I'm reading Angus’ work and I'm glad that I picked up the book. His writing is simple and smooth. The entire story is divided into 3 parts which ended with a plot twist. Part1 deals with Bjarki's life in Fyr Skola; Part2 deals with his struggles and survival in Francia and Part3 deals with the final clash of Saxon and Frankish army at the battle of Dane-Work. I must say his narrative is engaging and the pacing is wonderful, but the best part is the vivid description of the fight scenes, especially the scene where Bjarki obtain his gandr gives me goosebumps.
🐻The characters are well written and developed. Bjarki's innocence and self-doubt while Tor's straightforwardness and insight make me easily connect with them. If Bjarki is the muscle then Tor is the brain in this story. Other characters like Valtyr-Far-traveller, Ivar Knuttson, Hildar Torfinnsson and Father Livinus are also interesting to read, but they didn't make any significant impact on your mind to remember them later except King Karolus; he is a shrewd cunning manipulator who can work his way just with his sweet talks.
🐻The climax of the book was satisfactory. As the title of the book suggests it offers lots of blood and deaths, but there is also a heartbreaking reunion and some sad goodbyes at the end. I’m happy that all the characters get a proper closure and it also leaves scope for a sequel.
Overall, The Last Berserker was a wonderful read. I thoroughly enjoyed it and looking forward to reading the next book whenever it is published. I think fans of Matthew Harffy and Bernard Cornwell will absolutely love this book. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to all the historical fiction lovers.
𝙈𝙮 𝙍𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐(5/5) -
A bloody epic that had me gripped from the start. The action scenes were so well written it felt like I was watching a movie rather than reading a book. This is hands down one of the best books I read this year! Books like this are why I love reading.
My only criticism is that there should have been a glossary because after awhile you might lose track of some of the Norse words. And map! Because there's nothing readers of historical fiction love more than a map.
I NEED THE NEXT BOOK YESTERDAY -
Another in a great line up of "hero quest" historical fiction that is set in the Northern Hemisphere - particularly Scandinavia - from the 8th -11th centuries. So if you are a fan of Matthew Harffy's
A Time for Swords and Tim Hodkinson's
Whale Road Chronicles, this this one is for you.
Love the historical context that the author then treats us to at the end - I always like to know - apart from the obvious - where they draw their inspiration from and if based on real life events.
A great start to what promises to be the first in a new action-adventure series -
When Bjarki is saved from hanging, his rescuer sees that there is something in him. Bjarki isn't just a mild-mannered bystander, he has the makings of a berserker, warriors who can display extraordinary violence in moments of possession. It is timely, with the new king of the Franks leading a Christian army against these northern pagan lands. Angus Donald is such a good storyteller - how I love his Robin Hood series! - and is excellent at immersing his reader in past times. These are such good adventures. It is true that The Last Berserker is a little too violent for me and the Viking setting isn't a period I normally read about and so, although this isn't really for me, anyone who loves tales of Vikings will thoroughly enjoy this book, which rattles along from start to finish, and is very well-written.
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Bloody, brutal and just damned cool.
This is my favourite kind of book and certainly gonna be in my top ten reads for the year.
Plenty of fantastic action, lots of gore, charges into battle, heads and limbs flying everywhere etc... Its great.
Along with that their is a good dose of character development, there are enough quiet moments to build up the two POVs Bjarki and Tor. It is not long before you care a lot about them, laugh out loud at their banter. They are a joy to read in this story.
Bjarki's internal struggles are also well written and added to the reading experience with some thought provoking moments.
The story you get here is top notch too, there are a few villains you despise and some in more of a shade of grey, which I also love.
All in all, I can't think of a single thing I didn't love about this book and I am very keen on reading the next one when it's out. -
Bjarki and Tor are taken to the Fyr Skola to learn how to channel their inner strength to become the fabled Berserker warriors of the Viking age. When things go awry they end up in the court of Charlemagne and having adventure after adventure. This was a fantastic and exciting book with plenty of battle scenes to entertain and some engaging characters. Very much looking forward to the next in the series now.
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Bring the gandr
Was just looking for something easy to read.. what a pleasant surprise.. captivating, enthralling, exciting.. simply put just a darn good story.
Definitely in for the entire series. -
The Last Berserker I give 5 stars⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Set in
771AD, Northern Europe. Bjarki Bloodhand and Tor Hildarsdottir our main protagonists!!
This story ,characters and historical background is berserker amazing moves along 🪓🩸bloody nice! your hero of the story is a BERSERKER🩸🪓🩸🪓 -
Good read, me and my man enjoyed it.
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Brilliant
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Bjarki Bloodhand has been cast out of his home and is on a journey. He and Tor Hildarsdottir are on their way to Irminsul - the tree that links the nine worlds. In this holy place they are tasked to find their animal spirit and become a legendary fighter. A Berserker.
This journey leads them to a battle where they are taken prisoner. They are taken to the court of Karolus - the King of the Franks. He is the man determined to wipe out the pagans and spread the word of Christ.
After a quest to show their loyalty to the King, they realise it’s a trap and have to find a way to escape.
Back amongst their people they must prepare to save their way of life against the most formidable army they have ever faced. In the most epic of battles can our heroes save the day or lose it all?
Angus Donald is a master at creating novels that are fast-paced, heart pumping, sensitive and highly captivating.
This book is a perfect example of why he is at the pinnacle of historical fiction. It is brilliantly researched, intriguingly touching and superbly written. Hopefully this will be an epic series, because I absolutely loved it. -
I liked this book, tore through it. ravaged it and started the second within days.. Angus Donald is one of my fav authors.
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A story about two youths, one who is after the glory and acceptance to the fighter clans, and the other, who has potential but is unsure of his destiny. The author, Angus Donald, has woven an interesting story around Bjarki who must learn to invite a gandr within him to grant him the power to be a berserker. His companion Tor, likewise wants to be part of the elite clan to continue in her fathers tradition. Their journey across the battlefields which takes them to the Frankish court and back has been well crafted with lots of interesting historical tidbits mingled with it.
I sincerely hope to see more of this series, highly recommended.
Thank you Netgalley for sharing an advance copy for my honest review -
I do love a good historical fiction novel with plenty of action, and "The Last Berserker" definitely falls into that category! The writing is immersive and scenes are described so well you feel like you're there, sinking you right into the lives of the characters (who are constructed brilliantly). The plot is entertaining and has a good flow, making this book quick to read.
My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion. -
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MY ⭐️ RATING: 4.75/5
FORMAT: Kindle Whispersync
As a historical fiction lover, I was very excited to jump into this Viking story that takes place in late 8th century Northern Europe. If you’re a fan of Bernard Cornwell’s Last Kingdom series, the show or The Vikings show, then this is going to ring those same bells. I found myself easily immersed in this bloody brilliant, fast-paced, action-packed adventure with plenty of brutality and mayhem that’ll keep your interest going the entire time.
“We swear oaths to our kings and jarls, we promise to serve them faithfully. We swear to our wives, to our friends. To the people we trade with. A man’s word is sacred. If a man is a known oath-breaker, all shun him. He is no true man; he is a mere nithing.”
One of the reasons I love historical fiction so much is that it’s steeped in, well… history, and I love history. At the end of the story there is a short historical note from the author where he goes into some details of how his story came to be. He put in a lot of work to create this, and it shows in his story. The idea of them having to find their “gandr” to become a Rekkr (Berserker) and having a semi-telepathic link to their spirit animal was pretty cool concept as it gave an almost fantastical feel to it.
Bjarki and Tor are great warriors with a lot of flaws that you can’t help but cheer for, the moment you meet them. As much as I loved Bjarki, who is a mountain of a man who’s best trait is his honour, is also his biggest crutch as it leaves him to be naive as well. I liked Tor more and found her character much more interesting. Her personality was a lot more fun in a way, and of course she is just a bad woman, and all I kept picturing was Lagertha from the Vikings tv show. Angus does not relent on their journey, his story telling is phenomenal and is based around a battle of faiths, the one true God of the Christians and the pagan gods of the Danes. It is dark, as I’ve stated before it is gory and brutal, it’s definitely not for the faint of heart. It’s filled with vivid fights and battles that are gory in a way that you would expect from a time such as this, and he did not hold back on the savage details.
“They all seemed to move slowly, when he was so nimble. He sliced the seax through windpipes, slammed it into eyes, and plunged the slick blade into armpits, chests, thighs. His deep four-note hum became a chuckle, then a laugh; before long he was cackling with glee and he danced and cut and hacked”
Ade Dimberline did a fantastic job with his narration and definitely helped me immerse myself into the world even more than just the story telling by Angus. The one thing that I couldn’t help but shake the entire time though, was the deep gruff voice of Bjarki. This isn’t meant to be negative, I just couldn’t get it out of my head, but Bjarki sounded a lot like someone trying to make a Batman voice. When you hear it, you’ll agree. Again, not a knock, just what it sounded like to me. -
2.75/5
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately, I didn’t really like this book, but I feel like there might be people out there who will definitely enjoy it a lot more than I did.
As someone that prefers character driven stories to plot driven ones, I found the biggest issue of the novel to be in the characterization: the protagonists are so flat, it feels like they have just one personality trait. This is supposed to be some kind of bildungsroman, but the main character is exactly the same from start to finish and barely shows any emotions throughout, except for when he’s really angry and goes berserker, but even then he is barely able to remember any of it afterwards.
His companion Tor is probably even worse, just a two-dimensional trope-infused shieldmaiden who ends up being pretty useless in anything other than fighting and insulting her “friend”, to which he never once replies except for the one time when he appears to be hurt by her latest harsh remark, at which point the narrator proceeds to excuse her rudeness as a consequence of her having just started her period (like seriously??).
The writing itself is nothing above average, the descriptions are somewhat good, but the dialogue I found cringy on several occasions, it felt forced and flat, even in the midst of the action the lines were so dry and delivered in such a way that I felt nothing at all. I guess that is another thing that really bothered me as I find it really easily to get completely sucked into a story most of the time and this time I just couldn’t feel anything but apathy. Also, speaking of dialogue, a lot of words and phrases were used that are so staggeringly modern as opposed to the eight-century setting that it kept bringing me out of the story.
The plot too was nothing special, following the typical pattern of the orphan who gets saved and sent to “magical school” to help win the war against the big bad guy (some version of Charlemagne). However, it didn't add anything that would make this version stand out, so it was entirely unoriginal and forgettable, not to mention the final plot twist, which, aside from being rather predictable, seemed to have been added in for shock value alone.
Overall, it was just really disappointing for me, as I was really looking forward to reading a great Viking story to fill the void left by the end of the TV show. -
Angus Donald's saga gets off to a strong start.
The action scenes are definitely the main attraction here, with an ever escalating series of fights, scrapes and full on bloodbaths described in beautiful gory detail. Much like his beserker hero, Donald sometimes seems to let his own urge to violence have its way, resulting in vivid scenes of bloody mayhem that too often stray into the frankly implausible. In one typical melee a horse is decapitated with a single stroke of a short sword. Men rip one another apart with their bare hands. Wounds heal at a phenomenal pace. Men fight on with lacerated arms and legs, punctured lungs and broken bones.
Bjarki, the central character, is a sort of eighth century Incredible Hulk, capable of feats that range from impressive to clearly impossible, once his battle trance is on him. At times I wondered if this was meant to be a fantasy.
We're also treated to a kind of Viking Hogwarts, where aspiring maniacs are schooled in losing their shit.
Despite the regular excesses of artistic licence, the plot is gripping. It builds cleverly from a single tragic act of misguided violence to the front line of a war.
Characters are painted in broad strokes, Bjarki himself is nicely conflicted, but most of the rest are fairly one-dimensional.
This is a fun, if lightweight, read, and I would rate it much higher if the author had reined in the excesses just a little, but I can't deny his ability to paint a good action scene and spin out a compelling tale. -
An author that just keeps giving. Following the astounding Robin Hood series he dipped into the time frame and events of the Battle of the Boyne for a thoroughly entertaining trilogy and now...this.
The good news is that the writing magic is still there. A slight variation here as he blends history and mythology with, maybe a touch of fantasy.
Set in a period of history I suspect most of us are weak on, 771AD as the Danewall is being built amid the clash of religions and cultures in the region. If you are dumb like me you tend to think of the Vikings travelling West towards us, but of course there was also conflict to their East.
Here we have the adventures of a young man, a shield maiden and a clan of pagan warriors. Striving to become Fireborn and release his inner animal spirit he is captured and by the time he gets back home, his world has changed.
Well, of course it’s really good. The (very) light touch of fantasy works well and is in keeping with the mythology but, as always, it’s the characterisation that stands out. Actually it is not Bjarki our Berserker who is the most interesting, it’s Tor, the feisty shield maiden. I imagine Angus Donald had a great time writing her lines.
This has potential to be another great series, Bjarki needs to be fleshed out a bit by way of depth of character, but that will come in the next book I am sure.
Enjoyed this a lot, but given the pedigree of writing, that was a bit of a given. -
This book is slighted against the Christians- I do not think there is any real honest non-ruthless Christian winner in the book- even the Captain of the guard is rather a coward and informant though it shows him having a meaningful Christian prayer. Overall the book is a nice adventure- and it does not go into non-reality mode. All the supernatural things could be explained by adrenalin and madness or self-deception. However I do not think there was ever an arena nor did Charles ever have such fights or suffer that sort of human on human violent sport- he made war he was not a strange roman arena fan. Anyways, overall a good book - although obviously unrealistic in the idea it put forward that their were many female fighters in Saxon culture or with the Franks- that is especially ridiculous arguing the Franks had or tolerated ANY female warriors- Joan of Arc came hundreds of years later and was freak and a amazing one of a kind even 600 years later. All this Viking shield maid stuff is also ridiculous too- there simply were no more female professional female warriors than there are successful female Olympic track stars competing in the male competitions - if that silliness does not bother you - it was mildly irritating but I actually the female warrior character despite the silliness if her in reality - then you can enjoy the books.
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This is an unusual review for starts.
I personally have not read this book or any book by this author. So why am I giving it 5 stars and a review? Good question.
My husband of 5 years (been together for 10) is not a reader. I mean he hates reading! Struggled all through school and will not pick up a book to save his life. I'm the total opposite. I read about 4-6 books a month.
The husband is really into podcasts while he works(He is a welder so a brain for math!!). Anyways I convinced him to try listening to a book! In my eyes it doesn't matter how you enjoy a book, your still a reader in any format. This is the book he choose to listen to! He listened to it non-stop in two days. He finished a book in two days! A man in his 30's who hasn't read more than a few pages of a manual since high school. It was truly a proud moment for me! He loved this book!! Today he will be finishing listening to the second one. He came home last night upset that the 3rd book isn't out till August.
So why am I telling you all this?
In hopes that the author sees this!
I want to tell him thank you. Thank you for putting that spark in him to enjoy a book.
Words are powerful, doesn't matter if we read them or hear them. So again thank you for creating this story!
❤️
Ps. Hurry up with the 3rd book! Haha -
Review excerpt:
The historical backdrop of this series is the brewing of the Saxon Wars, which would last from 772 to 804. I wasn’t necessarily familiar with European continental “Dark Age” history, especially not the transition period towards Medieval. Those who know me will not be surprised that I spend enough time reading supplement textbooks and watching a number of Saxon-themed documentaries to understand the context.
This book confuses me. I don’t know if it’s my state of mind during the reading of this book or else. I said I was unfamiliar with the transition period from the pagan Saxon to medieval Christian Europe. My knowledge is limited to the chronological boundaries that this period is referred to as Early Medieval Europe, AD500-AD1000. Heck, I even don’t know much about the geographical or geopolitical boundaries in this era.
The book is a wee bit too tame for me. I was slightly disappointed because I thought The Last Berserker, as the first book of its series, will narrate in heavily gore-ish details about Charlemagne’s attack on Eresburg, Fyr Skola, and how his army destroyed the Irminsul. Unfortunately, I had to find out that Fyr Skola had already been destroyed when Gunnar told the story to Bjarki and Tor.
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This is a rip-snortin' fun book set in the time of Charlemagne with all the thrills and surprises we've come to expect from Angus Donald. Lots of blood, guts, battle scenes and even a little romance tossed in for good measure. A page-turner that is hard to put down, it offers an interesting, somewhat fantastical look at the Viking fighters of that bygone age.
This is Volume One of a series and once you've finished, said "Wow, that was good!" you'll find yourself anxiously awaiting Volume Two of the continuing adventures of main character Bjarki Bloodhand to see what happens next.
Highly recommended for fans of Steven McKay, Ben Kane, Giles Kristian and others who specialize in adventures from that era. And if you need something to read while waiting for Volume Two, pick up Donald's series on Robin Hood which offers up a different take on the famous outlaw of Sherwood Forest. -
First entry in
Angus Donald's new 'Fire Born' Viking series, in which the main character is what we would term as a Berserker (although never named as such).
This is set in an even earlier time period than his 'Holcroft Blood' series (set during the time of Charles II) or even his even-earlier set 'Outlaw' series (about Robin Hood), but - unfortunately - I found it to be inferior to both.
That's not to say that it's bad; just that it didn't resonate (with the twists not really hitting home) as much with me as this earlier series did. -
I love historical fiction, this was a great read. The characters were well developed and I felt really involved in their lives. It wasn't at all what I expected from the title but there definitely was a hell of a lot of action. I learned a fair bit too.
There's an explanation of the history and the fiction which I always appreciate - somehow makes it even more real. Definitely will look out for the next book in the series.
A must read if you like historical fiction
