The Whale Road Chronicles
Tim Hodkinson
Category: Action/adventure
Three book series
AD 933. A young Icelander, Einar Unnsson, is exiled from his home and thrown into a deadly game for power played across the icy seas of the northern world. Einar joins forces with a Norse-Irish princess and a company of elite Viking warriors, the Úlfhéðnar, in a quest that pits their skills, luck and destiny against Kings.
The Whale Road Chronicles follows the adventures of Einar, a young Icelander who is exiled and sets off on a quest to find the truth about his father. He joins forces with Affreca, a Norse-Irish princess descended from Ivar the Boneless and a company of elite Viking warriors, the Úlfhéðnar. Together they pit their skills, luck and destiny against Kings and Jarls in a a deadly game for power played across the icy seas of the northern world.
Across the series of books Einar learns to fight, kill, chant poetry and love until ultimately he finds what it really means to be a Viking.
The series begins with Odin’s Game. Einar is launched on his adventures through being outlawed from his home in Iceland. Thrown on the mercy of his Uncle, the infamous Jarl Thorfinn ‘Skull Cleaver’ of Orkney, he joins forces with a Norse-Irish princess and a company of wolfskin-clad warriors to become a player in a deadly game for control of the Irish sea, where warriors are the pawns of kings and Jarls and the powerful are themselves mere game pieces on the tafl board of the Gods.
The series continues with The Raven Banner and the quest to find a war flag said to be a gift from the Norse God Odin. Any army that marches behind it will be victorious and three Kings, their realms on the brink of war, all want the banner. The trail takes Einar and his comrades from Jorvik to Ireland and on to battle in Scotland and betrayal in Norway.
The third book is The Wolf Hunt, where Einar’s father turns his vengeance on Einar’s mother – his escaped former bedslave. Yet Einar is in no position to protect her. He’s made an enemy of the powerful King Eirik and must fight for his own life before he can save her. Einar depends on the Wolf Coats, a band of fearsome, bloodthirsty warriors, but they’re convinced the fates have cursed them. Will Einar’s skill in battle be enough to save his mother? Or will the Wolf Coats’ superstition destroy them all?
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‘A brilliantly written historical adventure which will appeal to fans of Bernard Cornwell, George R.R. Martin, and especially Theodore Brun’ (Historical Novel Society)
‘A gripping action adventure like the sagas of old; and once finished, you just want to go back and read it all over again’ (Melisende’s Library)
‘An excellently written page-turner, with a feel for the period which invites you into the era and keeps you there’ (Historical Writers Association)
