Bjarki Bloodhand has finally managed to subdue his gandr, the spirit that gives him the ferocity of a bear in battle. Yet losing his berserker prowess may leave him at the mercy of his foes. Meanwhile, his half-sister, the shield maiden Tor Hildarsdottir, has slain two warriors from the personal retinue of the new Jarl […]
The Bear’s Blade by Tim Hodkinson
935 AD, Norway. Recovering from horrendous injuries, Einar finds himself alone – and unable to fight. The Wolf Coats have left to protect the new King of Norway, and Einar is not strong enough to defeat his rival, Eirik, who has seized Orkney despite Einar being the rightful Jarl. Eirik’s men are raiding the Norwegian […]
The Bear’s Blade by Tim Hodkinson
935 AD, Norway. Recovering from horrendous injuries, Einar finds himself unable to fight. He is not strong enough to defeat his rival, Eirik, who has seized Orkney despite Einar being the rightful Jarl. Eirik’s men soon raid the Norwegian coast, led by a warrior called the Bear. Cruel and ferocious, the Bear possesses a legendary […]
Was King Alfred really the father of the English navy?
King Alfred of Wessex has been credited with forming the first English navy in the 9th century. But, as Chris Bishop, author of the Shadow of the Raven series, writes, this isn’t the case. While Alfred is often regarded as being the ‘father’ of the English navy, he was not its ‘founder’. The English Navy […]
A Night of Flames by Matthew Harffy
Northumbria, AD 794. Those who rule the seas, rule the land. None know the truth of this more than the Vikings. To compete with the seafaring raiders, the king of Northumbria orders the construction of his own longships under the command of oath-sworn Norseman, Runolf. When the Vikings attack again, the king sends cleric turned […]
Review: A Night of Flames by Matthew Harffy
Jemahl Evans reviews Matthew Harffy’s A Night of Flames, set in Northumbria and Norway in the late 8th century, and finds it rich with “humour and heartbreak, and a plot which rattles along at a breathless pace”. I am always chuffed when I get one of Matthew Harffy’s books to review. A Night of Flames […]
The Bear of Byzantium by SJA Turney
AD1041. After successfully avenging the death of his father, Halfdan and the crew of the Sea Wolf seek adventure in strange new lands, far from their Scandinavian home. They join the fleet of Harald Hardrada, the legendary Viking commander, sailing back to Constantinople from the battlefields of Georgia. There they join the Varangians, the personal […]
Historical books to look out for in 2022
Our popular annual list of books to look out for during the year is back for 2022, with history, biography and historical fiction. Here are books to read from HWA authors covering eras from Ancient Rome to the 1980s and sweeping across continents from China to Russia and India, the USA to Australia and the […]