Dragons from the Sea
This is the second book in a series (the Strongbow Saga) about a young Viking warrior, Halfdan Hroriksson, who lives at the time of the Viking expansion into Europe in the late 9th century. Halfdan’s story is woven through the known history about several Viking heroes and leaders, but the book is more than a history lesson. Halfdan’s story makes good reading. It’s definitely young adult fiction and a young man’s book, for it’s a good, solid adventure story about a young man.
In the first book, Viking Warrior, Halfdan is a slave, his mother a captured Irish princess, his father the chieftain Hrorik. Now he is a freeman and wants to become a warrior. First Halfdan has to find a ship’s captain willing to take him as crew. After that he has to persuade the other men he’s not just a mere youth, and also keep himself out of trouble. There’s a cliffhanger ending to lead into the next book, and male readers will surely enjoy Halfdan’s struggles to prove he’s a man.
My one beef, a female reader’s one, is that there are many times when we get a bald statement about Halfdan where I would have enjoyed a little more of his inner thoughts.
