King of War

Viking Blood and Blade Saga, Book 4

By: Peter Gibbons

Narrated by: Nicholas Jordan

Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

If you like Bernard Cornwell, Conn Iggulden, Simon Scarrow, and David Gemmell, you will love this Viking adventure saga packed with battles, vengeance, blood, and gore.

AD 874, Norway.

A brutal place, home of warriors where Odin holds sway. King Harald Fairhair fights to become king of the north.

Hundr, a Northman with a dog's name...a crew of battle hardened warriors...and a legendary war where the will of the gods will determine who is victorious.

After incurring the wrath of Ketil Flatnose, Jarl of the Orkney isles, Hundr and his crew become drawn into King Harald's fight for supremacy over all Norway. Hundr must retrieve the Yngling sword, a blade forged for the gods themselves, and find favor with an old friend, Bjorn Ironside, as he fights a vicious and deadly enemy, Black Gorm the Berserker.

Hundr must navigate the war, survive brutal attacks, and make Harald the King of War in this fast-paced adventure with striking characters and bloodthirsty action.

King of War continues the unmissable Viking historical fiction saga series that began with Peter Gibbons' debut novel Viking Blood and Blade.

©2022 Peter Gibbons (P)2022 Peter Gibbons

An Award-Winning Novel Worthy of a Read

Let me start by saying that I picked up this novel because it won Amazon’s Literary Contest. As a writer and lover of historical fiction, picking up this novel was a no-brainer. Despite not having any prior knowledge of the story before “King of War,” I found it an easy read with a smooth, linear, cohesive plotline.

I’m not afraid to admit that I am a simple man who doesn’t need complex plot threads, so, once again, Peter Gibbons proved why he’s an author I admire and enjoy. If you’re looking for a vast world, this isn’t it. The camera is very focused on the Man with a Dog’s name and his friend Inar. Their relationship is amazing, and we get to see that friendship challenged.

When a friend feels betrayed, not because of a single act but because of his inadvertent failures happening at the same time as one friend is finding success. That type of resentment makes for some amazing tension and a great scene that invokes real emotion. I found myself thinking… It’s like loaning someone $10, and they cash in on a $10,000 ticket; their life gets better, and yours goes into foreclosure. Yeah, I’d be a little upset too.

Gibbons made this an easy read with effective prose. I like to refer to them as blue-collar prose with analogies that lend themselves to the lore of the world. “The impact came with a crash that shook the gods in Asgard,” gave us a visual of one fast-approaching ship crashing into another during a sea battle. Another analogy, “His fist burned like a blacksmith’s sword,” described broken hands.

As always, Gibbons does a great job painting a vivid, bloody picture. One example saw a character jam a thumb deep into someone’s eyes, feeling the jelly beneath his thumb.

“King of War” was impressive in a way that took something simple and made it insanely engaging. He focused on relationships and consequences as one man drives to achieve a dream.

Book 4 is Amazing!

Hundr is finally becoming the one. The one Viking to slay them all! In books 1-3 we saw glimpses of him being ruthless but now in book 4 he has truly embraced being a Viking. This whole book is him being the Viking we all wanted him to become and fight not for revenge, or trying to stay alive, but for glory and treasure!