The Last Berserker

Fire Born 1

By: Angus Donald

Narrated by: Ade Dimberline

Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

The greatest warriors are forged in the flamesTwo pagan fighters.

771AD, Northern Europe. Bjarki Bloodhand and Tor Hildarsdottir are journeying south into Saxony. Their destination is the Irminsul, the One Tree that links the Nine Worlds of the Middle-Realm. In this most holy place, they hope to learn how to summon their animal spirits so they can enter the ranks of the legendary berserkir: the elite frenzied fighters of the North.

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.

©2021 Angus Donald (P)2021 Angus Donald

Critic reviews

Donald is a writer not only at the top of his game, but of the game.
-- Giles Kristian, author of the Raven series

Donald delivers a masterclass
-- Theodore Brun, author of A Burning Sea

A gory, gleeful treat
-- The Times

Hadls similarities to The Blade Itself

If you've not read any Angus MacDonald's work & your a fan Viking, Saxon, bronze age or mid-evil English stories of conflict & battle then do yourself a favor & pick up this book series. Angus MacDonald does it better than most & he keeps getting better!
This story, @ times, reminded me of The Blade Itself & Logan Ninefingers. The Oaf's troop isn't quite as large or colorful (indeed its basically just one) l but @ many other times throughout the read Abercromies work came to mind, especially during the many bloody, well scripted, fantastically written & superbly voiced battle scenes! I was fortunate enough to purchase omnibus style & listened to all three books (some 50+hrs) straight thru, which I do believe is a first for me. Normally, whenever I purchase an omnibus series of books I'll need to take a break @ some point, listen to another book or two before retuning to finish the series. Not so with this series, in fact, @ the end of the ride I found myself wishing the story had not yet concluded.
But be forewarned, this story is not for the squeamish, there is a lot of blood. A LOT OF BLOOD! The sex scenes are done with taste & move the story forward & there is no sex for sex sake or shock value!
I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Fantastic story and narration

Loved this one. If you like Vikings beserker and historical fiction you can’t go wrong with this. I burned through it very quickly and am moving onto the next book in the series.

a very good book

I liked it a lot and am probably going to buy more books by this author
absolutely fantastic performance by the narrator

Angus Donald Did It Again

It is said the best lies are the ones with a little bit of truth in them. Angus Donald is the master of this with his historical fiction writing. The characters are believable and lots of action, a few unseen twist. The narration was on point and consistancy throughout. cannot wait to listen to the next one.

Great Story!

I have read many novels on the Vikings but have never read a story about the Berserker, so I was very excited after reading the bio! The story did not disappoint... I can't wait for the next one in the series. The only negative aspect in my opinion is that the narrator was monotone and did not add the exciting element that I have experienced with other audiobooks. Don't let that stop you from reading it! Great story!

Supreme

I liked this book. I didn't think I would. the story and narrator hooked me early. I will definitely eagerly read or listen lol to the other books in this series.

Angus Donald never disappoints

Having listened to Angus Donald's "Outlaw" series, I was so happy to see this recommendation on my Audible feed. I can't wait to start the next in this series.

Great description of berserker concepts

Viking fiction all starts to sound the same after a while, but I like it in the background while I’m doing other things. This one was surprisingly refreshing and thoughtfully written. The narrator also enhances the experience by not trying too hard, like so many others do.

Very solid

I'm very particular about historical fiction, even more so regarding topics such as vikings, saxons, etc... because I believe the genres have been overdone. That being said, this book was a fantastic surprise. I found the characters to be intriguing, and the story was original and compelling. I look forward to continuing the series.