The Northmen

By: JD Franx

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

This story takes place in the Darkness Within Saga world and is book 1 of a spin-off Origins series.

After the death of Sokn’s High King and the theft of several volatile bloodstone runes by rebel Ama Taugr necromancers, Jarl Engier War-Blood unites the northern clans in an effort to defend a rundown fortress situated over the last Sokn bloodstone mine. The rare mineral is the only source of power known to raise the dead and when the necromancers come for it, Engier and his allies quickly find themselves cornered and outnumbered by an army of walking dead. At the height of battle, Sokn is hit by a series of earthquakes and the land breaks apart, forcing Engier and fellow Jarl, Brenna Kaesia, to watch helplessly as the large area around them breaks off from the mainland and drifts out to sea.

With the undead silenced by the effects of the quakes, Engier must lead the remaining clans up into the peaks of Freyja’s Grace to seek answers from a group of magical pariahs. The exiled Skeyth have a questionable past and a violent reputation, but they also possess powerful magic, and hopefully, answers. But when the ground continues to shake and the days pass, it quickly becomes clear that though the Skeyth have kept what remains of Sokn afloat, they cannot stop it from running aground on another landmass. Believing they have been stranded on the dimension of Utgard, the home of the giants, Engier and Brenna rally the last of their people in a desperate attempt to survive this new world and the thriving magic they find there.

However, the Northmen are not the only ones to survive the journey from Sokn and when the Skeyth’s vile actions against the Orotaq lead Engier and Brenna to war, the Northmen find an unexpected ally in Talohna’s Guardian Pact. Together they must face an apocalyptic Cataclysm and a dangerous foe unlike any they have fought before.

The consequences of both will be felt far into the future as their decisions affect modern-day Talohna and Kael Symes’ struggle against a re-emerging race of powerful Ancient beings.

Contains mature content.

©2019 JD Franx (P)2020 Podium Publishing

great addition to the series!

I've been following this series for the past year and have been waiting for book 4. Northmen is definitely placing quality information in place for the future books. it is also great getting more information about how parts of the story we know affected the world when it happened. Simon Vance did a great job as usual!

Great book and cant wait for more

Loved this book the introduction into the world is so breathtaking and amazing. I can't wait for more books in this series.

Fantastic read

fantastic characters, very engaging, compelling story. Read more by Jd Franx. great addition to the series

One of the best books I have listened too

I didn’t find anything I disliked I truly loved the characters and their reasonings for the way they did things and I love the idea of the new stories that I hope come from the northmen exploring their new home

Great companion series!

Great origin book that ties in nicely with the main series. I hope this is done for a lot of the key countries, guilds and races within the series.

worth a listen

really cool story.
I was a bit confused in places and seamed to jump randomly. almost like sections we edited over a other causing bits of story to be lost and making it a little hard to follow.

but some really cool ideas good characters with some potentially very interesting growth potential

Back story you didn’t know you needed

This was an amazing tale of the northmen arrival and I grew to love this book

Adventure Magic and Action Packed Story

Hero's, Wizard's, Honor, Evil, and a Great Sense of Adventure with Mystery wiped in to make you want more.

Badass

Super fun. Northmen are tough as nails, and the magic is super intriguing. I recommend

Avid listener

More in a great series. I am not sure how this fits in the skyline, but I am anxious to find out