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4.1 out of 5 stars
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Steve D
5.0 out of 5 stars Viking POV
Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2017
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Adrien’s book is an interesting read. I read thru both books, and they kept my interest to the very end. Who isn’t interested in the Vikings? And Vikings are his expertise and passion.
As an educator, Adrien evidently wrote these book with teens in mind. But except for the lack of offensive language and sex scenes, you wouldn’t know they weren’t written for an adult audience. The books are free of offensive language. The only term I found that is inappropriate to children is b-----d.
The reader will find violence on nearly every page, but then, the books are about Vikings.
There are only a couple of named Christians who are portrayed in a favorable light. Most of the other Christians in the book are portrayed as jerks or villains. The Vikings are portrayed the opposite, mostly loyal and true to their beliefs, with a few jerks and villains, but then again, the books are written from the perspective of Vikings.
I downloaded the books to see if they would be appropriate for my granddaughters, ages 12 and 14. I won’t be buying the books for them, but I could see teenage males thoroughly enjoying the books.
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Richard
3.0 out of 5 stars The Forces of Odinn and Christianity
Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2018
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This is an interesting story about a young monk who is sent by his abbot to find relics on an island ravaged by earlier attacks. The setting is the late 700s to the early 800s. The author takes the protagonist, Fr. Abriel, from Europe to the land of the Northmen, or Scandinavians. There, we learn much about the culture and history of the Norse, and the battles between them and Christians. The Northmen's brutality in war is based on the notion that, to die in battle is to be received in Valhalla by the god Odinn. During this time, the Christian church dominates the people and, while there are disputes between ecclesia and rex, rulership can be said to be dual in many ways. The Norse felt deeply that Christianity threatened their way of life and, specifically, their religion. In the end, Abriel finds the relics he seeks but marries a Scandinavian woman and becomes popular with the Northmen, to the point that they wish to honor him with kingship. At this juncture, the series moves into the next volume.

Albeit a good story, the novel has, at times, truncated transitions from situation to situation. Moreover, sentence structure is often simplistic and there are numerous grammatical errors in the Kindle edition. I would recommend this historical novel to those who like a good story, with the caveats I have mentioned.
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David Roach
5.0 out of 5 stars THE BEST HISTORICAL FICTION ABOUT VIKINGS; HANDS DOWN! PREPARE FOR RAGNAROK!
Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2015
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A triumph of fictional Viking history! C.J. Adrien presents a story that is historically accurate, colorful, and complex in it's many issues. The characters are rich providing ample background to build up a Viking tale of epic proportions. The level of detail in his story was striking from knowledge of ancient maritime skills, maritime warfare tactics, and the complexity of tribal or medieval warfare.

Politics are ever present in the story as not only countries but tribes, groups, or individuals constantly vie for power. The presentation of 10th century lifestyle is realistic and harsh giving a sense of peril at even ordinary tasks. His understanding of military disciplines such as utilizing the cover of darkness, light and noise discipline, as well as psychological warfare create an intelligent atmosphere not often depicted in Viking tales.

Scenery and situational description is very technical providing a clear minds depiction of the settings. I will admit that going to sleep at night after reading this book I often dreamed of the character and the adventures that they headed out on. Despite my many self studies on Viking culture and my first hand knowledge of warrior culture; C.J. Adrien was able to provide much more substance for the real life history.

To put it plainly, I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! What a bloody good time of axe swinging, shield smacking, spear thrusting excitement. If you love warrior history and adventure then C.J. Adrien is the Author for you.

Skal! May the All Father watch over you!
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5.0 out of 5 stars THE BEST HISTORICAL FICTION ABOUT VIKINGS; HANDS DOWN! PREPARE FOR RAGNAROK!
By David Roach on July 20, 2015
A triumph of fictional Viking history! C.J. Adrien presents a story that is historically accurate, colorful, and complex in it's many issues. The characters are rich providing ample background to build up a Viking tale of epic proportions. The level of detail in his story was striking from knowledge of ancient maritime skills, maritime warfare tactics, and the complexity of tribal or medieval warfare.

Politics are ever present in the story as not only countries but tribes, groups, or individuals constantly vie for power. The presentation of 10th century lifestyle is realistic and harsh giving a sense of peril at even ordinary tasks. His understanding of military disciplines such as utilizing the cover of darkness, light and noise discipline, as well as psychological warfare create an intelligent atmosphere not often depicted in Viking tales.

Scenery and situational description is very technical providing a clear minds depiction of the settings. I will admit that going to sleep at night after reading this book I often dreamed of the character and the adventures that they headed out on. Despite my many self studies on Viking culture and my first hand knowledge of warrior culture; C.J. Adrien was able to provide much more substance for the real life history.

To put it plainly, I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! What a bloody good time of axe swinging, shield smacking, spear thrusting excitement. If you love warrior history and adventure then C.J. Adrien is the Author for you.

Skal! May the All Father watch over you!
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Florence NIghtingale
4.0 out of 5 stars The line of his people
Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2014
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This story follows a young man's discovery of who his parents and grandparents were. In his journey he discovers relationships that he had not known. He becomes a man and falls in love, fights for his people and eventually claims his home and land. In the process the reader gets a view of Viking days when they invaded Northern Europe, England and surrounding islands. The reader also gets a view of the church and some of the issues arising from a quest for ancient relics of the saints. Interesting read. Exciting adventure. The history presented is reasonable and compares favorably to other historical books of the Viking days.
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Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Good Read
Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2018
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I recommend this book. I posted a better review on Goodreads.
Abriel is a child when the heathen Northmen invade his home, a small island off the Brittany coast. I spent a lot of time in maps and Wikipedia to determine where I was what was happening to Abriel. He reminds me Mr. Bernard Cornwell's Uhtred. If you do not Uhtred, run to your book source immediately to find a book about him. Abriel is not the perfect hero I want to read about but is, in fact, just a young guy trying to find his long lost mother and universal church relics that have been stolen by the Northmen. He finds his mother and the relics and the love of his life. I liked the book, but it lacked a component that I cannot verbalize. The author's writing mechanics were excellent. There were no profanities or overt sexual scenes which is the mark of a wordsmith!

Thank you, dear author, for a good read.
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Linda Stepp
4.0 out of 5 stars It is slow to capture interest but makes up for it later
Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2019
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It was S-L- - - O - - - - W to keep my interest initially. I read only two chapters for three nights about all the savagery by these early people and prior to that was the introduction of Abriel's assimilation into Christianity which was treachery at it's finest! Eventually in spite of the continued butchery it became interested because . . true love entered the picture! I never would have thought love would be a part of this story but it wasn't your ordinary love story either! I am not sure who the target audience is but both men and women would enjoy this. I gave it four stars due to the slow to interest for myself and probably women in general.
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Top reviews from other countries

Memecat
3.0 out of 5 stars Ok and entertaining enough!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 18, 2014
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I downloaded this book when it was free so I can't complain too much! Not to give too much away, the storyline is about a young monk who discovers through various adventures that the religious life is not much to his taste!

Although the plot was interesting enough, I felt the writing style was a bit throw away - this is the only way I can describe it! The book did suffer from limited descriptive writing and scene setting. The prose was too sparse, for example, big battles scenes were often related to the reader in two or three paragraphs so it was difficult to really care about or connect with the characters.

This all sounds a bit harsh so I will say that I did finish the book. If you want a very, very easy read with Vikings thrown in - this book may be for you.
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babydark
5.0 out of 5 stars New ground
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 21, 2018
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Never read this gender of book before. Enjoyed it very much plus very informative to. Thank you for this experience and if anyone starts this book by the time you get quarter of the way through you will not want to put it down.
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N. J. Addley
3.0 out of 5 stars not really for me even tho i love historicals
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 9, 2018
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Well written story with good strong characters. Generally i love historicals but this didn't quite hit the spot for me.. too much going wrong all the time because everyone was horrible. Can see others loving this tho.
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Kitty
5.0 out of 5 stars The characters came alive
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 12, 2019
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Excellent read the historical content and detail was quite remarkable. The characters leaped from the page fully formed and the storyline was at a good pace
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Martin Shipway
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 16, 2014
Verified Purchase
This is a great viking novel about a character called Abriel, a monk from the Isle of Herius in modern day France and his becoming part of a group of Northmen. The book follows his rivalries with other Northmen - as well as his brother - his love for a woman and his search for Christian relics which are also of importance to his rivals. All in all a great read which details all aspects of Norse warrior life that I would recommend to anyone interested in the Vikings.
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