Brothers of the Wild North Sea

By: Harper Fox

Narrated by: Hamish Long

Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

This is the FoxTales edition of the book previously published by Samhain Publishing.

Other than the cover art and description, the book is the same.

Hundreds of years ago, on a wild sea coast, two bold-hearted men met in combat and love...This is the story of Caius, a Christian monk struggling to reconcile his sensual nature with his newfound faith, and of Fenrir, a ferocious Viking raider abandoned by his comrades and left for dead. When Caius takes pity on the wounded man, his brethren are horrified: what kind of wolf has Cai brought into the fold?

But only when Cai and Fen join forces can the monastery of Fara be saved from the raiders from the east. And Fara holds a secret worth guarding, a legendary amulet with the power to bind even the might of the Vikings. Fen, his heart divided between old loyalties and a new love, must make a decision which could shatter his own heart and Cai's into the bargain.

Will there ever be peace and a future for these brothers of the wild North Sea?

©2017 Harper Fox (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

Cai and Fen, Captivating

Harper Rocks, I can't say that enough. The books are so deep and thoughtful without any pretense. THIS book and Seven Summer Nights will transport you to another place and time without any feeling of the falseness. Research has been done - and the storytelling is spot on. I absolutely was enthralled and captivated by these two books and felt as if I was in the 600's with Cai and Fen. There is so much to both of these books it is better to say little. If you have no love for history, you won't like these books. They have been embedded with the atmosphere of the times and written primarily with Love in mind. Harper Accomplishes that in spades. I found it hard to quit listening - and look forward with eagerness to any work that Harper brings to the table! Both of these were stories of beautiful couples with the endings anything but predictable! Thank you for these stories!

This book is fascist

This is a book where native people of the British Isles are described as “bands of inbred cannibals”, “devils” no longer “human enough”. I'd thought we'd left this level of dehumanisation behind in the previous century.

This book contrasts the proud Roman and Germanic protagonists and the degenerate native population. Yep, that's fascism.

Do I need to say more? The romance itself is not badly written, and the reading is good, but it's not enough to keep you reading after encountering the fascist descriptions.

Not bad

Good narration.
The story feels a bit rushed at times. I feel like every time an obstacle gets introduced, it is taken care of way too quickly and easily, not leaving enough time to let it simmer.
Also a bit too heavy on explicit scenes for my taste.

How did I find porn on Audible?

Thought this a historical story but it’s is just about gay sex. There should be a warning

PLEASE LISTEN TO THIS BEAUTY

This book swept you away. I can honestly say the narrative was the best I have ever heard on audible. Incredibly talented.

The story is racy and romantic and tragic and BEAUTIFUL!

Never wanted it to end

Wow! An emotionally all-over-the-place story read by a perfectly-chosen narrator. I need more of this author and this narrator in my life!

slow but enjoyable

This story has a lot of depth and serious questions that I appreciated, but the story dragged severely. It was just so slow, and there was never any tension keeping me gripped to the story. There was practically never any kind of "setup" for any kind of "payoff," which meant a lot of the book felt inconsequential.

The beginning--monk Cai saving his wounded enemy Fen--is absolutely exciting and had me hooked. But what followed let me down more often than not with its slow pace and pointlessness.

I liked our two leads and their interactions. However, I don't understand why Cai is or was ever a monk. He never discusses any belief in God. I wasn't looking for some kind of Christian novel, so in theory I shouldn't have minded. But it's mentioned so much that I just felt confused about why a character was written as a monk when he didn't even once express an interest in it, even at the start. The choice seems pointless. (I wondered more than once if maybe it's just the result of the author really finding this period of history interesting and needing a framework to justify writing about it.)

The constant comparisons of Fen to a wolf also started to grate on me. The imagery is too frequent throughout, and I wanted to scream, "Alright, I get it!! Now stop!!" I was surprised to find myself feeling like Fen had had his life cut from him by the end. He seemed to be "tamed" in a way I didn't actually find positive or natural; the way his life shrunk felt like chaining up a pet dog rather than a man finding love and freedom. I found myself thinking Cai held Fen back, which is an astonishingly harsh thought I've never had toward characters in love before. I just felt so sad for Fen. Rather than character growth, I felt Fen underwent character assassination.

The ending left me feeling cheated, too. The one heart-wrenching tension the book set up is essentially waved away with a single hand movement.

But all my complaints could have been ignored if the story was just a bit more exciting or enthralling. Instead, it is slow and tries too hard at times to be deep. It is a naturally serious story, so I was exhausted by the extra effort between major scenes to add depth through heavy-handed dream sequences and Cai's long bouts of Thinking-with-a-capital-T. I also wish we'd been given Fen's POV at times.

I loved our little side character monks, though. I grieved and felt for them immensely.

The narration is fantastic. It saved a lot of boring scenes by being engaging. The abbot villain is voiced in a comical mustache-twirling manner that is horribly suited for this book, but his scenes are brief, so I let it slide.

This book is a gem.

This is a beautifully written and narrated story. It was my first book by this author but it won't be the last. I highly recommend it.

FANTASTIC STORY!

Harper Fox has done her research and every detail of this story rings true. Hamish Long is the perfect narrator for this story. He is one of the best narrators I've ever listened to. The action, the setting, the characters, even the sex scenes are vivid and not too over the top in terms of believability. I have listened to a number of Fox's books and so far this is by far her best effort yet.

Beautiful

Don't mind me I am just sobbing over this book and how beautiful it is.

Great, incredibly sexy, historical romance!

Wow, I loved this book! It creates the feeling of being in pre- to early-Christian Britain with lots of good historical details, but also doesn't skimp on the very hot sex scenes (a plus in my view). Some religious folk might find it a little offensive, what with all the tearing-off-of-cassocks for that delicious intercultural gay sex, and all--but as a queer atheist, I found it positively therapeutic.

It was especially interesting to imagine the beliefs and inner lives of people living right on the cusp of Christianity, with the old gods and traditions still alive. And at the same time, the clashes between Rome and Iona complicated things even further. That the author fleshed out these complex times so thoroughly in an erotic novel was such a treat.

I'd read/listen to a thousand more books like this, full of rich history, a tender but passionate love story, lots of hot sex, and just a pinch of magic.

A few bits of the narration grated on me. The various voices were mostly really good, but occasionally the male voices were hard to differentiate. Kudos to the narrator for going all-in on the sex scenes though. Sometimes you can tell that a narrator is embarrassed or uncomfortable reading about sex, but I didn’t get any of that with this one.

All in all, if you like a sexy historical romance, I’d highly recommend this one!

Great narration from Hamish, really good story....

This was very well done, and as much as I can see the narrator credited with the narration is Hamish Long, he is also known to me as Rusty Coles, the narrator of Harper's A Midwinter Prince and remarkably enough, was also known as Joe Jameson back in 2014 when he narrated The Charioteer by Mary Renault, which is up next in my audio library. Hamish [Rusty/Joe]'s speech surprised me in this one though; he's really very good at accents, but it was the way he said common or garden English words that annoyed me sometimes....'other' was uvver, 'brother' was bruvver, 'the' was frequently vuh. This was quite surprising as I don't remember any of those problems with A Midwinter Prince or it's sequel The Lost Prince...anyhoo, none of it was sufficient to actually put me off listening and I'm glad I did as it brought back good memories of a great buddy read here on Goodreads in 2015 and reinforced once again what a sublime author Harper Fox is....

An absolute joy

I adore Harper Fox's lyrical, magical, fairy talish historicals that surpass the boundaries of mere enjoyable romances. This book brings you to the dark times of early Christian England and takes you on a devastatingly beautiful ride of death defying love, loyalty, wisdom, folklore and magic. Combined with heart-warming humour and everpresent kindness, delivered by one of the best narrators there is (Joe Jameson under the pseudonym of Hamish Long), this book is so much more than just a highly enjoyable listen. Bought Kindle book straight away.

A captivating tale of a monastic life & mysticism

This is one of those books that draws you Into its pages , its words cast you back in time to ancient times of mysticism and medieval folk law. A time that becomes your reality, reality that is so consuming you never want to return.
The book is well researched and written by the author and enthrallingly narrated by Hamish Long. Although it may not be a book the initially appeals to you. You will be amazed just how captivating it can be. Once you listen to the voice of Hamish Long and the voices he uses for the many characters you will be hooked. Not to be disappointed

Beautiful narration of a beautiful story

I loved this book when I read it and the narrator did a wonderful job bringing Caius and Fenrir to life. I loved the voices he chose for them. I don't usually go for historical books but this is Harper Fox and all of her work is amazing so she is an automatic one click for me.

amazing

I absolutely adored this book. With so many unexpected twists, I was close yo tears at several points. a perfect book with an amazing performer, who brought life to each character with their own voices and quirks. 10/10

Surprisingly excellent!

To be honest I picked up this title for a bit of fun. I liked the concept - medieval gay romance between a monk and a Viking warrior. Just a bit of fluff I thought. Boy, was I wrong!

This is a great story and the writing really impressed me. The descriptions of the natural places - the harsh but beautiful north coast of England, really comes alive as a setting. The writing is very visual and has a mystic quality that was completely unexpected and very enjoyable.

Yes of course there are the sexy bits, but they don’t infringe on the greater story and mystery going on - so there’s a nice balance between romance and action. The two main characters are well crafted and likeable, I was rooting for them from the off.

My only slight complaint for the story was the ending, as I had expected a more tragic conclusion, which might have given the narrative more emotional weight. However overall it was still very satisfying.

Congratulations are also in order for the narrator. Hamish Long does an absolutely phenomenal job of voicing all the different characters, and generally breathing life into the story and the people who inhabit it. If you’re a fan of gay male romances and you’re into the medieval setting - then I’d look no further.

A wild painting of emotions and colour.

Painful to read as one knows it must end. Writing by someone who knows love and Britain; especially love between men and old Britain. As a gay and a brit who has a fascination of history this book was a great joy to read.

Beautiful story

I enjoyed both the story and the narration. I loved the setting in time and place, so well described by the author. The touch of ancient magic and wisdom. Two strong characters here, which I find a more enjoyable balance.

Wonderful

A delightful book full of historical accuracy, and fabled tale. Beautifully narrated. I just wish there were more than on book.