Judson Roberts Viking Warrior

Viking Warrior

Judson Roberts

HarperCollins, Jun 2006, $17.89

ISBN 006079996X

When the Vikings raided Ireland, they captured several women including Princess Derdrui, whom like all the prisoners was made a slave. Danish Chieftain Hrorik Strong-Axe took his needs with Derdrui leaving her pregant. She gives birth to Halfdan, but because his mother is a slave and his father refuses to free him, the lad is raised as a slave too.

Over the years Halfdan dreamed of becoming a warrior like his dad, but only a free man learns to truly use weapons. When he was fifteen, the Saxons invaded and killed Hrorik. Derdrui wanting her son to live free strikes a bargain with Hrorik as he is dying; she would accompany him on his death ship provided that he frees Halfdan. The clan leader agrees making his second offspring a free man.

Already quite proficent with some weaponry especially for a slave, Halfdan undergoes rigorous training beyond that seen by anyone but may not be enough to persuade the clan, especially his half-brother Harald ,that a former slave can truly become a free warrior. Still in spite of the skeptics and his grief over his mother's sacrifice, Halfdan puts his heart into achieving his goal of acceptance as a free warrior.

The first Strongbow Saga tale, VIKING WARRIOR, is a vivid look at the Viking culture during the Dark Ages through the efforts of a teen to become an accepted warrior. The story line is extremely graphic not trying to dumb down or hide abuses from the targeted audience, high school teens. Thus historical fiction readers of all ages will appreciate this deep look at a bygone way of life in which the flow of blood is the norm.

Harriet Klausner