I was initially unsure about purchasing the first book in this series, mainly due to the cover, which I found off-putting. I know you are told never to judge a book by its cover, but to me, the cover is important, as I feel it conveys the tone of the story.
However, having now started to read these books, I am glad I overcame my initial feeling with the first one, because I am really enjoying this story. It's grim, violent, and graphic, but not overtly so; it is also full of interesting characters who, while capable of extreme brutality, are still essentially likeable, with a number of them based on historical figures, adding another layer of interest.
The events mainly revolve around BJarki and Tor, who initially meet as they head towards Eresburg, a place where they can hopefully become Berserkers.
Two 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.
Format
Kindle EditionDate Acquired
22nd May 2023Retail Price
£8.99Number of Pages
437Year Read
2026Conflict flares once more in Saxony...
March, AD 773. Bjarki Bloodhand is now Fire Born a legendary berserker inhabited by the ferocious spirit of a bear in battle. Yet he has sworn never again to allow that sacred rage to possess him, lest he for ever lose himself in the madness like his father.
Tor Hildarsdottir yearns to save pagan Saxony from the grip of the Christian Franks, who now occupy half the region. But she also has serious problems closer to home with her fast-growing pet bear cub, Garm, and, worse, she seems to be falling in love.
Widukind, new lord of the Saxons, is on a mission to reconquer the lands of his fathers from the Franks. He will stop at nothing to win the hearts of the men and women of the North, and bind them to his cause. But will they follow the Saxon Wolf in an unwinnable war? And will Bjarki join them?
Format
Kindle EditionDate Acquired
27th February 2026Detail Price
£9.99Number of Pages
400Year Read
2026