Editorial Review:
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Steeped in bloody battles and brooding Norse mythology, this epic saga follows the exploits of Viking adventurer Thorgils Leiffson. A fine, page-turning trio of tales that sweeps the reader back in time. Constantinople, 1035: Thorgils has become a member of the Varangian lifeguard, where he witnesses the glories of the richest city on earth. Under the leadership of warrior chief Harald Hardradi, he embarks upon a campaign launched to recover Sicily from the Saracens. After years of traveling, Thorgils retreats to Sweden, but he is eventually summoned again to assist in coordinating William the Conqueror’s invasion of England. In September 1066, a Norse fleet of three hundred ships sails towards England and the battle begins. It is a prophetic dream that makes Thorgils warn the troops of the impending disaster at Stamford Bridge, but even he cannot turn aside what fate has decreed—the end of the Viking world.
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Reader Reviews for viking: king's man:
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Customer Rating:  
Summary: Good story but painfully slow at times.
Comment: Its hard to review a single book in the trilogy without talking about the rest. I give the series 4-stars. From a historical point of view it is quite good. Many of the characters and story lines are based on the sagas, and for those without the will or determination to commit to undertaking a source study, and no one could fault you here, this is a very pleasant introduction into that world.
I thought the author did an excellent job of delivering a healthy dose of mythology. Wandering through Thorgils world leaves a similar impression to Frodo wandering through the ruins of Middle Earth. The old ways are dying and a new order is rising. There's a certain depressing quality that resonates in an oddly familiar way.
A lot of ground is covered from the British Isles to Iceland, Greenland, Vinland, there and back, Scandinavia, Russia, Jerusalem, Constantinople, etc. Midway through the first book I set it down and did not touch it for a month. There's a certain tedium akin to Moby Dick, with a lot of exhausting details and events dragging on in lieu of action. If you are looking for a series filled with battles, here they are far and few. If you want to transport back to the Viking age, this will offer a pretty fair glimpse into a wide cross section of the times.
While significantly more shallow and simple, I found The Saxon Chronicles by Bernard Cromwell more fun to read.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Boring
Comment: Concept good but novels very boring. Disliked author's style of writing. Foolishly bought all three novels in the series.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great History, Poor Storytelling
Comment: I really wanted to like this book. I have read the first two in the trilogy, and I am an avid reader of the old Norse and Icelandic Sagas. I am fascinated with this period in history, and with Norse culture in general. That being said, I had a really tough time getting into this book. There were two reasons for it.
First, the author expounds on history and the culture of the time to the detriment of the flow of the story. There are many times during the course of the book that a character will extemporize for several paragraphs instead of holding a normal conversation. While it is interesting from an academic perspective, it brings a complete stop to the narrative. While the author spends a great deal of time describing the life and politics of 11th century Europe, he spends next to no time describing his character's motives. To sum it up, by the end of the book I had a relatively thorough understanding of Norse life at the time, but no real idea as to why Thorgils did much of anything.
The second problem I had with this book is the author's clear disdain of Christianity. I'm not a Christian myself, but I had a hard time believing that every Christian character Thorgil's came into contact with was either bigoted, shallow, hypocritical, or overzealous. All pagans, of course, were portrayed as noble and openminded. At first it was interesting, as I myself lean more towards a nature-worshiping direction. But I've met plenty of nice Christians in my life, and plenty of pagan and atheist jerks. Christianity does not have a monopoly on boorishness.
These two points aside, the book (and series overall) is a fascinating, well-researched look at life at the turn of the first millenium in Northern Europe. Credit is due the author for not only showing how brutal and harsh life was back then, but also hwo fascinating and colorful it was. After reading this series, I am even more convinced that I was born too late. Oh, to be a Viking!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Entertaining
Comment: The author takes you across much of euope during his journey and weaves an entertaining tale along the way. As the lead character travels as a follower of Oddin, he witnesses much history that climaxes with the downfall of complete Norse dominance and the begining of Norman rule, the last vestiges of paganism washed away. A worthy read.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Astounding Grand Finale to Viking Trilogy
Comment:
King's Man is the last series of the Viking trilogy, which told the story of Thorgils Leifsson. Viking series was Mr. Severin's first foray into the fiction realm. He used to write exclusively non-fiction history books, which I learned from the list of books he had written (not less than ten books, excluding this novel). The first and second (previous) of the trilogy: Odinn's Child and Sworn Brother, respectively. For reviews of the other two novels, please find my separate reviews.
Thorgils Leifsson was now 35 years old (born in late 999 AD). He had landed a job in Constantinople. A reader might be intrigued, that there were actual many Vikings working for the Byzantine Empire, known as the imperial bodyguards: Varangians. Vikings actually found the city of Kiev and they were known as Rus in eastern Europe/central Asian region. Thus, the name Russians actually emerged from it. I was also confounded when Normandy in France was the other word for Norsemen Land. Well, if you are a well informed reader, William the Duke of Normandy during 1060s was actually the descendant of Norsemen (Vikings) too!
I think I have leaked out too much of Severin's plot of this last novel in the trilogy. For short, Thorgils did have a chance to return to the vast northern wasteland in between Norway and Sweden (or the netherland). Eventually, he went to France. And for the remaining of the story, I would highly recommend you reading this book.
It would be best if a reader can start reading in sequence:
1. Odinn's Child (999-1020s AD)
2. Sworn Brother (1020s-1035 AD)
3. King's Man (1035-1070s AD)
Though, if you prefer, you can read only this last book. But Thorgils character would seem shallow. For me, the best of the Viking series were actually the first and last (third) novels.
My final tally for King's Man and Viking trilogy in general:
Book 3: King's Man: 5-star read
Viking trilogy: 5-star overall
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