Book Review: THE GOLDEN WOLF

THE GOLDEN WOLF (The Golden Wolf Saga, Vol. 3)
HARPERCOLLINS – @HarperCollins

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

AUTHOR: Linnea Hartsuyker
ISBN: 978-0-06-256374-3; hardcover (August 13, 2019)
448pp, B&W, $27.99 U.S., $34.99 CAN

The Golden Wolf is a 2019 novel from author Linnea Hartsuyker.  It is the direct sequel to The Sea Queen and is also the third volume in “The Golden Wolf Saga” book series.  This book, like the others, is set during the 9th century A.D. and in Norway's “Viking Age,” specifically the time that marks the ascendancy of the first King of Norway, Harald Fairhair (called Harald Halfdansson in this novel).  The Golden Wolf focuses on Ragnvald Eysteinsson, his sister, Svanhild, and their spouses, children, and allies – with King Harald's campaigns as a backdrop.

The Golden Wolf opens with the children of Ragnvald and Svanhild's extended families meeting at sea and making decisions that will change the course of their lives.  There actions will also play a crucial part in King Harald's ongoing campaign to consolidate his power in Norway and abroad.

Ragnvald has long held to his vision of King Harald as a “golden wolf” who will bring peace to Norway as its conqueror.  Ragnvald, however, has also long held to the second part of that vision; for all that he has assisted and will continue to assist his king, Harald’s success will eventually mean Ragnvald's own doom.  Ragnvald is grateful to have his beloved sister, the fierce and independent Svanhild, once more at his side to help keep their kingdom secure.  She is free from Solvi Hunthiofsson, the evil husband who used her, but she is now one of Harald’s many wives.  Soon, Ragnvald will cut Harold's long hair, a sign that the king is ready to put down his sword and to rule Norway, not as a warrior, but as a king.

That, however, must wait.  An old enemy may have kidnapped Ragnvald's niece, Svanhild's daughter, Freydis Solvisdatter, from whom Svanhild is estranged.  Ragnvald's sons:  the gifted Einar, the princely Ivar, and the adventurous Rolli, are no longer children.  Harald's sons are also grown, and now, Ragnvald's sons may have to compete with the king's heirs for land to rule.  This is especially true of Harold's son, Halfdan Haraldsson, who openly plots rebellion against his father and seeks alliances with his father's enemies.  The young seek to begin building their own legacies, and their elders are preparing to enter their twilight years – if they live.  King Harald may be the “golden wolf,” but does he devour friends, like Ragnvald, as easily as he does foes?

In the first book of the “The Golden Wolf Saga,” The Half-Drowned King, Ragnvald is the lead character, although his sister Svanhild is the lead in about a third of the novel.  In the second novel, The Sea Queen, brother and sister are co-leads.

In this final novel, The Golden Wolf, author Linnea Hartsuyker once again expands the scope of her narrative.  There are multiple subplots and settings that range from Norway and Denmark to regions in and around Scotland and Iceland.  The primary expansion, however, is in the characters and in the character drama.  The Golden Wolf is the grand finale in which the characters pay the price for both their ambitions and for the ambitions of those to whom they tie themselves.

I am still having a hard time believing that “The Golden Wolf Trilogy” is comprised of Hartsuyker's first three novels.  By the third novel, we can no longer credit “beginner's luck.”  As a novelist, Hartsuyker is a natural.  In The Golden Wolf, the complexity and depth with which she presents not only character and personality, but also interpersonal relationships, politics, intrigue, and family dynamics are breathtaking.  Honestly, to make readers care deeply about even The Golden Wolf's villains and characters who deserve harsh outcomes (which she often made me do) is the mark of both a good writer and a good storyteller.

To put it simply, The Golden Wolf is a damn fun and fine read.  In singing her praises, I can say that it is Linnea Hartsuyker's fault that I don't want to say goodbye to these characters.  The Golden Wolf is the intimate, heartfelt end that a great trilogy needs to assure that it is indeed great.  Dear readers, add The Golden Wolf to your summer reading lists.

10 out of 10

www.linneahartsuyker.com

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Book Review: THE SEA QUEEN

THE SEA QUEEN
HARPERCOLLINS – @HarperCollins

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

AUTHOR: Linnea Hartsuyker
ISBN: 978-0-06-256373-6; hardcover (August 14, 2018)
464pp, B&W, $27.99 U.S., $34.99 CAN

The Sea Queen is a 2018 novel from author Linnea Hartsuyker.  It is the direct sequel to The Half-Drowned King.  The novel is set during Norway's “Viking Age,” specifically the time that marks the ascendancy of the first King of Norway, Harald Fairhair (called Harald Halfdansson in this novel).  The Half-Drowned King focuses on a brother and sister who both play pivotal roles in Harald's campaign to defeat his enemies and unite Norway under one king.

Ragnvald Eysteinsson was known as “Ragnvald the Half-drowned.”  Now, he is king of Sogn, the land his late father claimed, but he has been away from home fighting battles for King Harald.  That has allowed a usurper, Atli Kolbrandsson, to make a claim on Sogn, a move that is just one example of a political landscape that grows more treacherous.

Meanwhile, Ragnvald's sister, Svanhild, has found freedom and adventure as the wife of rebel explorer, Solvi Hunthiofsson.  Sailing the seas at her husband's side, Svanhild is known as “the Sea Queen,” because she is more capable at the helm of a ship than most men.  However, Solvi has desires and ambitions; he wants to recapture lands he claims as his own, but that is controlled by Harald or his allies.  Solvi returns to Norway, which leads to tragedy and drives a wedge between he and Svanhild.

A rebellion grows and unites Harald's enemies and also some he thought to be allies.  Ragnvald suspects that some nobles are not really loyal to Harald's dream of a unified Norway.  He sets a plan in motion to bring down enemies and traitors alike, but like his sister, he will make decisions that will cost him in the most personal ways.

I wrote in my review of The Half-Drowned King that my summary of the novel focused on Ragnvald, although his sister Svanhild played a major part in the novel.  Svanhild is the lead character in about a third of the first novel, but The Sea Queen is as much her story as it is her brother's or Harald's.

The Sea Queen is allegedly only author Linnea Hartsuyker's second novel.  I say allegedly because Hartsuyker either previously wrote under a pen name, or she is just simply a natural at this novel-writing game.  Hartsuyker not only provides a deeply intimate portrayal and depiction of Svanhild and Ragnvald, but she also bares the souls, the cores, and the naked ambitions of numerous characters in this novel.  Truthfully, many of them, including Solvi, Atli, and King Hakon (a frenemy), to name a few, could be the lead in this series.

Hartsuyker gives readers the details and local color in droves, as she mixes myth, legend, and history to transport her readers to a time in “pre-history” Norway of uncertain duels, fierce battles, sudden raids, and ancient blood feuds.  It is her wonderful cast of characters, however, that truly makes The Sea Queen a page-turning, electrifying read.  Linnea Hartsuyker is subtle in the way she pushes Svanhild to the front, but she is equally crafty in creating a book full of characters that you cannot stop thinking about even when the story moves from one to another.  I heartily and highly-recommend The Sea Queen to readers who just love a good book just filled with superb and engaging characters.

9 out of 10

www.linneahartsuyker.com

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint syndication rights and fees.

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Book Review: THE HALF-DROWNED KING

THE HALF-DROWNED KING
HARPERCOLLINS – @HarperCollins

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

AUTHOR: Linnea Hartsuyker
ISBN: 978-0-06-256369-9; hardcover (August 1, 2017)
448pp, B&W, $27.99 U.S., $34.99 CAN

The Half-Drowned King is the debut novel from author Linnea Hartsuyker.  The novel is set during Norway's “Viking Age,” specifically the time that marks the ascendancy of the first King of Norway, Harald Fairhair (called Harald Halfdansson in this novel).  The Half-Drowned King focuses on a young warrior who survives a murder attempt so that he can avenge himself, protect his sister, and defend the land that is his birthright.

“The Half-Drowned King” is the young warrior, Ragnvald Eysteinsson.  He grew up believing that he would one day take his dead father’s place as chief of his family’s lands in Sogn, a district in western Norway.  Ragnvald believes that he will not only rule Ardal, his family's rich farm in Sogn, but that he will also reclaim all of Sogn and rule it as grandfather, Ivar, who was a king, did.  Ragnvald is the son and grandson of kings, but the lands of Norway have many kings.

Sailing home from a raiding trip to Ireland, Ragnvald is betrayed and left for dead by men in the pay of his stepfather, Olaf, usurper of this father's land.  After being rescued by a fisherman, Ragnvald believes that his life has been spared by the goddess Ran for a purpose... perhaps to serve whoever is the golden wolf he sees in a vision just before he is saved from drowning.  Now, Ragnvald is determined to have revenge against Olaf, but fate eventually brings him to Harald of Vestfold.

Young King Harold is the strong, young Norse warrior rumored to be the prophesied king that will unite Norway into one country – a high king who will rule all the lands of the north.  Ragnvald pledges his sword to King Harald and slowly begins to believe that it is his fate to serve King Harold.  Meanwhile, Ragnvald's beloved sister, Svanhild, has tied her fate to Ragnvald's mortal enemy.  The choices both siblings make may determine the fate of a nation-to-be.

Although much of my summary of the story focuses on Ragnvald, his sister Svanhild plays a major part in The Half-Drowned King.  It would not be an exaggeration to say that Svanhild is the lead character in about a third of this novel.  That alone makes The Half-Drowned King unique, a novel about a king and a would-be high king and also about a queen, and this novel about kings and a queen is a gripping read.

Author Linnea Hartsuyker does not quite half-drown her readers in details, but she mixes myth, legend, and history and transports her readers to a time of uncertain duels, fierce battles, sudden raids, and ancient blood feuds.  Readers will find themselves navigating shaky alliances and ambivalent treaties as often as they sail icy fjords and storm-tossed seas.

The Half-Drowned King is an electrifying read anchored by the thoughtful Ragnvald who is beset by fate, his own ambitions, and those of others, but who is always where the action is.  However, The Half-Drowned King offers a bonus second lead character, Svanhild.  Following her is also exhilarating, simply because she also wants to be where the action is rather than accepting the fate of having to accept any old bum landowner as her husband.

The Half-Drowned King is the first in a new series, and this first novel is so good that we may be calling Hartsuyker the “queen of historical fiction” by the end of it.  Lovers of historical epics must not miss The Half-Drowned King.

A
9 out of 10

www.linneahartsuyker.com

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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