Odin's Wolves: A Novel (Raven: Book 3)

ISBN: 034553509X

Condition: New

About the AuthorHaving Viking ancestors himself, Giles Kristian believes that the story of Raven has always been in his blood-waiting, like the Norsemen, for the right time to burst upon the world. The Raven series has been published to great acclaim by Transworld in the UK. Giles Kristian currently lives in Leicestershire, where he writes full-time, though he enjoys nothing better than working in his family cottage that overlooks the mist-shrouded Norwegian fjords.Product DescriptionThey came from the North and fought their way through France and Spain. Now this fearless band of brothers sets sail for the greatest city in the world.Plunging through the living hell of Pope Leos shattered, perverted Rome, the dragon-faced ships of Sigurd the Lucky are manned by a strange and fearsome crew: bearded Norse raiders who sacrifice their vanquished enemies to Odin, brave Greek warriors, a Moor, and an English monk. Among the Norsemen is Raven, a young man of uncertain parentage who is able-from the depths of his blood-spotted eye-to glimpse the future. Robbed of the woman he loves, Raven is destined to play a cunning role in the boldest of attacks. For the Vikings are on their way to glimmering Constantinople to put a deposed emperor back on his rightful throne-and claim the most magnificent prize of all.A masterly achievement.-Daily ExpressA great tale that held me spellbound.-New York Times bestselling author Bernard CornwellPraise for Giles Kristians Raven seriesStorming, magnificent . . . one of the best Viking series of all time . . . This is tale-telling at its rip-roaring best.-Manda Scott, author of The Crystal SkullAn all-action adventure . . . beautifully told.-Sunday ExpressReview"A masterly achievement."--"Daily Express""A great tale that held me spellbound."--"New York Times" bestselling author Bernard CornwellPraise for Giles Kristian's Raven series"Storming, magnificent . . . one of the best Viking series of all time . . . This is tale-telling at its rip-roaring best."--Manda Scott, author of "The Crystal Skull""An all-action adventure . . . beautifully told."--"Sunday Express"Excerpt. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.Chapter OneWe were seventy-one warriors and as odd a crew as ever plowed the whales road. Norse, Dane, and English-men who would normally face each other from behind the shieldwall-sat beside each other on sea chests, shared deck space beneath the stars, and pulled the spruce oars together so that they beat like eagles wings, our bows slicing the sea. We even had a monk and a woman thrown in for good measure, though a monk aboard a longship is about as useful as a hole in a shield. Even so, Father Egfrith was a good man for all his fools hope of sluicing the old gods from our black souls. As for the woman, she was Cynethryth, beautiful Cynethryth, and that was enough.For seven weeks Jrmungand, Serpents dragon prow, had forged into the unknown, following the Frankish coast. Then, after a long passage south, we had sailed the Dark Sea west, along the margin of a barren, rockbound land from which jagged, treeless, boulder-strewn mountains surged into the sky. That desolate shoreline was cut with rocky beaches, most of which were trapped by steep cliffs that plunged into the white-tossed breakers, and we had rarely made landfall for fear of tearing open our hulls.Now we were plowing south again. On our steerboard side the black water stretched away to the west as far as the eye could see, and who knew what lay that way? But we were staying as close to land as we dared, for we had escaped the wrath of an empire and were lucky to still have the skins on our backs and the blood in our veins. Three other dragons followed in our wake: Sigurds second ship, Fjord-Elk, and the two remaining Dane ships, sleek fast snekkjas named Wave-Steed and Sea-Arrow. We had escaped the Franks, and so we had escaped death, but in doing so we had lost our silver ho