Thus far, this is my favourite volume of the series. Wood has convincingly tackled a handful of female leads/characters before, but this longer story arc gives him time to truely explore the role of widows in Viking culture. Obviouosly the society was very patriarchal, but free women did enjoy many rights that were absent in other contemporary cultures. Even after her husband's death by the plague our protagonist stands her ground as a leading member of her community and for the most part retains her stats. She runs into problems with one jerk, and is eventually ousted from the settlement, but I think that Wood is trying to make the point that while some men would abuse a widow others would support her as a member of the community in her husband's stead. ( )

So depressing. -_- But Hilda's strength as a mom is to be admired. ( )

Of the four books in this series, this one ranks second. The first book is by far the best. The story is filled with many of the same ideas: warriors fighting and dying, the brutal reality of life 1000 years ago. There is no sugar coating here, and for that I am glad.

This book, like the first one, sustains one story throughout. In this case, a village is stricken with the plague, and desperate measures are taken in order for the people to survive. As always, there is one who thinks he knows better,and undermines the sound strategy put in place.

What is neat about this book is that the protagonist is a woman, widowed by the plague and trying to keep her daughter alive.

The artwork is vivid and captures the story well. ( )

In my opinion, the best of the series so far. ( )

15,95 ( )