I wasn't expecting to like this one as much as I did -- after all, it isn't about Romans, and clearly I like the ones about Romans best -- but it is, surprisingly, really really good, and I will happily recommend it to anyone who wants a YA book about vikings.It's the tale of Jestyn Englishman, a shepherd who ends up sold as a slave in Dublin to Thormod Sitricson; they become friends, they fight at each other's side, and Jestyn becomes caught up in the blood feud for Thormod's father, a quest that takes them to Kiev and Constantinople. (Yep, it's a story about the Varangian Guard! When you think "vikings" this is probably not the viking story you are expecting.)The characters are nicely drawn, and Jestyn in particular makes a great narrator. I am also very fond of his relationship with Thormod -- although later his relationships with Anders and Alexia become very interesting as well.There's a lot of character death, but for all that, it's not actually a depressing novel, and I'm really glad I read it. Yay vikings! Yay Constantinople!
Delightful novel of two young men [one English, one Viking] who become blood brothers and travel as part of the crew of a Viking ship down the Dnieper to Kiev in Rus, thence to Byzantium when they become part of the newly-formed Varangian Guard to the Byzantine emperor. A blood feud hangs over all. The very poignant story tells us how the blood feud is finally resolved. Sutcliff's usual gentle, sensitive writing brings this era to life with unforgettable characters and the beautiful themes of loyalty and friendship.
Do You like book Blood Feud (1977)?
Although often thought of as a children's writer, Rosemary Sutcliff is a talented author of historical novels that have engendered a love of history in many students and adults. She writes of Roman Britain, of the Norsemen who raided the British Isles, of the Celtic people and tribes, and although her characters are fictional the facts of history are real. Her vocabulary and her story telling give the reader a sense of place, of people, and the conflicts that evolved into the culture of Anglo Saxon Britain. As an elementary school librarian, I read half a dozen of her novels. I enthusiastically recommended them to all my students who were interested in history. Blood Feud is another of her excellent stories, this one dealing with the Vikings.
—Katy
