Today it's my turn on the BlogTour A Burning Sea by Theodore Brun. It's the third book in The Wanderer Chronicles series.'A brilliantly conceived Viking epic set in eighth-century Sweden and medieval Constantinople.'
Theodore Brun studied Dark Age archaeology at Cambridge. In 2010, he quit his job as an arbitration lawyer in Hong Kong and cycled 10,000 miles across Asia and Europe to his home in Norfolk. A Burning Sea is his third novel.
Follow on @theodorebrun on Twitter, on Amazon, on Goodreads, Visit theodorebrun.com, Buy A Burning Sea
About the book
Doomed to wander. Destined for glory.
Erlan Aurvandil has turned his back on the past and his native Northern lands, taking a perilous journey to the greatest city in the world, Byzantium. But as his voyage ends, Erlan is brutally betrayed, captured and enslaved by a powerful Byzantine general.
Meanwhile, Lilla Sviggarsdottír, Queen of Svealand, has lost her husband and with him, her kingdom. Leaving her lands and people behind, Lilla journeys east on a new quest: to find Erlan and raise an army mighty enough to defeat her usurper.
But when she reaches the great city of Byzantium, she discovers a place in turmoil. A dark tide is rising against the Emperor from within his own court. As the shadows darken and whispers of war begin to strengthen, Erlan's fate becomes intertwined with that of the city. Are they both doomed to fall, or can freedom be won in the blood of battle?
I really wish I could start off this review by slating the bad guys, there are plenty of those, but more specifically the snitches who absolutely deserve stitches. The last few chapters are enough to make anyone want to grab a sword, spear and get involved in the conflict.
As I have mentioned before I love the fact Erlan isn't your typical flawless, brawny, incredibly handsome main character. Instead he is the cripple with a tragic past, someone treated like the underdog and yet underestimated because of this misconception. What the reader knows without a doubt is that although his heart belongs firmly to Lilla, he realises her duty comes before emotions.
Lilla finds herself at the mercy of yet another man, because her gender makes her subject to rules of men she is unable to establish and demand her rights, so she sets out to find the one man she can rely on one hundred percent. Following in his footsteps becomes a treacherous journey.
This is the third book in Brun's epic Viking story, The Wanderer Chronicles, which takes us back to eighth century Scandinavia and the characters end up in Byzantium. That in itself is makes the story one full of descriptive surroundings and historical tidbits that are often lost in the narrative of history as it is retold.
I feel as if Brun is taking it up a notch with every book, really taking the time to hone his craft and eradicate anything that could possibly be seen as a flaw. He is a natural storyteller, who spins multiple characters and storylines in a historical setting with both fictional and factual aspects to the story with such precision and ease. Definitely an author I would highly recommend and always return to.
On a side-note I want to just mention Aska - the character without whom the reader wouldn't always see Erlan for the person he really is, and for being the core driver of so many scenes. Oh, and I hope Brun is busy writing a new book - just saying.
Buy The Burning Sea (The Wanderer Chronicles #3) at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher : Corvus; pub date 3 Sept. 2020. Buy at Amazon com.
Read my review of A Sacred Storm by Theodore Brun.
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