Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

  • Apple
  • Android
  • Windows Phone
  • Android

To get the free app, enter your email address or mobile phone number.

Buy Used
$4.06
FREE Shipping on orders over $25.
Condition: Used: Like New
Comment: Item is in good condition. Cover of book in great condition. All pages intact shows slight signs of wear.

Sorry, there was a problem.

There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. Please try again.

Sorry, there was a problem.

List unavailable.
Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon
Flip to back Flip to front
Listen Playing... Paused   You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more
See this image

Swords of Good Men (The Valhalla Saga) Hardcover – January 7, 2014

3.8 out of 5 stars 17 customer reviews
Book 1 of 2 in the Valhalla Saga Series

See all 6 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions
Price
New from Used from
Kindle
"Please retry"
Hardcover, January 7, 2014
$31.88 $0.08

Top 20 lists in Books
Top 20 lists in Books
View the top 20 best sellers of all time, the most reviewed books of all time and some of our editors' favorite picks. Learn more

NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE
Image
Interested in the Audiobook Edition?
If you’re the author, publisher, or rights holder of this book, let ACX help you produce the audiobook.Learn more.

Product Details

  • Series: The Valhalla Saga (Book 1)
  • Hardcover: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books (January 7, 2014)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1623650747
  • ISBN-13: 978-1623650742
  • Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1 x 9.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,658,251 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

By JPS TOP 500 REVIEWER on February 2, 2014
Format: Hardcover
As many others, I have read a number of “Viking Stories” written by quite a few authors: the “genre” is getting somewhat crowded. I liked most of them, although some were arguably better than others. I was a bit concerned that this one would be in the same vein as most of the others, and therefore hardly original. This is why I somewhat hesitated before buying and reading it.

It seems I was largely wrong. The action takes place in Norway, in and around the fortified town of Stenvik, held by Sigurd, an ageing warlord, as two Viking armies close on it, each intending to secure it for its own. After two years travelling as envoys across Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea, the young and handsome Ulfar (our hero) and his cousin had ended up in this town, the last before they return home. It will, of course, not be so easy, and our hero will get fully caught up in the coming battle, with lots of blood, gore and fighting. So far, so good and there is nothing really exceptional here. Similar episodes of ferocious and grim fighting can be found in other books from other authors, even if the ones in this book are rather well done and essentially take the form of siege with numerous assaults against Stenvik.

However, Snorri Kristjansson’s book does stand out in three respects. The first one is the historical context. It is about the forced unification of much of Norway under the cold, ruthless and fanatical Olaf Tryggvasson and his “White Christ” which took place in the last years of the 10th century. The young King, who appears quite frightening by his very calm, is depicted in a rather convincing way. His “Christianity” is a Norse and rather ruthless and bloodthirsty version of it.
Read more ›
Comment 9 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
Format: Paperback
Jo Fletcher is a fairly new imprint for Quercus specializing in most of the speculative fiction genre. They started with a bang, and their list of authors includes some who've proven their mettle like Sarah Pinborough and Ian McDonald. They also have a slew of authors who have debuted within the last few years with success, like Aidan Harte, Mazarkis Williams, Tom Pollock, and David Hair. This year includes promising debut Snorri Kristjansson with Swords of Good Men, the first in the Valhalla Saga. After I'd found myself the victor of a giveaway for Aidan Harte's Irenicon back in July, I decided to browse their catalog for authors of interest. After reading through all of the names, it was difficult to find one that didn't catch my eye. I ended up requesting the one that stood out the most, and since I can't resist a good Norse tale, they obliged and sent me Swords of Good Men.

After reading the first few chapters, I began to see that Kristjansson's writing was very similar to Nathan Hawke's and David Gemmell's - there is no fluff. He tells the story how it is, without flattery and overbearing detail. But, more like Hawke than Gemmell, Kristjansson writes the violence with gory detail, making the action very fun to read - the kind of stuff you'd see on History's new show, Vikings. Taking place in Norway, Swords of Good Men is much more historical fiction than it is fantasy, with the aspect of magic not appearing until the very end for the most part and in a supernatural way.

Swords begins with Ulfar Thormodsson and his cousin Geiri on their way to Stenvik, the last stop on a journey throughout the world before they can return home. Despite Kristjansson's focus on the action rather than the world, he paints a very vivid picture of a Norse town in Stenvik.
Read more ›
Comment 10 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
Format: Hardcover
Swords of Good Men, by Snorri Kristjansson has a sharply focused premise and an action-oriented narrative, but issues of pace and point of view lessen the short novel’s impact.

The Viking town of Stenvik is the crossroads of events. Heading toward them from the north is a massive army led by King Olav, who is determined to unify the Scandinavian people under the White Christ, even if he has to kill a lot of them in order to do so. Defending the Old Gods against this upstart religion is an All-Star team of Viking raiders, ostensibly led by their general, Skargrim, but really under the control of a mysterious woman named Skuld, who says she is one of the three weavers of fate. Olav wants Stenvik as his winter base, while Skuld and Skargrim seek to deny its strategic potential to him. Stenvik is caught in the middle, much to the dismay of its old warrior chief Sigurd and his closest friend and advisor Sven. Also caught up in the impending battle is a just-arrived pair of young nobles—Ulfar and Geiri; the town blacksmith, Audun; the town healer, Valgard; and the town troublemaker/wife beater and his wife: Harald and Lilia.

Kristjansson does a nice job of conveying the feel of life in this time and culture (at least, it feels like he does; I’m no expert on ancient Scandinavian culture). It’s rough and tumble, gritty, claustrophobic, violent, ugly in lots of ways. Setting it in a time of great change—the Christianization of the region—adds a nice bit of tension. And I liked how Kristjansson shows us a range of response to this conflict—the faithful on both sides, the cynics, the opportunists, and those who don’t really care either way but just want to live lives of peace.
Read more ›
Comment 2 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse

Most Recent Customer Reviews




Pages with Related Products. See and discover other items: john irving books