The Road To Vengeance is Book Three of Judson Roberts’ Young Adult Strongbow Saga, whose previous volumes I’ve reviewed already. The series continues strong; indeed, I think this is the best so far.

The hero of the books is Halfdan, a young Dane living in the 9th Century. Born a thrall (slave), the illegitimate son of a chieftain, he was freed after the deaths of both his parents, and trained as a warrior by his half-brother in Book One, Viking Warrior. But his entire new family was massacred by a greedy stepbrother and his Viking crew. Halfdan escaped and swore vengeance; but in order to achieve that he needs to acquire wealth and powerful friends.

This he has done by joining an invasion of France (based on an actual historical expedition in 845). Book Two, Dragons From the Sea, told how Halfdan went on a scouting expedition, which ended with his near escape from the Franks, bringing back with him a hostage, a young Frankish noblewoman who is a novitiate nun.

In The Road to Vengeance, Halfdan is sitting with the victorious army in Ruda (Rouen), where he assists the Viking leaders, based on what he learned scouting, in planning a further attack on Paris. Meanwhile he has to keep his eye out, because some of his Danish enemies are with the army, and are watching him. He worries about the safety of the Frankish family which is quartering him, and of his hostage. One of the Viking leaders has his eye on her, and Halfdan is developing feelings for her himself.

There is a very stirring account of a major battle, and we see the capture of Paris, along with the rather mundane process by which the Vikings were simply bought off by the Franks (a common practice by many victims of such attacks). In the course of it all, Halfdan has to defend his life from his enemies a couple of times, and finally gets the opportunity to take the first step in his great vengeance.

The book has a very authentic feel, and holds up pretty well from a historical perspective. Roberts seems unaware of a few points of Viking law, such as that a killing at night was considered shameful murder, and that manslaughters had to be announced immediately to be considered legal. But that’s fairly minor.

There’s violence aplenty, but it’s not lovingly dwelt on. Halfdan seems to be the least libidinous Viking who ever lived (although I might note that historians say that, among all the charges leveled against the Vikings by their enemies, rape is actually pretty rare). There’s a sexual scene which goes outside the bounds of Christian morality, but it’s not explicit. And a few comments are made about monasticism which might slightly offend Catholics. But the book is fairly evenhanded in terms of treatment of religion.

I enjoyed it a lot. Recommended.

P.S. The sword the pouting male model on the cover is holding appears to be the very reproduction I carry for my show sword (as opposed to my fighting sword). This doubtless prejudiced me in the book’s favor.