Dubh-Linn

Dubh-Linn: A Novel of Viking-Age Ireland
© 2014 James Nelson
326 pages

All Thorgrim Nightwolf wanted was to go home.But the gods and Irish women have a way of...complicating things.  Thorgrim has more sense than to tangle with this benighted island and its politics, but his son Harold and his captain are another story.  Both are besotted with a woman who claims to be the heir to the Irish throne; she's so vulnerable and lovely and in need of a protective hand, what with her story of having fled a murderous and now mysteriously stabbed-and-burned husband. But Brigit is playing them like a fiddle, and what's more -- she's in a contest with the equally beautiful and equally ruthless Morrigan, who hopes to rule through her brother's claim on the throne.  As Thorgrim tries to save his brethren from themselves from these deadly wiles,  the plot develops to a final battle involving four armies,  none of which have any idea who is pulling the strings.

When I read Fin Gall, the first book in this series, I noted that the two Irish women seemed interchangeable. To a degree, that's still the case here: they're both beautiful, dangerous, and manipulative. But one is pregnant, and the other is in power.  While Nelson isn't as comedic as Cornwell, his action scenes are utterly gripping, and he's even better than Cornwell at making the environment around his characters come alive. The gloom of clouds, the mists of forests, the odor of rotting hay -- it's all very effective. So far both of his books have involved his main characters stumbling through other people's schemes, but one here was an absolute beauty. What I especially like here is a main character, Thorgrim, whose main concern is protecting and guiding his son as he assumes more responsibilities and perils of manhood.

Definitely will continue in this series.  And Cornwell is coming again in November with the Flame Bearer!

Related:

• Vikings, season 3. (Trailer)  Ragnar's son Bjorn is rapidly becoming not just a man, but a leader of men. Also, dangerous women aplenty, especially in  Kwenthrith. Holy cow. (Also, they attack Paris and it is BRUTAL.)
• The Saxon Stories series, Bernard Cornwell. Lots of Saxon-Dane fighting and bountiful humor.
• Leofric, Sword of the Angles. An story of Angle politics from when they were still migrating into Britain. 

Fin Gall

Fin Gall: A Novel of Viking-Age Ireland
© 2013 James Nelson
290 pages

When a Danish longboat happened upon a small Irish craft on the rough seas , it found more than quick booty.  Onboard the boat was the Crown of the Three Kingdoms, a priceless artifact more precious for its political import than for its jewels. Whomever was granted the Crown gained the allegiance of the major kingdoms of Ireland; what price in gold or influence would the Irish tribes pay to have it restored?  Alas for the crew of the Red Dragon, the Irish weren't the only ones fighting among themselves-- for Dubh-linn, a booming Danish ship-fort, has been taken by the Norwegians!  So begins Fin Gall, a story of medieval war and adventure amid frantic infighting.

 In a surprisingly crowded field of Viking fiction,  Fin Gall distinguishes itself through its Irish setting and the well-crafted naval scenes.   The fractious nature of Ireland, made worse by competing Scandinavian clans crafting alliances with and against the Irish tribes, provides the basis of the plot. One Irish lord has been named chief, another resents it; one Norse lord wants to dominate Ireland,  an underling resents it;  much backstabbing ensues. The Red Dragons spend the book tripping over entangled alliances,  brawling, and hustling away.   The lead character, Thorgrim Nightwolf, is an interesting sort, so cunning that his men think he can transform into a wolf and gain a foretaste of the future through his dreams. His motives throughout the novel are refreshingly decent:  though he has come to Ireland to raid and plunder, he spends most of the book trying to keep his son Harold and an elder relation safe from Norwegians, Irish princes, and women. There's a lot of pungent boasting, though not quite as riotous as Cornwell's, and two back-to-back sex scenes which little changes but the name of the Irish lass involved.  Those Irish ladies are the weakest point here: they both encounter captive Danes, both help them escape for private motives, and both wind up randomly sleeping with the Dane in question.  The play-by-play is not especially awkward, but anything beyond "And they went to bed" is more information than I care to read.   After much danger has been out-lived, through both wit and luck, the book ends with a nice hook for the next novel: Dubh-Linn.

I'll definitely be pursuing this series, as both of its 'hooks' are well-set for me. Most Viking fiction I've read takes place far inland, but this had a multitude of maritime scenes, and they made the savage sea really come alive. I also appreciated the way the Irish were handled here in general,  aside from the two women who blurred together.  They will probably become more distinct in further books, especially considering that one is a princess with a Danish in the oven.



Related:

• Leofric: Sword of the Angles, S.J. Arnott
• The Saxon Chronicles, Bernard Cornwell