One morning Solveig wakes to find her father, Viking mercenary Halfdan, has broken his promise to her and gone to rejoin his friend, Harald Hardrada, in Constantinople, where he is leader of the Empress’s guard. Deciding to follow him, Solveig sets off in a tiny boat and into an adventure along the Baltic and through the river routes of Russia to the Black Sea, encountering Swedish traders, a ghost-ship and a Russian king, and braving arrow-storms and witnessing a living sacrifice along the way. Through it all, Solveig’s belief in her father is unwavering. Will she ever reach Constantinople? And will her father be there?
A glittering novel that explores friendship and betrayal, the father-daughter relationship, the clash of religions and the journey from childhood to adulthood.
A glittering novel that explores friendship and betrayal, the father-daughter relationship, the clash of religions and the journey from childhood to adulthood.
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Reviews
'A Norse saga with a difference ... travelogue through a beautifully realised 11th-century Europe, full of incident and subtle characterisation' The Financial Times.
'Crossley-Holland writes prose with a poet's eye and love of words, painting a vivid picture of the world his characters move through' Guardian.
'In this beautiful and complex book, it's impossible not to fall in love with Kevin Crossley-Holland's heroine, Solveig ... Kevin Crossley-Holland is a wonderful writer and poet, who gifts us an added layer of magic, with the sheer depth of his knowledge about the Viking world' Awfully Big Blog Adventure.
'Kevin Crossley-Holland is a wonderful storyteller who writes compellingly and whose historical novels have brought history alive for many readers' Parents in Touch.
'It's all simmering tensions and questions about honour and betrayal and is a real page-turner' Suffolk Norfolk life.
'Kevin Crossley-Holland is one of the giants of children's fiction' Philip Reeve.
'Sweeps the reader away on a vivid voyage of adventure ... mesmerising' The Times.
'This beautifully written and sustained story of a journey is based on an intimate knowledge of the Norse and Viking worlds' Irish Sunday Independent.
