Sea Queen by Linnea Hartsuyk

Linnea Hartsuyker follows up her 2018 Reading List Award winner, The Half-Drowned King, with another brilliantly written historical novel set in 9th-century Scandinavia. Instead of Ragnvald being the nucleus of the story, the spotlight shifts to his sister Svanhild. If you have not read The Half-Drowned King, it is a tale of uneasy alliances, wars, betrayal, and very rich detail of the inner workings of how Norway came to be.

The Sea Queen is set six years later, and with the passage of time, each character has become more wise, cunning, and cruel. Svanhild marries Solvi, Ragnvald's betrayer, and sails to distant parts of the sea. However, when she gives birth to their son, she becomes torn between supporting her husband in his ambitions (conquering Harald and Ragnvald) and seeking a home for her son. When she is forced to abandon her motherly instinct, it causes the death of her son. Hurt and outraged by her husband's cold reaction, she runs away and finds refuge in her brother, Ragnvald.

This story is a collection of  petty minor kings who have their own view of how Norway should be ruled. Ragnvald, Harald, and Solvi are cruel manipulators, and their rebelliousness is steering them into a full-blown war. Svanhild, just as cunning and wise as the men, outsmarts them all and wins the war for Harald. This is an action-packed novel where Svanhild becomes an independent woman. Linnea's final book in this trilogy, The Golden Wolf, comes out in 2019.

"Forgive me, Ragnvald," she said. "Svanhild, don't," he said. Svanhild ignored him and stepped close to Solvi. She touched his cheek, and that smile faded into a raw expression of longing. "I will let you go," she said, "if you swear by Ran and Njord and all of the nameless gods of wind and sea that you will never seek to reclaim your land or any other land in Norway."

"You will believe my oath?" Solvi asked. The corner of his mouth went up, with an ironic smile that tugged at her chest. "Will you come to me, if Harald mistreats you?" "I will do what seems right," said Svanhild. "That is all." ~The Sea Queen

~Dani Green