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A LEGENDARY KING

A POWERFUL WARRIOR

A DARK PROMISE

Twelve-year-old Severn survives a raid on Orkney, but Magnus, King of the Vikings, hauls him away from his home and back to Norway.

Though timid and frightened at first, Severn learns to embrace his new surroundings and grows to become one of the greatest warriors of his time.
But it isn’t the axe-wielding Ironmen, or the gods that they worship, or even the serpents of the ice-cold seas that will shape his future — it’s the love of a Viking woman.

However, in the struggle between family and loyalty, between personal ambition and commitment, there will be no easy path. But a man with a warrior’s courage may be able to find it. Such a man is Severn—warrior by instinct and Viking by nature—he has yet to reach his finest hour.

A rousing adventure of courage, treachery, duty, devotion, majesty, love and battle, as seen through the eyes of a warrior adjusting to a different world.

‘It’s not how you die that defines you—it’s what you fight for in life.’

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My 4-Star Review

Severn is a delicious, masterfully crafted fantasy of exquisite detail and lavish world-building.  Not the kind that makes you turn the pages searching for the place where the action starts; no no! This is the kind of sumptuous expository writing that makes readers…and especially me….start entire chapters over just to experience each artfully woven phrase another time.

I stood on high peaks, looking outward over pristine landscapes.  I felt the rush of the wind through my hair; I smelled the smoke of fires beneath hearths.  Turner’s writing not only sweeps you away, it carries you directly into the pages of her book and into the realm of Vikings.  I stood beside the characters, watching and listening as if they were real…but they WERE real…. in every sense that matters to a reader.

This Viking-era tale follows the life of a youngster who is captured and must fight to survive.  His trials and challenges are often grueling; yet, they pull you in.  You can’t help yourself; you care about him almost immediately and as you watch him grow into a man, train for war, and fall in love, you will care even more.

If you’ve already read the Kingdom of Durundal series, this story will turn your head sideways with its thoroughly unexpected plot twist.  If you haven’t….like I haven’t….you will be left ravenous for more.  I find myself wishing this was a mini-series, not simply so I could visually see the spell-binding beauty and historically-accurate grunge of this remarkable tale, but so I could put the world on hold and binge-watch EVERY LAST CHAPTER.

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About S. E. Turner