cover image The Wolf Sea

The Wolf Sea

Robert Low. Thomas Dunne Books, $24.95 (339pp) ISBN 978-0-312-36195-2

British journalist Low continues his sprawling Oathsworn trilogy about a band of 10th Century Viking warriors with this sanguinary sequel to The Whale Road. Following their failure to recover Attila the Hun's hidden treasure, young Orm and his band of oathsworn Vikings wash up in Constantinople with only Attila's iconic sword and the ""ruined dream of Attila's silver hoard"" to show for their harrowing adventure. Hoping to return to claim the treasure, Orm secretly carves coded directions to the treasure into the hilt of the sword. The sword, however, is stolen by Starkad Ragnarsson, an old enemy of the Oathsworn, who takes off in pursuit of an unscrupulous priest, Martin the monk. Sailing out of Constantinople, the Oathsworn chase Starkad to Cyprus, Antioch and ""into the bowels of Satan""-the Syrian Desert-before a climactic battle at Masada. Low grounds his saga in Viking history and legend, and in a welcome departure, sets them on an odyssey to the exotic east. Fans of Viking literature and historical adventure fiction will welcome this entertaining addition to an inventive series.