One King's Way (Hammer & the Cross S.)

this book has to hold the spot for the best tension generator for quite some time. It leapt from conflict to conflict with masterful skill, and certain parts - Shef's rescue from Queen Ragnhild and the approaching battle against King Kjallak and the Swedish most notable among them - had me so swept up in the story that the howling wind outside could almost have been the driving gusts pushing the ships along the Danish seas.

It wasn't all battle and bloodshed, though. the Grind - the great whale hunt - pulled at the heartstrings. Even if not for animal cruelty per se, the sheer majesty of the thing can't help but sweep you in. Then there's the men who have suffered mentally, for all the violence and fighting they've been a part of. Brand and Cuthred, mainly, though there's also a lot of question as to Shef's stability and fortitude.

So all of that, combined with the inferences and questions to religion; especially the Way as a middle-of-the-road counterpoint to the banality of Christianity and harshness of Paganism, rounded out this book very well indeed. Lots of typical battle and strife, but with plenty of food for thought, too.