This is the story of the first settlement of the Norse into the Scottish Orkney islands – told through the eyes of Eyvind, a Norse warrior, and Nessa, a Pictish princess.
I love Marillier – her initial Sevenwaters trilogy has made me cry in each book. But I had a hard time with this book. I can’t quite put my finger on why. The magic is less present in this story. Eyvind is a Wolfskin, sworn to the god Thor, but his experience there is through a very human lens. Nessa is a priestess of the old gods of Orkney, but it’s not until the very end that the supernatural truly plays a factor in the story.
The story is initially told in Norway, as Eyvind grows up, and becomes friends with Sommerled, the son of a local lord. They swear an oath as blood brothers when they are young. They both end up going on the expedition to new lands, headed by Sommerled’s brother. And it’s Sommerled that throws everything into peril. Maybe that’s what got me – Sommerled was almost too much, and Eyvind should have had more agency to step in earlier than he did.
Still, the end of the story did finally bring me to tears, but I don’t think I’ll seek out the rest of this series. It ended at a place that I’m ok leaving it at.