The Half-Drowned King by Linnea Hartsuyker

The Half-Drowned King (Golden Wolf Saga, #1)

by Linnea Hartsuyker

'Lovers of epic rejoice!...A vivid and gripping read' Madeline Miller, author of the Orange Prize Winner 2012 for The Song of Achilles

'Linnea Hartsuyker brings myth and legend roaring to life in this superbly good page-turning saga of Viking-era Norway' Paula McClain, bestselling author of The Paris Wife and Circling the Sun

Since the death of Ragnvald Eysteinsson's father in battle, he has worked hard to protect his sister Svanhild and planned to inherit his family's land when he comes of age. But when the captain of his ship tries to kill him on the way home from a raiding excursion, he must confront his stepfather's betrayal, and find a way to protect his birthright. It is no easy feat in Viking-Age Norway, where a hundred petty rulers kill over parcels of land, and a prophesied high king is rising.

But where Ragnvald is expected to bleed, and even die, for his honour, Svanhild is simply expected to marry well. It's not a fate she relishes, and when the chance to leave her stepfather's cruelty comes at the hand of her brother's arch-rival, Svanhild is forced to make the ultimate choice: family or freedom.

Drawing from the Icelandic Sagas, The Half-Drowned King takes inspiration from the true story of Ragnvald of Maer, the right hand man of King Harald Fairhair, first king of all Norway, and his sister, Svanhild, as she tries to find freedom in a society where the higher her brother rises, the greater her worth as a political pawn.

Reviewed by Amber (The Literary Phoenix) on

4 of 5 stars

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This is such an underrated novel and I really enjoyed it.

Firstly, I'm game for historical fiction - overly sexualized love stories tend to push me away from it, but I actually really like historical fiction and felt like I didn't read enough of it last year. So I'm wicked happy The Half-Drowned King popped up on my TBR. It's got a little of everything from viking culture - their gender roles, their economy and culture, and just the right amount of politics and raiding. This felt like more of a story about vikings with Ragnvald, Svanheld, and Solvi as tour guides than a vicious revenge story, and I am 100% okay with that.

Everything of a historian in me was GLEEFUL about the way this story is told. It feel steeped in reality - nothing sensational about it. I did a bit of poking around after I finished, and discovered that a lot of the characters are either inspired by someone real, or WERE someone real. We don't have a lot of information about the vikings simply because they existed largely in the ninth century - over 1100 years ago - so this is a fantastic platform for historical fiction.

Okay - reining in my history nerd.

The characters were well-developed and fit into their time period. That latter bit is important - it's very easy to insert modern understanding into historical contexts and its the historian's job NOT to do that... so I think Hartsuyker did a fantastic job of making these characters feel both historically real AND still relatable. I think that some people will be bored with the pacing. I'm sure many people will go into this and think: AHA! VIKINGS! VIOLENCE! but that's not how this novel works at all. There's a lot of time on land, in politics and family life. The bits of violence are quick and real. There's even one battle where Ragnvald seems disappointed about how easy it was. There's nothing sensational about this novel, so don't go in looking for HIGH ADVENTURE and GORY BATTLE SCENES because they're just not in this one.

I really, really liked this book and thought it was so different from anything I've read - both in YA and historical fiction. I'm definitely going to keep an eye on Linnea Hartsuyker's writing, and pick up the rest of this series.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 5 February, 2019: Finished reading
  • 5 February, 2019: Reviewed