Discussions

Have a question or a comment about the Strongbow Saga or Judson Roberts’ other work? Want chat with other readers about the books or related subjects? Post here and look for responses from the author and other fans of the series.

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779 thoughts on “Discussions

  1. I just finished the german translation of the 1st book of the series, however now I had to find out that the rest of the series is not translated yet and there is no inforamation when and whether it will be translated- Do you have any information. It was great and I realy whant to read the rest, but my english is not good enough to ejoy the same way.

    • My German author-partner who is helping bring the Strongbow Saga books out in German, Ruth Nestvold, has finished translating book 2, Dragons from the Sea, and the translation is now in final review and editing, so it should become available within a few more months. I’m afraid that at the present time her other writing commitments will probably keep our release schedule to one book per year. I’m glad you liked the first book, and thank you for writing.

  2. So I started the series when I was in the 6th grade I got the 2nd book the next Christmas and then it took awhile for the next book to come out and I had all but given up waiting for the next book but 2 months ago something reminded of Halfdan so I decided to go and find all the books and to start over now that I am 21 the story still grips me and I love it! I just finished the 3rd book and am starting the 4th I will be sad when I finish as I will have to wait until the 5th comes out…. As a reader I would love to see more into Halfdans future life. Since I will be done with the 4th book soon are there and recommendations on books similar to these I love stories and books like this and am struggling to find others to read

    • Thanks, Justin. I’m glad you found the series again. As far as your wait to read book 5, I am currently working on it, and plan to complete and publish it during 2016 (I guess in a few days I’ll be able to say “this year”). It’s still too early to predict when in 2016 yet, but I’ll post occasional progress reports on this website, with notifications on my Facebook author page as well, so if you “Like” that page, you should be able to find out whenever new posts are made.

      I also plan in the very near future to start a series on this website of “behind the scenes” looks into how I’m creating book 5. The first one, “Becoming Halfdan,” in which I’ll explain how I get into character in order to write Halfdan’s story, will probably come out next week.

      As far as other books to read, some of my favorites include “The Long Ships,” by Frans Bengtsson, an excellent Viking-era novel, “Shogun,” by James Clavell, set in Japan during the samurai period in the 16th century, and Bernard Cornwell’s Richard Sharpe series, set during the Napoleonic War. Cornwell writes a number of different series, including one set in England during the Viking period, but the Sharpe series is my personal favorite.

    • Thanks for sharing that. The DNA studies are pretty complex stuff. While researching the Saami, I found it very difficult to find much about their early culture, because the Scandinavian peoples made such a determined effort to eradicate their native culture and beliefs, and turn them into Christians and as much like the European Scandinavians (i.e., Danes, Norwegians, and Swedes) as possible–an effort not unlike what was done in the U.S. and Australia to the aboriginal peoples there.

  3. I think your books would be an incredible television show or movie. If tv show, it wold be slightly similar to game of thrones, and if movies, it would be like Lord of the Rings. I hope someone could adapt it one day.

    • Thanks–I think the story would be great to see on film, too. Because of the scope and complexity of some of the sets (like 9th century Paris) and big battle scenes, I think the story could only really be told well with a theatrical movie–actually, at least three movies, for the whole story–due to the budget that would be required. That makes it harder. I spoke to a couple of film agents this past summer, and they basically said for a story like this to be made into film requires someone in the industry with a lot of clout–a big name actor, director, or producer–to fall in love with the story and want to make it. So if any fans of the series know anyone like that, give them the books for Christmas! 🙂

  4. When is the estimated arrival of the fifth book? I have been dying to know. I picked the viking warrior up at the library and it was so good I decided to buy the whole series. I love this series thank you for your amazing writings!

    • I’m glad you like the books–thanks for writing to let me know. I’m currently working on book 5, and plan to publish it during 2016, although it’s still too early in the process to be able to predict when yet. In the very near future, though, I’m going to start a series of periodic posts on this website giving “behind the scenes of book 5” glimpses into various aspects of how I go about creating the story, without giving away any significant spoilers.

  5. I had a question with regards to the last post you made. If Halfdan were to come out of this alive would we get to see any of his life after he survived either in the form of an epilogue or just continued at the end of the book? I know you like to devote a lot of time to being historically and culturally accurate, and whether or not we would see Halfdan as a chieftain or rebuilding the initial homestead left to him and settling down there. Obviously I am not looking for spoilers more insight on how much closure on the series there will be?

    • That’s a good question–thanks for asking it. And I’m glad this discussions page is working again. I only recently realized it had become nonfunctional.

      As I explained below, the Strongbow Saga is a single story that, for practical purposes, I’ve had to write and release over time in multiple volumes. I began working on the story in the late 1990s, and could not have afforded to have spent years of research and writing, but not publishing anything until the entire story was finished.

      But the Strongbow Saga story will end with Halfdan still a young man (and that’s a little bit of a spoiler, but given that the story is in the first person, which means it’s essentially being told by him, not much of one :-). I do have several ideas for other stories about Halfdan that occur at various times later in his life, and I expect that over time I will write at least some of them. But after the Strongbow Saga, I plan to make a point of writing only single book stories, i.e., each story will begin and end in one book, although they will be a part of the the overall collection of Halfdan stories. The multi-book, multi-year story has been both frustrating for readers and a lot of pressure on me, and I don’t want to create that situation again.

  6. A reader recently sent me an email asking the following question. I thought I’d share my answer here.

    “How does strongbowsaga saga end? Dear Judson Roberts, Will there be a book 5 or conclusion to the strongbowsaga saga. I am wondering if Halfdan ever finds his sister and do they find the evil Toke? I have truly enjoyed reading your books. Thank you, J–D.”

    The Strongbow Saga will definitely have a conclusion. It’s a single story told across a number of books, rather than an open-ended, continuing series. There are two main elements of the story to complete: Will Halfdan be able to find and rescue Sigrid, and will he ultimately catch Toke and avenge the many deaths he has caused? My current plan is that the fifth book will wrap up the story. However, I do recognize that there is some chance that once the writing of book 5 gets fully underway, a process which for me includes in-depth research of various aspects of the story, it’s possible–not likely, but possible–that the end of the story might grow to become two books rather than one.

    Let me explain. When I began work on book 4, in my rough outline I was working from I fully expected the efforts to rescue Sigrid would be a part of that book. But as I researched my way east across the Baltic Sea, following the route that Halfdan and Hastein’s sea voyage would take, the details I discovered about the islands of Mon and Oland, and the coincidence of timing with events that were historically occurring in Birka, led me to expand the elements of the story set in those locations. And when researching in preparation for writing the sea battle, the tidbit I discovered about the skilled Finn archer who played a key role in a historical Viking sea battle led to the creation of Rauna and her father, and the roles they played in the story in book 4 (I’d been looking for a chance to introduce a new female character into Halfdan’s life). So by the time the story in book 4 reached Birka, it was apparent that the expedition to find Sigrid would have to be pushed into the fifth book.

    The final portion of the story, dealing with Toke, will primarily occur in Ireland, although a few elements will play out in Scandinavia. I’m essentially finished with my Ireland research, as I conducted it–including a trip this past summer to numerous locations in Ireland–at the same time I conducted the final research for The Beast of Dublin. But I still have considerable research to do for the Sigrid part of the story, which will take place in what is now Russia. So there’s where my uncertainty lies.

  7. After reading Cornwells “Saxon Stories”, i was searching for some new stuff. I read the extract in Germany any liked the story but not the way it was written. So I try to read the books in English (my first book in English) and after a few pages it was no difference than reading German. I enjoyed this books very much and look forward to see what’s coming with Halfdan and the others.

    I read of another book of you “beast of Dublin” is it still in work? Hope so.

    Greetings from Germany (Frankfurt) and thanks for your books!

    • Thank you, Sascha. So you did not like the German translation of Viking Warrior? I’m sorry if that’s the case, but I’m glad you enjoyed the English language versions. And yes, I’m currently working on finishing The Beast of Dublin, and hope to publish it later this year.

  8. I am grateful for reading your Strongbow saga books and pleased that you respect historical accuracy, even if Nordic sagas regarding earlier centuries are not accurate about Ragnar historical time, it is normally about that time to mark names and facts by skalds songs and rarely by writing runes…
    I found very interesting your relates about vikings habits, perception of life and death and sense of truth or law, especially common law(ex. nidingswark sense, feasts held on many occasions especially for honor each other). Why? Because earlier writings(like “History” by Herodot, “Roman History” by Dio Cassius, “Getica” by Iordanes) tell about Thracians(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thracians)-especially Getae tribes, about their habits and their spreads along the modern Europe(especially north people like Danes, Norse, est.). The name of Thracian came form early Greek term thrachium(north) – tribes of barbarians from north! They fight with spears and swords alongside shields, are very skilled with bows, early ritual of death was incineration(and pastoral tribes likes to bury along weapons, horses and most valuable things), they were fearless and looks at death with joy and dignity, the only opportunity to rise on their god Zamolxe with pride like warriors, the messengers send on Zamolxe are thrown into spears(sudden death means god accept to be favorable), and they have altars of sacrifice(mostly animals) to honor the gods and dead people…
    In short terms – you know something about that?

    • Some of the old Nordic sagas are more historical than others. The ones that mention Ragnar do seem to be much more tales of legend and fantasy than sagas such as Egil’s Saga and Njal’s Saga, which are heavily based in history.

      I’ve heard of the Thracians from studies many years ago–in college, I majored in ancient and medieval history–but my knowledge of them is very slight, and I don’t believe they have any connection to the Nordic peoples, who were Germanic in origin.

      • […]Proto-Germanic then evolved from the Indo-European spoken in the Urheimat region.[clarification needed] The succession of archaeological horizons suggests that before their language differentiated into the individual Germanic branches the Proto-Germanic speakers lived in southern Scandinavia and along the coast from the Netherlands in the west to the Vistula in the east around 750 BC.[…] (Lehmann, W. P. (1961). “A Definition of Proto-Germanic: A Study in the Chronological Delimitation of Languages)
        Among most known historians resides the unanimous accepted facts that pre-Thracians spoke also an Indo-European language and the Sumer was the cradle of all ancient civilisations; meantime, in 1961 in Tartaria are found 3 written tablets which are considered the earliest known form of writing in the world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tărtăria_tablets).
        Anyway, that is a long discussion who reclaim several feasts rich in ale and wine… i am sure that in time we will discover the same fascinating ancient roots!
        Keep going with your very well made books, i am sure that people all over the world wants to taste a large piece of vikings history.
        “We are the Norns, three women,
        who spin
        a thread each time someone is born.
        Weird, Verdandi and Skuld.
        We wander the world, spinning and spinning,
        where luck is born and where luck runs out,
        it’s fate that we’re making, the losing and winning,
        the sorrow and joy, the sickness and health,
        in labour, in love, in poverty and wealth.
        At the birth of your child we spin out its span,
        we’re Weird, Verdandi and Skuld.
        And our prophecies always, always, always comes true.”