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.
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.
I am wondering whether or not Halfdan (at some stage) will be avenging his father’s death? Seems to me there is a score to be settled there too 🙂
An interesting idea that had not occurred to me–although Halfdan was not fond of his father, and if the English had not mortally wounded Hrorik, Halfdan would still be a slave. 😉
i agree. Halfdan did not like his father and was glad that he died, except about the part that his mother
I stumbled upon and just love the ‘Strongbow’ series. I’ve read all three in a matter of a couple of weeks. I believe my 16 year old grandson will also like the books. When can I hope to see book four? I can hardly wait!
Love Viking lore your writings are most enjoyable!
Thanks,
Dennis
Hopefully this year–that’s my goal, anyway.
First off, I would like to say that I am a huge fan! You are always posting about your books being available for the kindle, but for those of us who chose to go with a Nook, are your books available as an ebook for the Nook?
Hello Sarah, and thanks for your question.
The short answer to your question is yes. The Strongbow Saga books have in the past been available on the Nook, and they will be again. I recently incorporated my new imprint, Northman Books, Inc., under which the new, post-HarperCollins editions of the series are being published. The longer answer: Barnes & Noble is a difficult and inefficient company for an author or small business to work with, compared to Amazon. The roadblocks B&N creates have delayed the Nook versions becoming again available, but eventually they will be.
Just curious, but in your research on Vikings did you have a chance to read Ahmad ibn-Fadlan’s letters recounting his experience with Vikings on the Volga River? I’m fascinated that in addition to the well know European voyages, the Vikings traveled throughout the river systems of Eastern Europe and followed them all the way to modern day Turkey where they traded with the Arab caliphate and the Byzantine Empire. Will the series take us in this direction or stay focused on Western Europe?
Yes, I have read Ibn-Fadlan’s accounts, and find his description of a Viking chieftain’s funeral fascinating. Book 4 will actually carry Halfdan’s story deep into Idb-Fablan territory: in fact, he will meet the Viking founder of the Kingdom of the Rus, and there will be some great dangers he faces on the rivers of Russia.
More on Ahmed ibn Fadlan and Vikings:
http://www.uib.no/jais/v003ht/03-001-025Montgom1.htm
http://www.nordicway.com/search/Vikings%20in%20the%20East.htm
http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199906/among.the.norse.tribes-the.remarkable.account.of.ibn.fadlan.htm
Thanks very much for adding those links to this discussion!
I have enjoyed reading your books and look forward to the next book. Since my father’s grandparents moved to Minnesota from Norway, I find am very interested in the way you integrate your knowledge of viking history into the story.
yes i did read the vikings series of bernard cornwell. i was looking into the sharpe one but then i forgot about them so yes i will try to read them. i did also read the lord of the rings. thank you for the good books you have been writing!! they are great!
hi judson. i absolutely love your books. in my little (actually kinda big) town i am famous among my freinds, library, and school that i read alot. i have read most sereis you could think of for a 13year old, and probably more. i was wondering if you had any suggestions about a sereies to read that is like the faintest like yours because that would mean it would be a great book. though it needs alot of action. not like the viking 1, viking 2, and viking3 series has. of all the books i like your the most by far. and so is there any update on when the book is going to come out like 3-6months? KEEP WRITING BECAUSE I LOVE ALL YOUR BOOKS (including beast of dublin)!!!!!!!!!
Hi Nolan,
Thanks for writing. Re: other books to read, you’ve probably already read it, but The Lord of the Rings is a favorite of mine. The author Bernard Cornwell writes a number of historical fictions series–my favorite is the Richard Sharpe series set during the Napoleanic Wars, but he also writes a Viking series (I don’t completely agree with his view of the Vikings and their culture, but he’s a terrific writer). And although it’s not a series, a very good stand-alone novel about the Vikings is The Long Ships, by Frans Bengtsson.
Odd that my first post here is a reply, but when I saw the recommendations I had to comment. The Long Ships is excellent and for anyone interested in Viking culture and history I would rank it as the first historical novel to read on the subject. Cornwell’s Viking Series is entertaining, and I’ve read them all and look forward to the next one, but I agree that they do not do a good job of depicting Viking culture and tend to perpetuate Viking stereotypes. It’s a good series if you want some insight into English history. The early, from a publication standpoint, Sharpe novels are excellent. Having said that there are a lot of Norse/Viking novels out there, but this series by Mr. Roberts is by far the best I have read on the subject both in terms of historical accuracy and writing style.
For the record, I am one of those older adults who stumbled on the series by accident after a cast member at the Norse Pavilion in Disney’s Epcot theme park recommended it. I downloaded the books to my kindle from Amazon and devoured them in short order. Unfortunately, that also makes me one of those fans that have been waiting with increasing impatience, but much understanding, for the 4th novel.
I was wondering maybe in the fourth book if you will get into halfdan relatives on his mother side. I was really hoping i would get to read more about her and her family before she died.
I’m afraid the fourth book won’t have anything like that. Book 4 is set in Denmark, Sweden, and Russia. However, book 5 will be partially set in Ireland, so it’s possible–not promising anything–I could work something in there.
Hi Mr Roberts,
I’m happy to read that Halfdan is going to Sweden, when it is my home land. =) the first time I read you book I was an aupair in Philladelpia year 2006, so far I LOVE your books and reread them several times, thank you so much.
Can’t wait for book 4 and 5.
greetings from cold sweden and a true Viking girl =)
Thanks, Jessica. Halfdan is on his way to Birka now (i.e., that’s where I currently am in the story). He’ll meet up with several interesting historical characters there, before heading south into Russia.
I have also been waiting to see if halfdan will get to see any of his mothers family and think that it could add something very fun to the story.
Hi Judson I absolutely cant wait to read your next book in the series, ive read the other books now probably 10 times each since I got them so many years ago. Im kinda like all the other stories on here, of not liking reading when i was younger guy and deciding to read your book, and having a huge passion for them. your books have encouraged me to continue reading and now am taking my set of your books to college with me this fall!
I just have some question/requests that I’ve always wondered about in the stories, and I would be super thrilled if you wouldn’t mind answering. some are kinda dumb sorry haha
-After Halfdan took the armour from Leonidas, what did he do with his original helmet, jerkin, and shield?
– Awesome Halfdan has a beard!!!! Keep mentioning it
-Will Halfdan be like the next leader of the Estate now (like his dad, then Harald, now him since he’s back?)
-super un-important but what will happen with all of haralds old clothing and weapons he left at the estate, does halfdan get them? he kinda needs more then one pair of clothes and stuff… again unimportant though
-I like that you added he took the arrowheads, but was wondering what else halfdan looted from Frankia, like from the church scene
-okay with ten pounds of silver, the gold armband, the silver drinking horn, all the armour he got, im sorry to ask blatantly but is he kinda a rich viking now? was he paid strictly with coins or rings/jewellery or what?
thanks again Judson! sorry for so many silly questions haha!
Hello Ryan,
Your questions aren’t silly at all. Let me answer them.
After Halfdan took the armor from Leonidas, he kept his old leather jerkin, shield, and helm. The jerkin, a lighter, less effective form of armor than a mail shirt, could still provide more protection than no armor at all, and would give Halfdan some options to choose between for armor, depending on the type of situation he might be facing. On a fast-moving scouting mission, for example, a heavy mail shirt would not be practical. Keeping both helms would be for similar reasons: the Frankish cavalry helm, particularly one belonging to a nobleman, would likely have side and back pieces attached to provide cheek and neck protection. There might be occasions when Halfdan would prefer to wear a simpler, lighter-weight helm, even though it offered less protection. And as for the shield, to keep them light enough to be practical, shields were constructed out of fairly thin wood, so they could be damaged or destroyed over time (as happened to Halfdan’s shield in the duel at the end of book 3). For that reason, it would only make sense for a warrior to have more than one shield, if possible.
Re: whether Halfdan will become the next leader of the estate, a number of other readers have also asked that. That issue actually comes up in the early chapters of book 4. I don’t want to give too much away, but I may make a post soon on this site’s homepage that gives a peek or two into that aspect of the story, so watch for the answer there.
Clever idea about Harald’s old clothing. I honestly had not thought about that at all, but now that you bring it up, I’ll incorporate that into the story.
Halfdan did loot a few items from the altar of the chapel in the Abbey of Saint Genevieve in Paris (Genevieve would NOT have approved, had she known). He’ll use them in book 4. And yes, Halfdan would be relatively well-to-do for a Viking, due to having a fairly significant amount of silver (the ransom, and his share of the Paris ransom, would both have been paid in Frankish silver coins), the few looted items, good armor and weapons, and especially the gold torque armband. Not super wealthy, but more so than, for instance, the housecarls of the estate back in Denmark.
WOW THANKS!!!! Again I cant tell you how much your books have meant to me over the years! They truly gave me a passion for reading again.
Ohhhhh. I totally get the armour differences now. I never read that Halfdan was picking either the wood shield, or leonidas’s metal shield, so wondered if he had just gotten rid of the original armour not needing it. Wow his sea-chest must have been pretty darn heavy by the time he was done in Frankia!
I kinda got the idea from some of the other readers (How they wanted more details about the clothing and blacksmithing in those times) and I was thinking that maybe Harald and his father had left him with the clothing and weapons and such! Awesome I can’t believe something I suggested might possibly go in!
Whatever happened to the other voyage that the King of the Danes was going on? Were they as successful at their quest as Ragnar was?
THANKS!!!!
King Horik’s voyage was, like the attack up the Seine River, also an actual, historical Viking attack. That army captured and burned the city of Hamburg, which the Franks had used in the past as a jumping-off point for attacking Denmark.
I first want to make clear that I rarely read. I just graduated High School here in New Jersey, and I was the typical rowdy athlete. I played lots of video games and messed around a lot. But i few years ago, I came across Viking Warrior while I was in Bar Harbor, Maine on a family vacation. I decided to read it. Once I finished, I was shocked with how enveloped i could become while reading a story. I absolutely fell in love with the series, and have read all 3 books countless times. I’m about the read the preview for chapter 4! I cannot wait for the next two books to be published.
Thanks very much for sharing that. I’m touched.
Read and re-read the first 3 awesome books. Keep up the good work and I hope you really bring it with the 4th and 5th books. Needless to say you’re really milking the suspense on the 4th, but no matter; I’m sure it’s worth the wait.
Greetings from Guyana.
I’m really not trying to milk the suspense. A lot of readers have been waiting a long time for the next book. I feel bad about that, and am trying to give them what I can, until book 4 is finished.