The Sea Queen audiobook

Unna made a skeptical noise and tightened her arm in Svanhild’s “Every man will fail you eventually,” she said. “Look to your own future.” …She seemed to be carved of ice and fire, not the wood and earth that made up most people. In volume two of The Half-Drowned King trilogy, Ragnwald, (the glug-glug royal of book 1, henceforth referred to as Rags) is off engaging in battles to secure as much of Norway as possible for King Harald, and suffers a bad oopsy when he is tricked into attacking Harald’s men. Although he quickly recovers, damage is done that will inform the rest of the story. Some guy named Atli, and his armed associates, stroll into Sogn, Rags’s property, and take over. Definitely bad optics for King Harald’s right hand man to lose his own turf so easily. Of course it is tough to defend your turf when you are away so often at war. Linnea Hartsuyker - image from her siteSvanhild, to be referred to here as Svan, is an attentive student of her husband, the raider (inspired by Loki) Solvi, and has become a fine seawoman. But their son does not share their aqueous inclinations. Svan wants to have some land on which to raise him, so off to Iceland, a place many turned to as an escape from the constant warring in Scandinavia, and the taxes imposed by new rulers. Sure, it has some issues with volcanism (don’t know if the early settlers were beset by fairies yet), but it was possible for any enterprising Viking to claim a plot of land (that was not already claimed, of course) by measuring out the turf he (or she) could walk a bovine in a set period. (Run, Elsie, run!) Domestic bliss does not ensue, as Solvi would prefer to win back his ancestral land in Norway, and is insensitive to his son’s needs. Svan is faced with some pretty serious choices, however much these crazy kids are drawn to each other. By being part of Solvi’s company, Svan is put into the position of having to make war on her brother, Rags, and a very hunky guy who has the hots for her, King Harald. What’s a budding Boadicea, a vivacious Valkyrie to do?Complications are present everywhere, helped along by a polygamous society, assuring competition, overt and concealed, among the not-always-so-sisterly wives, for benefits (better lodging, food, clothing) for themselves and their children (a high place in the hierarchy of who will inherit the most from papa), not to mention concubines, and their rug rats. There is plenty of family feuding as well, among brothers mostly, for who deserves daddy’s approval (land, army, and throne). As one might imagine this leads to some bad decisions. And kings being kings, and princes being princes, feeling that they can do whatever they want without consequence, there are some feckless, cruel deeds committed, which, according to Newton’s laws of physics, entail opposite reactions.Not all the bi-horned raider sorts are the same. Some trust to fate and feelz, while other players are more strategic, able to see entire chessboards instead of only single moves. This perspective leads to using people as pawns in the larger game. Does that make them bad people? Or just smart ones? Sometimes the pawns resent being used.Faroe Islands - shot from LH’s TumblrBetween the sundry family and military battles, the back-stabbings, the plotting, and the double-dealing, you might be reminded of Game of Thrones. One difference, though, between, this and tGot, as well as a difference between this and the prior volume in the series, is the absence of magic. Sorry, no dragons, white walkers, queens giving birth to eggs, no people or other creatures returning from the dead, et al. This is not a fantasy novel, but a historical one. The series tells of the creation of Norway, using real, historical characters, with a few made-up ones included to smooth the story-telling. The first volume dipped into the vision thing, for a bit of fantasy, based nicely in the religious beliefs of the age. This time, not so much. Although it is not entirely clear whether Harald’s mother, Ronhild, a respected healer, might not be adding a dash of witchery into her herbal potions. And Harald does still seem blessed by the gods. Hartsuyker even mentions in an interview that he was so unrelentingly successful that he became too boring to use as the main character, leading her to look elsewhere for focal points. The first novel split its attention between the two siblings, Rags and Svan, with a preponderance of ink given to the Ragstime. This time (and the title should clue you in to this) more attention is paid to the ladies, although Hartsuyker maintains a pretty reasonable balance between the hims and hers. Hartsuyker is interested not only in how Norway came to be, but in the roles of men and women in the struggle for its creation.Replica of a 9th century Viking ship – image from Ancient-Origins.comShe talked about this in an interview for The Qwillery: I’m very interested in the ways that women could navigate the challenges of a pre-modern society. I wanted my women characters to be plausible for the time-period, while reflecting the fact that women are people, every bit as much as men, and would rebel, have ambitions, and struggle against their limitations. I’ve tried to represent different ways that women would deal with a violent society in which they had fewer rights than today: Hilda [Rags’s wife] goes along to get along, Ascrida [Svan and Rags’s mother] is nearly broken by what she’s endured but still tries to make choices to keep her family safe, Vigdis [Rags’s and Svan’s stepmother] uses her sexuality to further her ambitions, and Svanhild, the heroine, makes rash and idealistic choices, and then has to face the consequences. Svan is truly Svan in a million, sustaining the independent spirit she demonstrated in volume 1, absorbing knowledge like a sponge, standing up for what she believes is right, and having the courage to make extremely difficult choices. She is referred to by both Solvi and Harald as a Sea Queen, and makes good on the title.In the Genre Bending Interview, Hartsuyker talks about the ancient world as offering the same appeal as dystopian, post-apocalyptic tales, as the people had minimal tech, and kinetic conflict was primarily physical as opposed to technological. No drone strikes or programmed viruses in ancient Norway. Pimngvellir, site of the ancient Icelandic Parliament – image from Icelanmdmonitor.mbl.isGripes are few here. I hoped for more of the fantastical element, which was more overt in the first book, but more undercover here. Being an adult male, I would have liked to have seen more of the kinetic conflict from an immediate perspective, instead of having so much of it reported after the fact. There is also the eternal problem of second books in a series. One of the great joys in reading any series is getting to know the characters as they are introduced. Once we know them, that tingle is gone. The shininess of book one is maybe a shade less sparkly the second time around, but there is certainly enough going on to keep one interested, and enough new faces and situations to add extra depth and color.This guy might make a pretty good Solvi - image fr0m apple mania.coOn the other hand, I really enjoyed the palace intrigue and exploring the characters’ palette of thoughts and feelings about the challenges they faced. Rags’ continuing struggle to do right by his family and his king, could echo any 21st century man’s challenge in balancing work and family. The themes that permeate the novel, while well-grounded in this ancient time, resonate with life today. I don’t think it’s possible to write a book that doesn’t comment on social issues. Novels express the values of the writer whether we want them to or not. The characters in [this trilogy] deal with issues of their time, but even these are expressions of timeless questions: how do we balance freedom and security, what do we look for in our leaders, how far will we go for justice or vengeance? I’ve tried to show both the rewards and costs of different ways of answering those questions. Not to mention eternal themes of love and passion, which figure large here. Be sure to stay away from Wikipedia or Viking history sites if you want to keep the conclusion of it all from spoiling your enjoyment of these novels. They are based on actual history. But if you can manage that, you are in for a treat. The Sea Queen is a worthy successor to The Half-Drowned King, and an intriguing bridge to the final book in the series, The Golden Wolf, due out Summer 2019. Hop aboard. You will enjoy the ride, and take off that silly hat. Review posted – August 17, 2018Publication date – August 14, 2018=============================EXTRA STUFFLinks to the author’s personal, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, and Twitter pagesItems of interest----- The Qwillery -– Tuesday, August 1, 2017----- Fantasy Literature - Linnea Hartsuyker: Five Surprising Things I learned about Vikings-----Bookpage`-----Genre Bending - video – about 10 minutes-----The Harper Book Queen included a look at this book in her TBR Tuesdays FB live broadcast from 8/14/18 - it's the first book covered

4.5. starsVikings, Norse origin stories, swashbuckling sea epics, intrigue, betrayal, love, hate, brotherhood, suspense, surprises, death. And a dash of women's oppression/agency to make your emotions extra confused. The Sea Queen is such a large concept I don't even know how to break it down. Plot: ★★★★★Pacing: ★★ and ★★★★Sense of time and place: ★★ 1/2Character growth: ★★★★★The Sea Queen is the second book in the Half-Drowned King trilogy, which is set in a historically-grounded ancient Norway where factions of kingdoms are all vying for power—and one man is fated to unite or doom them all. Enter the most interesting and fantasy epic-esque historical fiction novel that I have ever read. This series is something special. Following multiple POVs at the heart of this multi-year epic story, it's occasionally hard to keep everyone's plot line straight. Maybe it's because Norse names are so hard to pronounce and remember. Or because so many of the character arcs are more convoluted than fantasies. Who knows. Either way, The Sea Queen takes the political maneuverings of its characters to the next level. However, be prepared for some pretty significant time jumps. With the amount of action The Sea Queen has, I was expecting all of the 400+ pages to fall within the same chunk of time. Nope. Wrong. This isn't an exact number, but the entire novel spans what feels like almost 10 years. And it jumps from year to year randomly—for example, a character finds out she's pregnant at the end of one chapter, and then the next page she's had her baby several months ago. But then, there will be three chapters in a row where the action is happening back to back. Excuse me, but what? What I liked: Ragnavald's complicated viewpoints on honor and loyalty, Solvi's deviousness, Svanhild's sense of strength—even if I wanted to shake her at times, and the lush worldbuilding. Oh, and the very last chapter of Svanhild's sea epic battle and exchange with Solvi was one of the best scenes I've read in a long time. How cruel of the author to give that to us at the very end of the novel... What I really struggled with: The random jumps in time (see above). Also, as a woman reading this in 2019, WOW was it hard to go back to this time period and watch the role of women in this novel. Svanhild's storyline broke my HEART, and I kept wanting to reach into the story and shake the woman and tell her to do something—anything—to push back on these terrible ideas of womanhood and coerced sexual situations. It's a testament to this story's epic world building and emotional range that I continued to read, as this topic is one that usually leaves me with an automatic DNF.

The Half-Drowned King viking trilogy has been compared to the Game of Thrones books and in some ways this is understandable. Both consist of a series of assembled pages of mushed wood fibers bound with heavy covers and spines. Both are rectangular in dimension and portable. And both make top-grade spider crushers if you happen to stumble across a particularly aggressive arachnid scurrying across the kitchen floor. Yet in other ways this is unfair. Game of Thrones is such an established, popular series that these comparisons can lead to disappointment, frustration, and (according to Web M.D.) even oozing boils. It reminds me of a past experience of mine, from back in high school. I was at the big Rydell dance with Cha Cha, but I could not stop comparing her to the girl I already really liked – Sandy Olsson, this sweet Australian girl I met over the summer break. Sandy was great and I was smitten with her from when I first saved her life (she had a cramp and nearly drowned). But in her own way, Cha Cha was great too. She was sultry, a great dancer, and, unbeknownst to many a leading philanthropist: tirelessly working to replenish Bluefin Tuna populations in northern Atlantic waters, purchasing school supplies for needy students unfairly cursed with red-hair (the silent gingers), and even donating a kidney to famed actor Ed Asner. Even my good pals Kenickie and Rizzo agreed that I should have valued Cha Cha on her own merits, rather then comparing her to some blonde angel who resembled the stunning Olivia Newton John. And the same should be said for the Half-Drowned King series. Leave Game of Thrones out of it.The Sea Queen is the second book here and it moves just as fast (with the same thrills, chills, and Norwegian mayhem) as the first one. Author Linnea Hartsuyker brings the characters to life in such vibrancy you can practically smell the pickled herring and hear the screams of agony as battle-axes sunder limbs and phalanges. Our hero Ragnvald is waging war for King Harald as his sister, Svanhild sails the turbulent seas with his greatest enemy, Solvi Hunthiofsson. But these situations are bound to change. As any educated reader of Hägar the Horrible knows, Vikings are a proud people and they get their noses bent out of joint easily. This means before you can shout, “Valhalla, I am coming!” there will be many betrayals, double-crosses, and unadulterated skullduggery. The plot is sharper than the tapered points atop a horned helmet and the pages run by quicker than Adrian Peterson charging towards the end zone at U.S. Bank Stadium in downtown Minneapolis. The Sea Queen is a worthy sequel to a fine series that even Odin, ruler of Asgard, would give two hearty thumbs up.

The Sea Queen is the second of Linnea Hartsuyker’s Half-Drowned King trilogy (I’ve also seen it listed as The Golden Wolf Saga). If you are reading this I’m hoping you read the first book (The Half-Drowned King). If you haven’t, there are some minor spoilers ahead regarding the first book. This book picks up 6 years after the first. The war theater has expanded. Many kings who have refused to bend the knee have fled to either Iceland, Sweden, the Faroe Islands, Denmark, as well as Ireland and Scotland. Solvi and Svanhild have a chiild. Svanhild has learned much from Solvi about how to master the sea. Ragnvald has multiple children as well with his wife Hilda... and ummmm his stepmother Vigdis. Awkward. King Harald has grown from a boy king controlled by his uncle (Guthorm) into more of his own man. Harald has pretty much the same attitude as in the first book in that he is convinced by prophecy (from his mom) that he is destined to be king of all Norway and cannot lose. Ragnvald of course has to bail him out of many not-so-well-thought-out situations. Of course Ragnvald’s judgement isn’t much better as he feels that his destiny - or Wyrd - is driven to help Harald become king. This goes back to his vision of Harald as a Golden Wolf from a near death experience (the half-drowned part) in the first book. (Also backed up by Harold’s mom - haha) This of course leads Ragnvald into some decisions that he later regrets and despite their strong friendship - his loyalty fractures a bit and he starts to doubt his Golden Wolf.Many characters from the first book are back - Hakon (and his sons), Ragnvald’s step brother Sigurd, Gerta, as well as the aforementioned Vigdis. Many of whom had much bigger and consequential parts to play. There are new characters as well - Atli who becomes a new thorn in Ragnvald’s side, King’s Eirick and Rane of Sweden. As with the first book there are several atrocities that play out, but to me anyway I think “Yeah that sounds about right for this time period”. There also seems to be a considerable amount of personal clout tied to those that keep their oaths. You can burn people alive, mutilate them, murder, rape, and so on... and that’s not nearly as big of deal as someone that is considered an “Oathbreaker”. There was a lot of adventuring and exploring into the fjords which I liked and was glad they added that detail in. I have always thought the fjords are amazing geographic features (Slartibartfast DID win an award for those!). Inspired... I even looked into possible (later) cruise offerings to perhaps see them in person someday. Given the title of the book I was kind of expecting Svanhild to go all Linda Hamilton (referencing that character’s change of personality between Terminators’ I & II). She’s still as tough and defiant as ever, but the story still seems to split pretty evenly between her and Ragnvald. I took a star off again because I found the writing to be kind of dry... lacking much humor... and quite often not digging too deeply into the personal feelings of the characters as much as I would have liked. Overall a good continuation of a fun adventure story. I’m moving on to the third in the series “The Golden Wolf”

Much of what I loved about The Half-Drowned King is repeated in this sequel, only much more enhanced. I've always loved Svanhild's character, but she has grown even more here. Her ambitions are much appreciated because if there is one good thing that comes from history, it is that women are determined not to be walked over. While Ragnvald is fighting his own battles concerning Harald, Svanhild is fighting an even bigger battle. It's no spoiler that she is a mother now, but she wants more for them. Solvi is a Viking to his core, and he and Svanhild butt heads more often than not. While Viking men are hard, Svanhild proves that women can be just as fierce. I absolutely love how much more of this Viking-era that Hartsuyker reimagined. It is filled with politics and war, which is an exhilarating combination when reading historical fiction. If you appreciate thorough research - which is evident in this Viking saga - then I highly recommend this trilogy. I can't wait for the final book!

Hartsuyker creates an incredible background of Norway and melts family drama, alliences and Viking fights in a perfect way like no-one else!When I finished the first book THE HALF DROWNED KING, I never thought that the second book can be that interesting and enjoyable, but it turned that The Sea Queen was even more thrilling and beautiful, I really love the sorting of acts the Author has written, and the details are perfect!My biggest wish is to see these books in a big major picture, it really deserves it, and some parts were even more interesting than GOT!!!.Second book is more different in many things, the Author has explored lots of topics and has menaged to sort them so good as you'll love it while reading it!If I can describe The Sea Queen in three words it would definetely be: Heart-breaking, Powerful, and Magnificent!!!THE SEA QUEEN is focused more at Svanhild which I really love her, she is a brave and strong woman which the Author has created a very lovely character!.Ragnvald is Svanhild's brother and he is a great man too, all his power id dedicated to save his grandfather's land which is super detailed in the book! Svanhild is now free from her step father and she's married with Solvi, but not everything is perfect after a tragic moment within the family which the book takes another turn and it really becomes more interesting! .And there is King Harald who wants tu control all Norway, and keeping Svanhild and Ragnvald close is better for him to win the battles he has in front of his eyes! The manipulations of the novel are so unexpected, for me it seemed an astounding thrill as every character has a mission and all of them plays a major role inside the book! I really am honoured to read Hartsuyker's books, she is the most talented person to write in this genre, you wouldn't want to miss these wonderful and epic Viking historical fictions!

What do you do if your genealogy goes all the way back to a King? You write a trilogy about the King. In this case it is the first King of Norway. In the second book of this series, Linnea uses her Brother and Sister POVs to continue the tale of King Harald's united Norway. Ragnvald and Svanhild are the characters used to retell the story . Story flows nicely around battles and political intrigues.

Ragnvald the half-drowned king is still fighting battles to keep his kingdom and fight for Harald who will be the King of all Norway. This powerful sequel to THE HALF-DROWNED KING features more tough Viking women - none more fierce than Svanhild, dubbed the Sea Queen. While most women were passed from family to family for political alliances or survival, Svanhild knew better than most men how to play to win. She was a superior sea captain and understood the politics better than most men. Linnea Hartsuyker takes the old Norse legends and breathes new life into them with these remarkable characters. Her research is first rate and she creates a very believable picture of what the Vikings were like - all the drama, politics and violence. This is the book to read if you have never missed an episode of VIKINGS or love the family drama of GAME OF THRONES. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

3.5 rounded up to 4. A good, solid story. I’m enjoying learning part of the Nordic history I’d never learned before.

As I said in my review for the prior book, this sort of thing isn't my usual style at all, but it shares a lot of qualities with the sort of sprawling epic fantasy I tend to really enjoy, so I'm ultimately so very here for it. The plot is dense but never moves too quickly; the characters are engaging, compelling, and complexly intertwined in super delightful ways. The writing is gorgeous, and the worldbuilding (if you can call it that in historical fiction??) is so intricate and lovely. I really, really enjoyed this, just as much as the first one if not more!I loved checking in with all of the characters I loved so much, and seeing how much has changed, how the relationships and connections have shifted and keep shifting. The stakes feel so much higher, as does my investment; I love how much Svanhild, especially, has grown and matured, and how much of a badass she remains in pretty much every capacity. The world feels so much bigger, here, both in scope of the characters (so many POVs!) and the story itself. I really, really enjoyed it, and am so glad this series is continuing.Biggest complaint about it, though -- even though a great deal of it is more enjoyable to me than book one! -- is the giant time skip between the books (and the smaller one mid-book!!), which is mentioned in the summary here but WITHIN THE NARRATIVE DOES NOT GET EXPLAINED AT ALL!! At least give me an aside at the start or something, Linnea, what the fuck!! It confused me SO INTENSELY at the beginning, and it took me a long time to try to gauge just how much time must have passed, and it just... threw me all off, in a series that's already so dense, with such difficulty keeping track of both plot and characters. No need to make it so much worse for no reason when it could all be cleared up SO BRIEFLY!! You shouldn't expect that readers are definitely going to see the summary and be prepared (especially since I think the inside jacket flap doesn't spell the length of the skip out like this one does??), and things in this series are already complicated enough without adding meta complications to the pot!!

Brilliant! Heartbreaking! Magnifiscent!This outdo by far the previous volume and I can but marvel at the intricate story, the depth of the characters and their ambitions crossing what they want. I feel like I know them better and Svanhild owned the show throughout the book like a true sea queen! Ragnvald seems to have become a complicated man instead of a boy and I got to say I squealed when reading about Rolli and any of Ragnvald's sons, knowing what they would become next.This was a wonderful wonderful book!

Interesting read overall. There were some areas where I felt the book dragged a bit. II set this one down several times and kept coming back to it. There was a lot of promise here.I have told myself that I am going to go back and read the first book and then read this one again. I think it would make a bit more sense, and tie some things together that I felt were not super clear in this book. Overall, a good read, and one that I think many will enjoy.

I really liked this book! I saw it sitting on a shelf at the library and just grabbed it, and I'm glad I did. I didn't realize that it's the second book in a trilogy until over halfway through, because the author does a great job of informing the reader of the backgrounds and histories of the families. Very refreshing perspective on Vikings, especially women at that time. It was a lot of fun to read, thrilling and intense with plenty of action. I would read this again.