The Golden Wolf by Linnea Hartsuyker

The Golden Wolf: A Novel by Linnea Hartsuyker --- 413 pages including maps, a List of Characters and Places, Author's Note and Sources.  The third and final volume in The Golden Wolf Saga.

Adapted from Google Books:

The fates of Ragnvald and his sister Svanhild unfold to their stunning conclusion in the final volume of The Golden Wolf Saga, a trilogy that conjures the world of ninth century Norway with gripping detail, thrilling action, and vivid historical elements drawn from Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla, the Saga of the Kings of Norway and other Norse and early medieval sources.

Ragnvald has held fast to his vision of King Harald as a golden wolf who will bring peace to Norway — even though he knows that Harald’s success means his own doom. He is grateful to have his beloved sister, the fierce and independent Svanhild, once more at his side to help keep Norway secure.

While Svanhild is happy to help her brother, she is restless and lonely. When an old enemy of Ragnvald’s kidnaps her daughter Freydis, Svanhild goes to Iceland to rescue the daughter she has neglected. She finds a strange land that offers her and her daughter a new life far different from what they knew in Norway, with unexpected challenges and choices.

Ragnvald, too, must contend with change. His sons—the gifted Einar, the princely Ivar, and the adventurous Rolli—are no longer children. Harald’s heirs have also grown up. Stepping back from his duties to Harald, Ragnvald watches these young men pursue their own ambitions. But Norway may no longer be large enough for so many would-be kings.

Now in their twilight years rebellious sons pit Ragnvald and Harald against enemies old and new, and sow doubt and mistrust between Harald and Ragnvald. In Iceland, Svanhild, too, wrestles with her own divided loyalties, risking the dissolution of her family even as she tries to save them.

Yet as old heroes fall, new heroes arise. For years, Ragnvald and Svanhild have pursued the destinies bestowed by their ancient gods. Though the journey has cost them much, their sacrifices and dreams will be honored by the generations that follow, as they carry on the family’s legacy.


Combining history and legend, The Golden Wolf provides a satisfying conclusion to the saga that began with The Half-Drowned King and The Sea Queen.

Click HERE to read the review from Publishers Weekly.

Clock HERE to read the review from Kirkus Reviews.

Click HERE to read the review from the Historical Novel Society.

The Sea Queen by Linnea Hartsuyker

The Sea Queen: A Novel by Linnea Hartsuyker --- 445 pages including maps, Places and Characters, Author's Note, Bibliography, and Acknowledgments.

This is the second volume in Hartsuyker's proposed trilogy retelling the story of Harald Fairhair, the ninth century king who set out to unite all of Norway under his rule. What we know of Harald and his efforts have come down through the oral tradition as finally codified by the thirteenth century Icelandic skald Snorri Sturluson in his epic Hiemskringla or Saga of the Kings of Norway. Other original source materials are the works of the twelfth century Danish historian, Saxo Grammaticus, and the thirteenth century Historia Norwegiae, by an anonymous Scandinavian monk.

The Sea Queen begins six years after the conclusion of The Half-Drowned King, Ragnvald Eysteinsson is now lord of his family's hereditary district of Sogn, and the battle strategist and close ally of Harald. But constantly fighting battles for King Harald keeps him away from his home, his wife and his children, and prevents him from devoting his full attention to the prosperity and security of his own people.  And his growing influence with Harald means others resent him and plot against him.

Meanwhile Ragnvald’s sister Svanhild has found freedom and adventure she craves at the side of the sea rover Solvi Hunthiofsson. But that freedom comes at a cost. Solvi seeks to foment rebellion against Harald, who drove Solvi out of his own district of Tajford and outlawed him. Solvi and Svanhild's son, Eyestein, is a quiet child who loves the land and pines for a home where he can put down roots and grow strong. When Solvi will not give up his grudge, tragedy results.

As King Harald's enemies plot one last rebellion against him, Ragnvald sets a plan in motion to defeat them, and secure his place with Harald once and for all. Svanhild finds herself with no choices that will leave her truly free. What happens next will seal their fates and the fates of all they love..

The third and final volume of the trilogy, The Golden Wolf, is due out in summer 2019.

Click HERE to read the review from Publishers Weekly.

Click HERE to read the review from Kirkus.

Click HERE to read the review from the New York Journal of Books.

Click HERE to read the review from The Historical Novel Society web site.

Click HERE to read the review from the blog Reading the Past.

Click HERE to view the video trailer for The Sean Queen from Youtube.

The Half-Drowned King by Linnea Hartsuyker

The Half-Drowned King: A Novel by Linnea Hartsuyker ---431 pages including a list of characters and place names; an author's note, and a short bibliography.

Just consider how much of literature dwells upon betrayal. How often dramatic conflict depends upon a charismatic villain that the virtuous hero (or heroine) both loves and hates. Without betrayal, loyalty and honor would never be divided.

It’s no coincidence, then, that many great tales begin with a betrayal. Linnea Hartsuyker'sThe Half-Drowned King, a fictional retelling of the saga of Norway’s first king, Harald Fairhair, begins her story with the attempted murder of her protagonist, Ragnvald and ends it with Ragnvald's sister, Svanhild, married to the man who tried to kill her brother.

Taking her inspiration from the Heimskringla of the Icelandic skald, Snorri Sturluson, The Half-Drowned King is based on the story of Ragnvald of Maer, the right hand man of King Harald Fairhair, first king of all Norway, and his sister, Svanhild. Ninth century Norway had no written language other than the runes used on marker stones. Snorri Sturluson wrote his "histories" some four centuries later, with only oral traditions as sources.

This is the first in a projected trilogy about that time when Norway was first united under one ruler. The second book in the trilogy, The Sea Queen, is scheduled for publication later this year.

Click HERE to read the review from Publishers Weekly.

Click HERE to read the review from Kirkus Reviews.

Click HERE to read a review from tor.com.