Dragon Heart #01 - Viking Slave

I enjoyed my most recent reading experience of author Griff Hosker, East Indiaman, and wanted to try another of his books. Out of the many series titles, I decided to cool down with a frosty Viking saga. My pick was Viking Slave, the debut novel in the Dragon Heart series. The book was published in 2013 and kicked off the series that would include 22 additional installments. 

Viking Slave begins in 790 AD and introduces a young boy nicknamed Crow. He's shunned by his village and often bullied due to being the only dark-haired kid. He's not a true Saxon like his father. In the opening pages of the first chapter the Vikings (just called men from the north) invade the village and collar men, women, and children onto boats. 

In the Viking village, a leader named Butar takes Crow's wife as his slave woman and agrees to make Crow a slave of his household (slaves are called jarls). Harald renames the boy Gareth and places a responsibility on the young man to care for his elderly father, a once proud warrior named Ragnar. Gareth finds his new home and family a blessing compared to the harsh treatment he received from his former Saxon village. Because of his enthusiasm and work ethic, Butar takes a liking to the kid and quickly begins to think of him as his own son. 

In a traditional coming-of-age tale, Ragnar, now having only one arm, begins teaching Gareth life skills and sword-fighting. Gareth naturally takes to the sword and is able to prove himself at a young age by fighting off a pack of wolves. Eventually, Gareth rises in the ranks to become a viking warrior leading his own band of warriors on slave raids.

Without digging into the weeds of this 200-page book, the overall concept is Gareth proving himself in battle and separating from the original Viking village to carve his own path. His transition from young bullied kid to warrior, leader, husband, and father is such a pleasure to read. There are numerous genre tropes here – the power of the sword, rebellion, usurping leaders, revenge, loss, etc. - but that is really the basis of the historical adventure genre. It is to be expected. How the author navigates within the genre and story is key and I believe Hosker commands that ability and measures up quite nicely.

With my experience of East Indiaman and now Viking Slave, I am a Griff Hosker fan. Whether he proves to be a one-trick pony or is able to move beyond the coming-of-age narrative remains to be seen. But, based on small trial size Hosker can write his ass off and deliver a superb tale that filters out all of the fluff and padding. 200 pages is the perfect size and that is a real surprise considering bulky marketplace parameters on historical fiction. Viking Slave is a high recommendation. Buy a copy HERE.