Though Loki’s Deceit is the second in the Charlemagne Cross Series series, I was able to get the gist of things without any problems having done a good bit of reading in Norse myths and historical fiction. The book relates European history just after the time of Charlemagne. Sven the Boar seeks revenge against those who turned his son over to the French. His son is killed, and Sven takes charge of his grandson, Charles, who carries a cross that once belonged to Charlemagne himself. Sven and Charles go back to Ribe and try to fit in there. But betrayal after betrayal remains part of their existence, partly because Charles is a Christian living among those who follow the ancient Norse gods. This is something of a young adult novel, particularly with Charles as one of the protagonists. It didn’t give any new insights into that time of history and the prose lacked the gravitas I’d expect in a retelling of ancient history; i.e. it doesn’t rise to the level of Bernard Cornwell’s The Last Kingdom series. The book also ends on a whopper of a cliff hanger. That alone is enough to keep me from reading either the preceding book, Odious Betrayal or the third in the series (which is clearly planned).
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Loki’s Deceit (Boldwood Books, September 22, 2023) is available in electronic and audio forms only at:
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