This is quite a simple Viking-style story. I like the swiftness of the story, and some facts of Scandinavian culture of that time. On the other hand, the amount of these interesting facts was quite low, much less educative than many other Viking books. And the story felt very unchallenging. Things just happen around the main character. Somehow he keeps getting to the right places and meeting the right people. And all these right people appear to be the best fighters around, and for some reason they want to join the main character, an inexperienced and unknown youth. That kept feeling fake.