Vikings!: Scandinavians Who Shaped the World

Rivals #6

by Scott McCormick, Ray Porter (narrator), Gabriel Vaughan (narrator)

Grab your battle axe, hop into a longship, and set sail on an adventure 300 years in the making! Vikings! Scandinavians Who Shaped the World tells the hilarious-but-true adventures of history's most amazing raiders, leaders, and explorers.

Ride along with Rollo, the raider who spent decades laying waste to France and whose descendants eventually would rule over much of Europe. Rule with Olga of Kyiv, the most lethal saint in history. Learn the incredible stories behind Erik the Red’s and Leif Erikson’s adventures in the New World. And hold on tight for the unbelievable adventures of Harald Hardrada, whose exploits are like a Viking’s Greatest Hits.

Vikings! has it all: death trees, murder birds, defensive chickens, prophesy horses, drunken Drevlians, blinded emperors, raiding, fighting, exploring, elaborate revenge plots, and battles galore. So gather your friends and head out into the wild blue yonder. Vikings! Scandinavians Who Shaped the World will have you going berserk with laughter.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Audiobook, Historical, Humor, Comedy, Middle Grade

4 pages, Audible Audio

Published June 22, 2023

About the author

Scott McCormick is the author of more Scott McCormick bios than any other Scott McCormick who ever Scott McCormicked. Look it up if you don’t believe me. He also writes the Mr. Pants graphic novels and the hilarious Audible Originals The Dragon Squisher, Spies! Sneak, Snoops, and Saboteurs Who Shaped the World, Mutually Assured Detention, and the number-one bestseller Rivals! Frenemies Who Changed the World. But who are we kidding? The real money is in writing bios. You take that advice to the bank. Tell ‘em Scott McCormick sent you. And if they ask you which Scott McCormick, you tell ‘em the Scott-McCormick-bio-writing Scott McCormick of the North Carolina Scott McCormicks. They’ll know who you mean.

Reviews

[Snjez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook. In only three hours it gives a lot of information about the history of the Vikings in a very funny, yet informative way. It's very entertaining and fast paced. The humor does get a bit over the top here and there, but that's probably because this was meant for younger audiences. Though it works perfectly for adults, too.

I also appreciate the author's recommendations for further reading. I'll definitely check them out.

Great production and excellent narration by the whole cast. The audiobook is available for listening for free with the Audible subscription.

[Melindam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A crazy, funny and most disrespectful historical rendition of the "Vikings" (with musical pieces mostly in the style of country songs and Rodgers-Hammerstein musicals- maybe a nod to the fact that Vikings were supposedly the first from Europe to have set foot on the continent of North America? :), perfect for a younger audience (maybe from 9-10 onwards?) with full cast narration including the author.

McCormick presents the facts clearly and ubderstandably, I have only one bone to pick with him. After very precisely telling us the Varangians (Vikings from the territory of present Sweden) and their descendants ruled the territory of present-day Belarus, Russia and Ukraine bw the 9th-14th centuries which has been referred to as Kyivan Rus from the 19th century on, in a different chapter he calls it "Russia" when Russia as such simply did not exist at that time. At. All.
Apparently he used a "fact-checker" so I wonder if this was simple sloppiness or an attempt at "keeping this simple for kids". Either way, this is not OK.

This has been my first meeting with a Scott McCormick audible production and I think I am going to check out some more.

Currently this is included for free in the audible.com Plus catalogue.

[Wee Lassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome 😎

[Cori · Rating 2 out of 5]

The vikings are my people. I hail from the land of the vikings. My father looks like a viking. I basically look like a viking. The vikings...are my people. Coupling this with the fact that I was a big fan of everything Scott McCormick put out in his Rivals series and the Pirates! production, I thought this would be absolutely riveting. While I don't regret reading it, the flow is much more history-book-meets-sound-effects than its predecessors. It's okay. A few interesting nuggets to glean all in all. But not something I'm likely to listen to again. Also, my people had some issues, lemme tell you.

Original review published 2/28/24.

I'd rate this a PG.

[Hunter Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

History comes to life in this quick (too short in my opinion) well produced audible book. It is perfect for kids or adults. I knew a lot of this by my nephew was enthralled and absolutely loved it. We went to the library got some books and looked up some more information on vikings! Voice actors do a great job I highly recommend this lesson the insane influence of the small viking community on the world.

[Jessica - How Jessica Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super fun - all 4 of us enjoyed this audiobook, AND learned a lot about Vikings! Plus we keep singing the little ditties to each other haha.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vikings! is an entertaining look at the Vikings and their longships for kids of all ages. Through silly songs, jeers, cheers and irreverent comments, Scott McCormick tells the story of the Viking voyages from about 800 to 1100CE. He follows their travels west to the cold lands of Iceland, Greenland and North America, East and South to Russia, Ukraine and the Middle East and to Europe where they settled in Normandy and later conquered England in 1066. Underneath all the fun nonsense, is real history.

Listening to Vikings! definitely shortened a long car trip. It was delightfully narrated by Ray Porter and a cast of many.

[Silmaril Chick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do love Vikings ❤️

[CraftyChara · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

[Aubrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so interesting and put some larger context to the history I already knew. Very fun production as well.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't speak to the validity of historical facts, but definitely very entertaining and engaging. The book pushes you to learn more about Vikings and gives some good options for books at the end.

[Mike King · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical audiobooks sound like a boring time but not this one! “Vikings!” Was such a fun experience as stories were told by humorous voice actors including music and sound effects. A lot of ground is covered though it is not an in-depth work. Part of the listen was silly but I didn’t mind. The silliness was reminiscent to prime Veggietales and how they retold biblical stories. If you want a fun and informative history on Vikings, this is the one!

[Shelby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was produced for children and that was obvious. However, it was quite enjoyable for an adult as well. The production added a lot of asides with jokes, songs, and random interjections that were generally aimed at children, but also featured some high-level jokes that may have gone over most children's heads but were good for this adult's entertainment. To be honest, I was hoping for a light and amusing touch of history, and this delivered, but I did almost quit within the first 5 minutes, where the intro was a lot of children-focused content. However, I stuck with it and enjoyed it. The cast did fantastic, and the writing was good. I feel like I learned a lot, and I appreciated how much the author prefaced things with how biased or limited sources are. I enjoyed this enough that I anticipate going back one day and listening to it again.

[Markus Daghall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had no idea what this book series was about. I just saw "Vikings" and that it was read by Ray Porter, and thought "Sold!". I guess I should have checked it out first. But I was pleasantly surprised!

If you don't like Mel Brooks's movies, you're not going to like this book. It's jam packed with Viking history (of course), but interspersed in the middle of the facts are goofy cut-aways/interjections from an ensemble cast. I enjoyed the silliness. I even laughed out loud on several occasions.

The humor is mostly kid-friendly, but a few of the jokes are more mature in nature, but will probably just go over the head of most kids.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like the style of this sort of book! It's quite entertaining, combining storytelling with a little bit of theatricality. There isn't a narrator, there is a "cast," and the writing is quite funny.

It doesn't go in-depth, given that this is an introduction to a few famous figures designed for young readers, but it gives a nice overview and suits the intended audience, while also being fun for an adult reader.

Looking forward to trying more from this series!

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audible Review

Overall 4 out of 5 stars
Performance 5 out of 5 stars
Story 4 out of 5 stars

Where's Bluetooth?!?
The night before I listened to this, Expedition Unknown did an episode on Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson and I was so hoping he'd make an appearance in this, alas it was not meant to be.
It was still entertaining and educational, as all the audios form Scott McCormick are!

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the latest installment of Scott McCormik’s Audible Original Rivals series.

He took the super old history of the ViKings and broke it down in a way that kids and teens (and adults like me) can more easily remember some of what happened, and he ends with recommended books if anyone wants to take a deep dive into the historical accounts.

Expect lots of facts, some silliness, some humor, and even some singing and questionable poetry.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only listened to this audiobook as my audible trial is about to expire and I wanted one last short book that I wasn’t too fussed if I finished in time. I know it tries to appeal to kids but I find the sound effects/songs etc really distracting. Even so, I learnt some interesting things about some interesting vikings.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The other books in this series about spies, rivals 1 and 2, and pirates are also educational and entertaining.
The humor is so much fun. These stories are audio only I think. Highly recommend for kids and adults!

[James B · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm gutted to be done with this series, but there's always hope my kids will listen to them someday. I had no idea about a lot of viking history. I also think I learned more about British history than I did in 5 years of secondary school.

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are always so funny

Really enjoyed this. Hope there will be another. I can listen to Scott McCormick's version of history regularly and I'm happy to share these with other's I know. This series would make an excellent TV series for kids . . .

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny and informative, what more could one want? At times the silliness is a little too over the top for me, but mostly I was thoroughly entertained.

[Allan van der Heiden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. Even more so that it’s narrated by Ray Porter. He has just the right amount of wittiness to the story. The light hearted antics and jokes make it even more enjoyable to listen to.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very entertaining history of key Viking explorers.
A good starting point for those unfamiliar with Scandinavian history.

[Nicole Geub · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are very fun. When I saw this one was available I jumped on it. Lots of good information in this one. I had no idea the viking empire was so large.

[Joanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

The family always enjoys these goofy telling of history. (Joey gives it a 5/5).

[Sundria (Sundi) McCormick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very fun read but also, very informative. I learned a lot!

[Oscar Lilley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love this series. I am a glutton for good pop history. This is a great way to learn history and be entertained along the way.

[Jennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded to 4

Love these books! Fast history delivered in a fun way! Can't wait for the next one

[Melissa Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quick listen but these are always entertaining while also dropping some knowledge.