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The Whale Road Chronicles #8
The Blazing Sea
The thrilling new Whale Road Chronicles Viking adventure. Einar and the Wolf Coats venture south, but danger and bloodshed is never far away.
Einar and the Wolf Coats have angered most of the kings of Northern Europe. With England no refuge, their only solution is to set sail across the Whale Road.
A chance encounter with a slave trader leads them to Muslim Spain, but what starts as a joyous homecoming for one of the crew ends in the Caliph's infamous dungeons.
The Mediterranean proves a perilous sea. Byzantine warships roam, armed with liquid fire that can torch man and ship alike. Viking mercenaries and pirate lords alike spill blood for gold or glory.
With a chance to retake his stolen kingdom of Orkney, Einar must first save an innocent life... and risk his own and those of his crew once more.
Reviews for Tim Hodkinson
'Epic, violent storytelling and great fun to read' The Times
'A fascinating and undeniably epic tale... Highly recommended!' Theodore Brun
'A relentless tale that will leave you breathless for more' Richard Cullen
'A superb author of dark age fiction' Simon Turney
Einar and the Wolf Coats have angered most of the kings of Northern Europe. With England no refuge, their only solution is to set sail across the Whale Road.
A chance encounter with a slave trader leads them to Muslim Spain, but what starts as a joyous homecoming for one of the crew ends in the Caliph's infamous dungeons.
The Mediterranean proves a perilous sea. Byzantine warships roam, armed with liquid fire that can torch man and ship alike. Viking mercenaries and pirate lords alike spill blood for gold or glory.
With a chance to retake his stolen kingdom of Orkney, Einar must first save an innocent life... and risk his own and those of his crew once more.
Reviews for Tim Hodkinson
'Epic, violent storytelling and great fun to read' The Times
'A fascinating and undeniably epic tale... Highly recommended!' Theodore Brun
'A relentless tale that will leave you breathless for more' Richard Cullen
'A superb author of dark age fiction' Simon Turney
- GenresHistorical Fiction
311 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 11, 2025
40 people are currently reading
26 people want to read
About the author
Tim Hodkinson
20 books186 followersI love reading and writing historical fiction.
My interest in ancient times, and particularly the medieval period, goes back to my childhood when my parents took us kids around the castles and megaliths of Ireland. I remember riding my bike as a boy to the see the various remnants of the Normans within reach of my home town of Lisburn. What would appear to most as uninspiring hillocks to me became in my imagination the site of heroic battles and I suppose that's where inspiration for some of my stories came from.
My interest only deepened with studying Old Norse, Medieval English and Celtic civilization at university and these topics have informed my first novels, along with a passion to tell stories about areas of Irish history that are sometimes overlooked and forgotten.
"Lions of the Grail" is set in Medieval Ireland, at the time the Scots invaded. Its a tale of knights and tournaments set against a war that time has forgotten. "The Waste Land" carries on the tale where Lions left off, while the novella, "The Savage Forest" takes the hero of this series, Richard Savage back to a time when he was still a young idealistic member of the Order of Knights Templar.
"The Spear of Crom" goes back to the time of the druids and is the story of a celtic cavalry officer in the Roman Army and his hunt for a mystical spear.
"The Undead" takes place in Victorian Belfast and moves into Gothic Horror, taking inspiration from Chapter 20 of Mary Shelley's classic novel "Frankenstein", which takes place in North Ireland.
Apart form that I have a couple of short stories set in the world of the Anglo-Saxons - "All the Kings Thanes" is my retelling of a true story treachery and the paranoia of power, while "Beowulf's Return" is set in the time of myth & legend.
My novels are available in print at all good online retailers and also (as well as the short stories) in Kindle format from Amazon.
I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing them.
My interest in ancient times, and particularly the medieval period, goes back to my childhood when my parents took us kids around the castles and megaliths of Ireland. I remember riding my bike as a boy to the see the various remnants of the Normans within reach of my home town of Lisburn. What would appear to most as uninspiring hillocks to me became in my imagination the site of heroic battles and I suppose that's where inspiration for some of my stories came from.
My interest only deepened with studying Old Norse, Medieval English and Celtic civilization at university and these topics have informed my first novels, along with a passion to tell stories about areas of Irish history that are sometimes overlooked and forgotten.
"Lions of the Grail" is set in Medieval Ireland, at the time the Scots invaded. Its a tale of knights and tournaments set against a war that time has forgotten. "The Waste Land" carries on the tale where Lions left off, while the novella, "The Savage Forest" takes the hero of this series, Richard Savage back to a time when he was still a young idealistic member of the Order of Knights Templar.
"The Spear of Crom" goes back to the time of the druids and is the story of a celtic cavalry officer in the Roman Army and his hunt for a mystical spear.
"The Undead" takes place in Victorian Belfast and moves into Gothic Horror, taking inspiration from Chapter 20 of Mary Shelley's classic novel "Frankenstein", which takes place in North Ireland.
Apart form that I have a couple of short stories set in the world of the Anglo-Saxons - "All the Kings Thanes" is my retelling of a true story treachery and the paranoia of power, while "Beowulf's Return" is set in the time of myth & legend.
My novels are available in print at all good online retailers and also (as well as the short stories) in Kindle format from Amazon.
I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing them.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 8, 2025
The Blazing Sea is the eighth book in the Whale Road Chronicles featuring the adventures of Icelander Einar Unnsson and the fearsome band of warriors known as the Wolf Coats. (In case you’re wondering, the ‘whale-road’ is a very old poetic term for the sea.) I first discovered this series when I read book four, The Serpent King, and I regret that since then I’ve only managed to fit in one further book in the series, Eye of the Raven. Some day I hope I’ll find the time to go back to the beginning.
As the book opens, Einar and the Wolf Coats are far from their homeland, in the unfamiliar territory of the Mediterranean hoping to turn a ship full of slaves into gold. For Einar, it would provide the means to return home with enough troops to reclaim his kingdom. For the others, well, there’d be beer and women for a start. Unfortunately, things don’t go as planned after a particularly dangerous run-in with a vessel equipped with the devastating incendiary weapon, ‘Greek fire’. Suddenly the slaves are gone and with it the fortune they’d hoped for. Now a gruesome fate awaits them unless they agree to take on a dangerous mission on behalf of the Byzantine Empire.
To achieve their objective they must penetrate a pirate stronghold on the island of Frumentaria (the Spanish island of Formentera). The pirate camp is protected by strong defences, both natural and man-made. What’s more they have managed to find the means of creating Greek fire, supposedly a closely guarded secret of the Byzantine Empire. With that guarding the harbour, no ship can hope to enter. It’s going to take courage and cunning to infiltrate the camp from the landward side. But as Einar knows sometimes a small band of men, even heavily outnumbered, can achieve what an army cannot.
As before, the action comes thick and fast. The pace really accelerates towards the end of the book as Einar and the Wolf Coats navigate one tricky situation after another with a combination of guile, daring, epic fighting ability and, not least, luck. All the Wolf Coats possess different skills whether that’s stealth, acute hearing or eyesight, expert seamanship or fearsome ability with an axe. One of my favourite characters is Affreca, the sole female member of the Wolf Coats, who is an incomparable archer and the secret (or perhaps not so secret by now) object of Einar’s affections.
As always the author’s knowledge of the period really comes through in the authentic detail of everything from weaponry to social and religious customs. There are particularly vivid descriptions of the city of Constantinople, which is a world away in size and sophistication from anything Einar and the Wolf Coats have ever seen.
Fans of the series will be pleased to learn The Blazing Sea contains all the full-on action of previous books. Nevertheless, by the end of the story, things will have changed forever for the Wolf Coats. Maybe a new quest awaits . . .
As the book opens, Einar and the Wolf Coats are far from their homeland, in the unfamiliar territory of the Mediterranean hoping to turn a ship full of slaves into gold. For Einar, it would provide the means to return home with enough troops to reclaim his kingdom. For the others, well, there’d be beer and women for a start. Unfortunately, things don’t go as planned after a particularly dangerous run-in with a vessel equipped with the devastating incendiary weapon, ‘Greek fire’. Suddenly the slaves are gone and with it the fortune they’d hoped for. Now a gruesome fate awaits them unless they agree to take on a dangerous mission on behalf of the Byzantine Empire.
To achieve their objective they must penetrate a pirate stronghold on the island of Frumentaria (the Spanish island of Formentera). The pirate camp is protected by strong defences, both natural and man-made. What’s more they have managed to find the means of creating Greek fire, supposedly a closely guarded secret of the Byzantine Empire. With that guarding the harbour, no ship can hope to enter. It’s going to take courage and cunning to infiltrate the camp from the landward side. But as Einar knows sometimes a small band of men, even heavily outnumbered, can achieve what an army cannot.
As before, the action comes thick and fast. The pace really accelerates towards the end of the book as Einar and the Wolf Coats navigate one tricky situation after another with a combination of guile, daring, epic fighting ability and, not least, luck. All the Wolf Coats possess different skills whether that’s stealth, acute hearing or eyesight, expert seamanship or fearsome ability with an axe. One of my favourite characters is Affreca, the sole female member of the Wolf Coats, who is an incomparable archer and the secret (or perhaps not so secret by now) object of Einar’s affections.
As always the author’s knowledge of the period really comes through in the authentic detail of everything from weaponry to social and religious customs. There are particularly vivid descriptions of the city of Constantinople, which is a world away in size and sophistication from anything Einar and the Wolf Coats have ever seen.
Fans of the series will be pleased to learn The Blazing Sea contains all the full-on action of previous books. Nevertheless, by the end of the story, things will have changed forever for the Wolf Coats. Maybe a new quest awaits . . .
September 7, 2025
This is the eighth book in this superb series, Einar and the gang are back in yet another exciting instalment.
Well written with superb characters throughout and
more than enough action for anyone.
This series is right up there with the best of this genre, I cannot praise it highly enough, and look forward with bated breath to more please SOON.
Completely and utterly recommended.
My thanks to the Author publisher's and NetGalley for providing me with a Kindle version of this book to read and honestly review.
Well written with superb characters throughout and
more than enough action for anyone.
This series is right up there with the best of this genre, I cannot praise it highly enough, and look forward with bated breath to more please SOON.
Completely and utterly recommended.
My thanks to the Author publisher's and NetGalley for providing me with a Kindle version of this book to read and honestly review.
October 3, 2025
another good Whale Road episode.
The Whale Road chronicles are good adventurous yarns and you become intrigued by the travails of this band of Wolfcoats.
The Whale Road chronicles are good adventurous yarns and you become intrigued by the travails of this band of Wolfcoats.
September 29, 2025
What a series!
The Whale Road Chronicles, is story telling at its best. The past comes to life. Incredible characters live and breath, fight and live. Fight and die. And you get to know them so well that you understand how they think, what matters to them, and what they mean to each other. The Viking way, the Wolf Warriors, Kings and commoners. Very highly recommend this series for people who enjoy well told historical fiction.
The Whale Road Chronicles, is story telling at its best. The past comes to life. Incredible characters live and breath, fight and live. Fight and die. And you get to know them so well that you understand how they think, what matters to them, and what they mean to each other. The Viking way, the Wolf Warriors, Kings and commoners. Very highly recommend this series for people who enjoy well told historical fiction.
December 6, 2025
Worthy of the greatest sagas
Incredible detail and powerful story lines. To live in this Northman world has been a privilege. The attention to historical events has been included to bring this world alive. Breathtakingly good stories and believable characters. Fantastic.
Incredible detail and powerful story lines. To live in this Northman world has been a privilege. The attention to historical events has been included to bring this world alive. Breathtakingly good stories and believable characters. Fantastic.
September 22, 2025
Brilliant book
As in the whole series this is a brilliant book the author is a brilliant writer look forward to seeing more of is books if I could I would give his books 10 stars.
As in the whole series this is a brilliant book the author is a brilliant writer look forward to seeing more of is books if I could I would give his books 10 stars.
July 16, 2025
Following adventures in 10th century Brittany, Ireland and Saxon England, Book 8 in the series finds Ulrich and his band of Ulfhednar in sun-soaked al-Andalus, and as prisoners of the Caliphate not long after their arrival. After managing to make their escape, they flee across the Mediterranean Sea, only to find themselves again prisoners ... this time at the mercy of the Byzantines and their deadly liquid (Greek) fire.
The motley band find themselves in the legendary Miklagarad (Constantinople) where Araltes (Harold), a Norwegian Imperial (or Varangian) Guard, makes them an offer they cannot refuse .... infiltrate one pesky pirate island.
Hodkinson's narrative leads Einar and the Wolf Coats on a merry adventure which sees Affreca infiltrate the harem of the pirate king to find the daughter of one of their own. Byzantine plots, pirates, capture and evasion, battles and heroics, Greek fire and gold keep the reader suitably entertained.
Another rollicking story in the legend of Einar and the Wolf Coats that will surely be recounted in the best Skaldic tradition by the fireside!
(note: I read an e-version of this book)
The motley band find themselves in the legendary Miklagarad (Constantinople) where Araltes (Harold), a Norwegian Imperial (or Varangian) Guard, makes them an offer they cannot refuse .... infiltrate one pesky pirate island.
Hodkinson's narrative leads Einar and the Wolf Coats on a merry adventure which sees Affreca infiltrate the harem of the pirate king to find the daughter of one of their own. Byzantine plots, pirates, capture and evasion, battles and heroics, Greek fire and gold keep the reader suitably entertained.
Another rollicking story in the legend of Einar and the Wolf Coats that will surely be recounted in the best Skaldic tradition by the fireside!
(note: I read an e-version of this book)
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews