Viking Invasion

by Stuart Hill

I Was There... Viking Invasion is an exciting account of a young boy helping to defend his village against fearsome Viking invaders. Brilliantly reimagined, readers aged 7+ will love this vivid first-hand account of a child's experience of the Vikings.

128 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

Stuart Hill was born in Leicester, in the East Midlands of England, where he still lives today. His family heritage includes English, Irish, Romany and Jewish blood. As a student his grades were average at best, but he was fortunate to have a teacher who inspired in him a lifelong love of reading. Since leaving school, he has worked as a teacher and an archaeologist, and now balances life as both a bookseller and a writer.

The Cry of the Icemark is his first novel. When he was a teenager, Stuart lost "the real Thirrin," his red-haired sister Kathleen, to leukemia. The story of the brave young warrior-queen who faces impossible dangers is dedicated to her. The Cry of the Icemark won the Ottakars Prize for the best new children’s novel - Ottakars is one of the UK's leading book chains. Foreign rights have been sold to over 14 countries, and Fox have bought the movie rights.

Blade of Fire, the second in the Icemark Chronicles series was published in the UK in September 2006 and in the USA in February 2007.

Stuart says that his influences include H. Rider Haggard, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Margaret Abbey—his former grade school teacher who is also a writer of historical novels.

Reviews

[Eva · Rating 3 out of 5]

It takes until page 95 for the Invasion to even arrive, the book has 120 pages. What happened in the first 95 pages? A lot of repetitive stuff....

[Tobias · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it's a good book for young people who don't know much about the viking invasion!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book in mind to use for my Year 3 class (7-8 year olds), as part of our Saxon and Viking topic.

I was pleased to find this book, as there are not many children stories about Saxon life (there are plenty of Viking ones), and it was good to read about an invasion from the Saxon point of view.

It is a good story, that gives good factual information about life in Saxon times and how it all started to change once the Vikings decided to invade. I liked the main character of Aldwyn, he was believable in his worries and thoughts through the story. I also like Matty and her friendship with Aldwyn.

The story slowly builds up from hearing rumours of the invasion and finishes with the Vikings attacking. Killing does happen, but it is not glorified or bloody so it is suitable for younger children to read and understand what happened.

I will be using this as part of my teaching and I am sure my children will enjoy this book!