Estrid

Sagan om Valhalla #5

by Johanne Hildebrandt, Tara Chace (Translator)

The epic Valhalla saga continues as bloody power struggles sweep across the Nordic lands and a Viking queen’s daughter must forge her own destiny.

Fearless Queen Sigrid wants her twin children to fulfill their destinies: her son, Olaf, to become heir to the kingdom of Svealand, and her gifted daughter, Estrid, to secure passage to the underworld as she is promised to Hel, the Norse goddess of death. But Olaf’s ascension to the throne depends on Sigrid’s former husband, King Erik the Victorious, who despises her and suspects the twins are not his but Sweyn Forkbeard’s, Denmark’s exiled king.

As long as the Danish throne is in question, Christian kingdoms and pagan clans battle for control. As Sigrid and her people await Erik’s return from war, a cross-worshipper is taken captive, whose strange power over Estrid sways her to question her allegiance to the death goddess. When Estrid is kidnapped, Sigrid vows to rescue her—at any cost.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Historical, Mythology, 10th Century, Audiobook

518 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2016

Reviews

['Q' aka CoCo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't been great about writing reviews lately, queen of the sloths that I am, but this was everything I had hoped for! A couple years ago, I read the first book in the series (and the first translated into English), The Unbroken Line of the Moon as my kindle first choice, and I loved it.
I was incredibly bummed when I realized the second book was two years away from having a translated release, but it was well worth the wait. We follow Sigrid again in her quest to protect her family and help them rise to power, and then there are her children--vicious Olaf and the tormented Estrid. We also watch Sweyn, Sigrid's first and only love, fight to avenge his name and take back his birthright, all with thoughts of somehow rejoining Sigrid never far from his thoughts.
It was an amazing read, and while I've learned, and was excited to hear, that there are other books, this sequel wrapped things up nicely and ended in a way that left me satisfied. If you're a fan of the Vikings series on the History Channel, I highly recommend reading these two books.

My review for the first book in the series is here: href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3..." style="float: left; padding-right: 20px">The Unbroken Line of the Moon by Johanne Hildebrandt

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


4.5 stars--I loved this book.
I will say the one downside was that it had sooooo many characters. It wasn't until about the 40% mark that I felt comfortable in knowing who everybody was and what their relationships were with each other. To be honest, I even started highlighting in the beginning because there were just so many names and with them being unusual, it was even harder for me to keep track.

That being said, I loved the story. It reminded me of the Vikings show on The History Channel. Sigrid is a strong FMC who believes she is doing Freya's will when she is sent off to marry a local king. Upon seeing her betrothed, she realizes the king is not the man in her visions, though, and she now has to decide between doing what she believes will be right for her people or following her heart (and signs from the Goddess) that all point toward a young warrior.

There is war, there is love, there is betrayal on the grandest of scales, and there is heartache. I cannot wait until book 2 is released.



View all my reviews

[Ken Fredette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read Johanne Hildebrandt's other book in English, "The Unbroken Line of the Moon", and thought that it was a good read, but this book, "Estrid", was by far the better read. It was a love story that also had murder, witches, old time gods like Thor, and warriors. You'll have to read it yourself to see what happens. It was with worth the read, it was really interesting.

[Ingrid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blev lite hattigt att läsa för glömde boken på landet men grät de sista 50 sidorna för den är så bra.

[Krista · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the sequel to The Unbroken Line of the Moon which was a really good book. Estrid was a complete let down after such a strong start to the series. This was more like reading a porn novel. There was plenty of action with both sex and battles but the story moved at a snails pace. I really would not recommend this book to anyone.

[Audrey Grant · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was a no for me on several levels.. I'll give you three. 1. From a writing point of view. This was supposed to be Vikings, Danes era but the author kept throwing in words, both in their thoughts and speech from the 2000's! It was very distracting! 2. Sex, according to this author you would expect the Vikings to be the most powerful force on earth, with the greatest population of any by now! Sick, Bleeding, Every guy with whomever, whenever and the same with the girls... Young teens up to old, it didn't matter...take if you want then both just walk away.
3. This was the clincher for me. They kept mentioning the White God vs their demon Gods. So I kept reading thinking "Maybe she is just showing us how low they had to get before they realized their need for God."
It was obvious there was Devil/Demon worship and even human sacrifices going on. But when it came to the two that she actually wrote about "turning to God" they were NOTHING about prayer,
REPENTANCE OF SIN,
ASKING GOD'S FORGIVENESS
BEING FORGIVEN & WASHED IN JESUS BLOOD
TURNING FROM YOUR WICKED WAYS
John 3:16 For GOD so loved the world (YOU) that He gave His only begotten (BORN) Son, that whosoever (YOU) believeth in Him (JESUS) shalt (WILL) have everlasting (FOREVER) life.

INSTEAD, the author has a bright light hugging one gal and teleporting her "part" way-out of trouble???
Then the second one the King "Pretends" to pray thinking that he can still serve the "Old Gods" when the battle is over but if everyone wants him to kneel and pray and ACT like he is serving God then he will....And what do you know, with the two monks praying, when the battle is all but lost a huge light in the shape of a cross shows up over where they are fighting. The monk takes advantage of it tells him to jump up under it so both sides can see him, when he does the old monk gets up with him and announces that God has chosen sides and is with THIS king, put down your weapons and go home! And they do.
These are NOT SALVATION TESTIMONIALS!
I CAN NOT recommend this book. I really wanted to like it. I love a good viking story but am finding them harder and harder to find. Just because they were fierce warriors and some, yes, were savage, not all of them were monsters who lived in filth & squalor. They were a strong, resourceful, resilient, vibrant, artistic, talented people.
I received this eBook from Net Galley to read and review, giving only my honest opinion of the book in my own words. That is what I have written above.

[Tony Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Svealand, Sweden. Queen Sigrid Tostedotter watched as Asta (sacrificial priestess) slit Freya (mistress) throat.
Vanadís (goddess), Gynnya (maid), Lia Edmund (Jarl’s wife, kinswoman), Borghild (court attendant), & Eir (kinswoman) were all christened with the blood.
King Olaf (Sigrid’s twin son) must see to the matters of Svealand/Geatland.

Estrid (Olaf’s sister) had her own duties as well.
King Erik Eriksson (the Victorious, Sigrid’s ex-husband, ruler of Svealand, Geatland, Denmark) did not think those were his 2 children.
He in turn had exiled King Sweyn Forkbeard (Denmark) whom he thought was the father.
Ingvald & his men were on their way with a cross worshipper.
He was executed in public.
Sweyn Haraldsson (Alpha wolf leader), was not 1 to be reckoned with. The Jómsvikings, Jutes, Geats, Scanians, Norwegians, Jutes, & Saxons, did not want to battle with his wolf clan.
Would he conquer Denmark & become King?
Olav “Crowbone” Tryggvason would serve King Æthelred (England).
King Eriksson liked rough sex with Sigrid.
Agnatyr Anundsson would like to marry Estrid Eriksdotte (King Erik/Queen Sigrid’s daughter).
What news did a messenger have for Sweyn?
Does Asta (mistress) know anything?

What did Queen Sigrid Tostedotter ask Jarl Kolgrim to do?
The Game of Thrones came to mind.
A shout out to Tara Chance.

I did not receive any type of compensation for reading & reviewing this book. While I receive free books from publishers & authors, I am under no obligation to write a positive review. Only an honest one.

A very awesome book cover, great font & writing style. Wow, a very well written mythology (fantasy) book. It was very easy for me to read/follow from start/finish & never a dull moment. There were no grammar/typo errors, nor any repetitive or out of line sequence sentences. Lots of exciting scenarios, with several twists/turns & a huge set of unique characters to keep track of. This could also make another great mythology (fantasy) movie, an animated cartoon, or better yet a mini TV series. A very easy rating of 5 stars.

Thank you for the free author; Goodreads; MakingConnections; Amazon Crossing; Amazon Digital Services LLC.; book
Tony Parsons MSW (Washburn)

[Erika RS · Rating 2 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed The Unbroken Line of the Moon . Estrid, in my view, doesn't fare as well. Because it is clearly setting itself up to have a sequel, some of the shortcomings are excusable. There are certainly many unresolved story lines, but I hope that they'll be resolved later. Where this book fails is that it never can really decide if it's about Estrid or about her mother, Sigrid. Estrid herself comes across as a flat character. When an influential event changes her later in the book, she feels like a completely different character. She lacks the substance to feel like the same person after the change.

There are some great scenes but they are mostly the scenes involving Sigrid. Sigrid continues to be a compelling character. She is strong and independent, but also flawed -- stubborn and quick to anger. I think that the same plot line, and even much of the same text, would have been much more compelling if the book had not tried to make Estrid into the main character, and instead let Sigrid to be the main character. She was really the heart of the book.

I plan to read the next book when it comes out. Despite the faults of this book, there is a good core here.

[Catherine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Vikings-check. Beginning of the Viking era-check. Written from a Queen's point of view-check. I should have loved this book. I should have been staying up all night reading this book. I should be giving this a favorable review.
I'm not.
I didn't even finish the book. I don't know what chapter because runes were used instead of numbers but it was 19% according to my Kindle I realised I was skipping over more parts that just plain annoyed me than I was reading. Why finish?

So what annoyed me? The first thing I'm bombarded with is a secular humanist's view of Christianity--not a Norse pagan view. Frankly, this author made the Vikings look like whimps and this was during the time they started raiding monasteries. There is no archeological or historical evidence that the Norse ever feared Christians. Their raids were never religiously motivated.
This made me warry and rightly so because there were other modernisms in this book. I read historical fiction to get immeresed in an era, no to be lectured on the author's view of the present day. Yes, there are gaps in the records and an author has poetic license. Still an author should do some research if a story is to be realistic and this book was just not believable from the start.
I'll find another book n Vikings.

[Anthonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked reading reading this story. I enjoyed the time frame of it, the mythology of Nordic, the plot twists, battles, questions of faith, wills, endurance and strong female characters. Even though Estrid has death at her door with everything she is going through. There is a lot of death, danger, violence, murder, and betrayal. However, nothing really significant happens until the final chapters of the book. Not to mention the the modern translation needs some work. Other than that it is a great book to read. A must read for myth lovers everywhere.

[Tara L. Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow to start, the pace picks up about 1/3rd of the way in. I felt a little lost because there's a 15 year time gap from the first book, The Unbroken Line of the Moon, but it's quickly recovered.

The story is a fantastical depiction of the early Nordic cultural and power struggles that were amplified by religious conflict between the old and new. Blending mythological and historical "truths" makes for an interesting read.

[Eva Harkness · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very Detailed...

This book was interesting and very detailed but read as though it had not been planned with the ending over-simplistic and unlikely. It lacks the final edit to pull the parts together and modern vernacular keeps cropping up throwing the historical presentation off. I can't imagine the primary character, after an epic struggle, during this ancient era saying, "darn".

[jodi watson · Rating 3 out of 5]

enjoyable read - i did not appreciate this second book in the series as much as i appreciated the 1st. The folklore and dane "history" with the involvement of the Gods is interesting --

[Debra Yaskow · Rating 1 out of 5]

The first novel in this series was readable. This was terrible & I did not finish this book which is something that I rarely do.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book I read after reading "the unbroken line of the Moon." It picks up after Sigird is Queen. She has a daughter named Estrid, the name of this book. Estrid has grown up believing she belong to the Goddess Hel. Her fate is to be with this Goddess of the Underworld.
This book tells the story of the Mother & daughter. It also shows how strong these Viking women truly were, in the worst of times.
The new faith, Christianity has spread some, but there remains the Viking faith in their Norse Gods & Goddesses.
Who did Sigird marry? Is she happy? Has she found the love of her life?
What about her daughter Estrid? Who would want someone who was fated to be with the Goddess
Hel?
If you liked "the unbroken line of the Moon" you will continue the same feelings for this book.
I waited for this book to come. Again, I read it in 2 nights.
A great read, worth waiting for.

[Emily M. McGuirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked it better than the first

Both of these books were well written and interesting, but I liked this one better probably because I found Estrid a more likable character to follow than anyone else. I definitely found Sigrid and Sweyn interesting, and a lot of their struggles make sense in the context of the times, but they can be hard to like. Estrid's suffering is told in such an interesting way that I was surprised by the reveal. I am curious if there will be another book as the ending is certainly open for one. There is violence and rape in this book, just to warn people. I thought there was less than in the first one though. Again, the battle over beliefs and religion is interesting, and this one shows how you can take anything really and explain it the way you want to explain it. It's perspective, and it's so easy to twist to suit your narrative. It's good to remember that fact.

[Eileen Lathrop · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Unbroken Line of the Moon is the first book. I almost passed it by but I thought why not it would be a change from what I had been reading. Well wrote, versed, or however you want to put it, I couldn’t put the book down and excitedly order Estrid. I have to agree while both books are very good reads Estrid grabbed my heart. It continues the tale of the Queen. Estrid was first born of twins. The other twin is a boy. I loved Estrid from day one. A must read all the way to the end! Beautifully written! This book has Vikings, King and Queens, Famine, Trials, Religion, Love, Family, deceit, war so so much more. I believe I liked the second book better than the first. Although the first, The Unbroken Line of the Moon was absolutely stunning. In fact I would recommend these book’s to males as well as females. It is not a sappy love story.

[Christy Bravo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully Written

I loved this stunning sequel to the Valhalla series Line of an Unbroken Moon . The characters were beautifully written and strong. A very touching story of betrayal, love and fear. Sigrid has sacrificed her whole life all for her family's honor. But as fate keeps testing her faithfulness ,she grows weary. When Estrid was kidnapped and forced to marry her family's sworn enemy, she faced many dangers to regain her freedom and find her way home. But their fates had already been decided long ago if they only held fast to their faith and endured their tests. Lots of great action, fantastic writing and beautiful story.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have one word that can describe how I feel about this book...meh! Estrid's character pales in comparison to her mother. She's given this "handicap/blessing" which I think was intended to make her more complex, but she's just such a victim! It's such a step down from Unbroken line of the moon. My other issue is with the conflicted pious tone of the main character. Shes just so capricious! This was just..not my favorite.

This book was named Estrid, but should have been "And Sigrid continues to impress". She was just as badass in this one as the previous book. Her character and Sweyn's story were the only reasons I was able to finish this novel.

[Ginger Stephens · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a wonderful book and a worthy sequel to The Unbroken Line of the Moon. I found the story entrancing, but I did reach the point where I was able to predict some of the plot. I am not sure if that is due to how much I liked and remembered of Unbroken Line if the Moon or if the plot became predictable after the first half. Toward the end of the book, it also felt like the reader was being prepped for the next book in the series.

Overall, this was an enjoyable book and I would recommend it to anyone who likes Norse mythology, or just a good story. If will keep you guessing about whether Estrid is mad or just an instrument of the Gods in the steady march toward change.

[S.M. Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book more than the first in the series. The characters feel real and it's easy to become invested in their struggles. I was pleasantly surprised to see the relationship between Estrid and Katla develop into more (such as it was), and the ending was very satisfying to read. I think there are more books in this series that are yet to be translated and I would definitely be interested in reading more.

[Susan Merritt · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Final Outcome of Christianity and the Norse Gods

This second book of the Valhalla saga by author Johanna Hildebrandt is epic in scope and filled with actual historic people, times and places. This gripping series shows the battle for the soul by both sides yet told from the viewpoint of a believer in the old gods. Very well done and I recommend reading the first of the series first. Hopefully, VERY hopefully, there will be more!

[Alice Bergman · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5 stjärnor
Jag trodde inte att denna boken skulle vara så bra som den faktiskt var.
Saker hände hela tiden, det var inte många sidor som var tråkiga.
Perfekt avslut på denna fantastiska serie, men dock slutar den på en cliffhanger så det kanske kommer en ny bok i framtiden? För nu var det en väldigt väldigt bra avslut på serien, kunde inte ha velat ha något annat slut.
Hela serie överlag får 5 stjärnor, en av om inte den bästa serien jag läst

[Phyllis L. Carson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solid read

Has a few slow spots, but a very solid continuation of the series. I enjoyed seeing the Viking world from Estrid's eyes. I'm not an expert on the Viking culture by any means, but I feel that I understand the religion and structure well enough to have solid intelligent conversation on the topic after reading The Unbroken Line of the Moon and Estrid.

[Joan Maten · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second book translated into English from the author and a sequel to The Unbroken Line of the Moon. In this ancient Viking novel the pagen gods and cross worshippers are at war with each other. Again, a brutal novel to read. But I'm sure quite true to the violence of the era. It was a fun mix of old language and modern unexpected terms to bring a smile to my face.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn't sure I was going to finish this book. While I enjoyed the premise of the story it started out with more graphic descriptions of violence and rape than the previous book. If I hadn't previously purchased it I wouldn't have. Luckily it was easy enough to skip ahead since I listened on audible. I wish more authors realized you can tell a good story without so much detail.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book

I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first one. It's probably just my own prejudice about religion. Still there was too much repetition as though the author was just filling space to make the book longer. There's also a lot of violence and in my opinion not enough balance between the things christians did during that time period and the things done by the 'pagans'.

[Eileen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again enthralled

I enjoyed the second book in this series almost as much as the first (which was a lot). The intertwining of good and evil in each and every character is simply fascinating. I am left now waiting for the next.

[Minke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the Estrid's story. It kept me guess, completely unsure if things would work out or fall to pieces. Estrid seemed a little self important but she is a princess after all so I should have expected that attitude. She gets it from her mother ;). Overall good read.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It got a bit slow in the end and I was quite tired on this book, but it still was okay. I liked the cliffhanger ending and I'm wondering if it will be a continue. But for now I'm done with Sagan om Valhalla. It was a different type of book series and I did enjoy it.

[Andrea D. McCarthage · Rating 1 out of 5]

The kind of book you read to pass the time because it's close at hand, or perhaps you find it for a dollar at the supermarket and leaf through it during the car ride back home. Admittedly, the research put into this book gives it a slight edge over its peers.