Berserker

Legends of the Milesian Kings #2

by Micheál Cladáin, Phil Hughes

An alternative cover edition for this ASIN can be found here.

Conaire the Great has been killed at the hands of a pirate. The Five Kingdoms are left in turmoil because his only heir has vanished. Conchobar, the king of Ulster is plotting with his druid counsellor, Cathbadh, to take the throne at Tara. His scheming is opposed by queen Medh and her husband Ailill, the only people in Ireland with the courage to stand up to the power of Ulster. Out of the conflict a hero of the people is born. However, he gets entangled in a love triangle that eventually uncovers his true character, the character of a BERSERKER!

337 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 1, 2021

Reviews

[David Ebsworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this, though I stupidly realised just too late that this was the second in a series and must now go back and read the first one! Still, that hasn't spoiled anything. It takes a great deal of courage to pick up something so well-loved as the Irish sagas of the Red Branch and the Milesian Kings and dust them off. But the author has managed to do this very well. As he says in the closing notes, there are frequently inconsistencies and confusions in the versions that have come down to us, so here is a well-written attempt to fill some of the gaps, to take some of the more fantastical segments and translate them into a world that we can more readily understand - in the great tradition of writers like Rosemary Sutcliff and Henry Treece. Highly recommended!

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another spellbinding read from the author

Cladain continues the does not pull any punches with this tale of rape and revenge. Medh sets out to avenge herself against the king of Ulster and unwittingly creates the champion, Cuchulainn.

[Miriam Drori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beserker is set in Ireland in the first century BCE. It tells not only of one man, the son of a farmer, who excels as a warrior, but aso of the people around him - men and women alike. It tells of a time before technology, when people died needlessly, murdered with all too much ease by those who were jealous, angry or simply blood-thirsty. Were the people of that time any different from those of today?

The author clearly researched extensively before deciding when and where to tweak the sketchy and unreliable legends to fit each other and to form a full-length novel.

This novel is very well-written. I highly recommend it.

[Phil Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another great piece of writing about a fascinating period of Irish history. The birth oh Christ is fast approaching, which will herald the end of the druids, but there is time for the arrival of The Hound of Ulster. Medh is raped on the Boyne and falls into a cycle of bloody vengeance that ultimately leads to war between Connacht and Ulster.