Iron and Gold

Wolves of Odin #3

by S.J.A. Turney

AD 1043. Having escaped Constantinople with their lives – barely – but not their ship, Halfdan and the wolves of Odin are now mercenaries in the Byzantine army, sailing to Apulia in Italy to help retake territory from the Normans. But cracks are beginning to show among the tight-knit wolves. Gunnhild, having forsaken the fate woven for her by the Norns in order to continue her journey with Halfdan, has lost her ability to communicate with the goddess Freyja, and so glimpse the future. And Ketil the Icelander, having watched his ship, the Sea Wolf , stolen from him yet again, grows resentful, as seemingly every decision Halfdan makes leads them further from his original promise of riches and renown. But aboard their ship is an official with secret orders for the general in charge of the Italian campaign, Maniakes. The orders will throw everything into chaos, and put a fork in the path of the wolves of Odin. Each will have a choice to loyalty to themselves, or to the pack? The thrilling third instalment in the Wolves of Odin series, with a gripping hunt across a war-torn Italy. Perfect for fans of Giles Kristian and Bernard Cornwell.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Medieval, Historical

398 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 17, 2022

About the author

Simon lives with his wife and children and a menagerie of animals in rural North Yorkshire, where he sits in an office, wired on coffee and digestive biscuits, and attempts to spin engrossing tales out of strands of imagination while his children drive toys across his desk and two dogs howl as they try to share a brain cell.

A born and bred Yorkshireman with a love of country, history and architecture, Simon spends most of his rare free time travelling around ancient sites, writing, researching the ancient world and reading voraciously.

Following an arcane and eclectic career path that wound through everything from sheep to Microsoft networks and from paint to car sales, Simon wrote Marius’ Mules and, with help and support, made a success of it. Now, with in excess of 20 novels under his belt, Simon writes full time and is represented by MMB Creative literary agents.

Simon writes Roman military novels in the form of the bestselling Marius’ Mules series based on Julius Caesar’s campaigns, Roman thrillers in the Praetorian series, set during the troubled reign of Commodus, medieval adventures in the Ottoman Cycle, following a young Greek thief around the 15th century world, and a series of Historical Fantasy novels with a Roman flavour, called the Tales of the Empire.
Simon can be found on Twitter as @SJATurney and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SJATurney/ as well as on his website http://www.sjaturney.co.uk

Reviews

[Peggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series and each book is better than the last. The main characters Halfdan and his band of warriors the Wolves of Odin are never dull and are always ready for a fight. This author really pulls the reader into this brutal dog eat dog world and I am loving it. Highly recommended.

[Shane Findlay · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[chris morton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cracking action

I enjoyed the plot twists and turns throughout the book. Looking forward to the next instalment of Halfdan and his crew

[Anthony Pontecorvo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simon Turney is a superbly great story teller and this installment did not disappoint. It was fast paced and action packed from start to finish. I would like to see a little more character development. Whats up between Gunnhild and Halfdan? Both are young and healthy but seem to barely tolerate the other, yet are completely dependent on each other. Maybe we will find out in subsequent episodes, a reader can only hope.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read a couple of Simon/SJA’s series now and have enjoyed all of them. This series focuses on a band of Viking warriors known as The Wolves of Odin. This is the third book in the series and the Wolves have journeyed to many different countries during the course of the 3 books. The third book is primarily set in Italy and begins with friction within the band.

I’m hopeful that there will be many more books in this series as the adventures of Halfdan, Gunnhild and the rest of the band have been interesting and in a similar vein to other series I enjoy such as Giles Kristian’s Viking books and Bernard Cornwell’s Last Kingdom series. I look forward to reading book 4 next year

[LJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stellar trilogy, absolutely engaging, 5 star reading!

SJA Turney sets a high bar with series, and delivers. Action driven, deviously clever and well paced. The historical notes, the personalities, epic battles…its all here. I can only wish for more in this series…Well done SJA Turney, well met. Thank you.

[Brendan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It just gets better

From the first book the story was great but it just continues to build and get better. I do enjoy the way there are 2 stories in parts, it has been written well and never drifts to far from the other so that you loose track of where you are. Looking forward to the next one.

[R Pata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Could’ve been Better

Best part was some of the surprises in the plot. The feel good involving Iron Arm at the end was a special bright spot.

I thought some of the pages and pages of unneeded description and introspection (plot line not moved forward).

[Rachael Hobson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing story

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to the next Half fan adventure. Well written as always, you will not want this to end. If you enjoyed Markus Mules then this is for you.

[J Cracknell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great read from Mr Turney. I love the twists and turns of this saga.

[Mr P L Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wolves of Odin Book 3

Enjoyable novel, starting with two almost desperate stories before culminating in a grand finale. Really worth a read and carried the journey forward.

[steve evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

The saga continues

Very enjoyable read with good characters and intriguing storyline . A lot of books based on northmen but definitely kept me interested.

[M L Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent story

Really enjoyed the caper through Italy and was at first surprised to see the wolves split but we'll executed storyline all round.

[Mike Franklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another very good book in this series but sadly let down by an utterly implausible epilogue setting up for the next book.

[John Francis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent.

I knew I would enjoy this series because I have read many of Simon's previous novels. His Marius Mules series is awesome along with this one. A great bunch of characters and non stop action makes these books almost impossible to put down.
You won't regret it so get into this series now.