A Forge of Frost

Name: A Forge of Frost
Rating: 4.66 (1584 reviews)

by J. C. Duncan Book 3 in the The Light of the North Saga series.

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4.7(1,584)

In the alternate year 1118, crusading forces and the armies of the north become trapped in the forests of southern Sweden as winter closes around them. After the Norse stand at Jönköping, both sides face exhaustion, political division and the collapse of their plans. Survival in snow, mud and hunger becomes as decisive as any battle while rulers and commanders struggle to keep their followers together.

Winter strips both armies of the advantages they expected from manoeuvre and numbers. Supply, shelter and morale become strategic problems, while ideological certainty is harder to sustain among soldiers simply trying not to freeze. The alternate history uses the Swedish landscape to turn crusade into attrition, showing how a campaign fought in the name of faith can be decided by food, roads and weather.