Raven: Odin’s Wolves

Name: Raven: Odin’s Wolves
Rating: 4.5 (3108 reviews)

by Giles Kristian Book 3 in the Raven series.

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4.5(3,108)

Raven and the Wolfpack have lost companions and treasure, but the survivors seek a reward that cannot be stolen: the fame preserved in story after a warrior’s death. Their pursuit of renown turns east towards Constantinople, known to the Norsemen as Miklagard, where wealth and military glory are said to await those capable of surviving the journey.

The voyage carries the fellowship through the Camargue and the dangerous remnants of early medieval Rome before they reach the Byzantine capital. Foreign rulers, treachery and close combat test the bonds that have held the warband together across the series. Raven must decide what the promise of an enduring name is worth when each new prize places the men he calls brothers at greater risk.

Constantinople gives the Norsemen a different measure of power. The city’s wealth, fortifications and imperial bureaucracy dwarf the small kingdoms and war bands they know, while the Varangian tradition offers foreigners honour only through disciplined service. Raven’s pursuit of fame therefore confronts the difference between a warrior’s reputation among companions and the vast political systems in which such men can become expendable tools.