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The Blazing Sea

by Tim Hodkinson Book 8 in the The Whale Road Chronicles series.

First published 2025

Amazon
4.5(944)

The Mediterranean in the late 930s. With northern rulers unwilling to shelter them, Einar and the Wolf Coats sail south along the whale road. An encounter with a slave trader takes them into al-Andalus, where a homecoming for one member of the crew ends in imprisonment under the Caliph of Córdoba.

Their escape carries them into a sea contested by Muslim fleets, Byzantine warships, Viking mercenaries and pirate commanders. Einar sees a possible route back to his lost position in Orkney, but must first save an innocent captive and keep his scattered company alive amid weapons and powers unlike those of the northern world.

Al-Andalus and the wider Mediterranean expose the Wolf Coats to commercial systems in which slavery, ransom and maritime warfare are closely connected. Córdoba’s wealth contrasts with the smaller northern courts they know, while Muslim and Byzantine naval power limits the freedom Viking crews enjoy in familiar waters. Einar’s quest for restoration therefore becomes an education in a far larger political and economic world.

Historical Periods

Early Medievalc. 476–1000 CE Viking Age793–1066 CE Byzantine Empire476–1453 CE Islamic Golden Agec. 750–1258 CE Al-Andalus711–1492 CE

Genres

Exploration & Survival Fiction Maritime Fiction War Fiction

Historical people

Abd-ar-Rahman III891–961

Series reading order

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