Varanger

Conn Corbansson and his cousin Raef join a fur-trading voyage into the river world of the Rus. Forced to spend the winter at Novgorod, they become caught between Scandinavian traders, local warriors and men whose pursuit of profit threatens the discipline needed to survive the cold. Conn emerges as a practical leader, while Raef’s visions and unusual sensitivity make him both navigator and protection against dangers that others cannot recognise.

The cousins enter the service of Dobrynya and travel south through Kyiv before joining a raiding force moving towards Byzantine territory. Trade turns into warfare as the expedition follows the routes linking the Baltic, the steppe and Constantinople. The novel shifts the saga to a new generation and reconstructs the mixed Norse and Rus communities of eastern Europe, where merchants, mercenaries and rulers use the same rivers to carry furs, silver, slaves and armies.