A Time for Swords

A holy avenger

Opening with its protagonist as an old man ruminating on the youthful decisions of his past, this historical novel then leaps back in time to AD 793, and the day on which Vikings reached the island monastery of Lindisfarne. The first instalment of a new series, this is gritty, gripping stuff, as a novice monk turns warrior to avenge the destruction, desecration and death wrought by the invaders.