For those who have an interest in Medieval tales and history, I would recommend,
The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell. This is the first offering of his "Saxon Tales" series.
The story is set in the middle years of the ninth-century when the Danes(Vikings) invaded England for plunder and conquest. Kingdom after kingdom fell to the ruthless invaders until only the Kingdom of Wessex remained and the fate of all England depended on one king--Alfred the Great.
The tale is told through the eyes of, Uhtred, son of Uhtred, Lord of Bebbanburg, Northumbria, who at the age of ten, goes to observe a battle with his father, but the battle is won by the Danes and Uhtred's father is killed and he is captured by Warlord Ragnar. Due to Uhtred's fighting spirit, Ragnar raises him as his own son in the Viking tradition. Thus, this is also the story of Uhtred's coming of age, in which he struggles over being English and serving King Alfred with all of his rules or living among the Vikings and their gods who he has come to cherish. Uhtred follows his destiny, fighting for the Danes and then the English in high tension adventures and thrilling scenarios that leads him to fulfilling his quest to becoming a warrior and into manhood.
A thrilling historical fiction tale that will intoxicate its readers.
