Red Tide

Set in and around the Shetland Isles in 900 AD, this thrilling and bloodthirsty adventure sees one girls desire for adventure turn into something more dangerous and deadly than she ever could have imagined.

Hilde, the daughter of Jarl Frida, lives a frustratingly quiet life on the small Isle of Unst, yearning for adventure and action like those of her mother, a legendary shield maiden. And Hilde is a match for any of her fellow teenagers on the island, as Aiden soon finds out. Some are Norse and some Pict but all live together peaceably on the island both with their own traditions and religion.

However, on the night the islands Norse god tree is burned and destroyed, Hilde and her friends lives are changed for ever when the longboat Seawolf, shrouded in an unearthly fog and containing a marauding band of blood thirsty Vikings unlike any anyone has ever seen before - the Harrowed Men, descend on the island. By morning, the village is destroyed and villagers dead or captured including Hilde's mother.

For Hilde and fellow survivors Blair and Aiden, finding their folk is all that now matters, even if that means hunting down the Seawolf itself across the open sea. But secrets and terror await them and all is not what it seems!

Red Tide is a brilliant adventure set in Norse Shetland. As well as plenty of adventure, intrigue and action, elements of Norse mythology, history and culture are woven throughout. It's clear the author has done his research!

Like a boat in a stormy sea, the pace of the story flows up and down and for me the real strength of writing is in the scenes of danger, fighting and escape. These are brilliantly written and pulsating in pace, with the fight and escape from Jarl Gudrun's Hall being a real highlight. There's also lots of tension and atmosphere created, which helps build a sense of unsettling unease at times. The Harrowed Men and their leader Hydyr are vividly described as are their actions, which can be very bloodthirsty at times - though to be expected perhaps because of what they are.

For me, my favourite characters are Frostmark who, despite being one of the deadly Harrowed Men, ends up as a talking head in a bucket, and Hilde who is a really feisty teen determined to let nothing stand in her way! Some of the characters are full of mystery and have secret or hidden pasts which added a layer of intrigue to the story, and made me wonder at times who these people really were.

Chapters are told from various people's viewpoints, including Hilde and Frida who each take the story on further. The whole novel gathers speed towards the end, leaving the reader on a total cliff-hanger of an ending!

Red tide is a novel to immerse yourself in, though I'll leave the final words to the author: "I warn you, dear reader, that you're entering a world where myth and legend, fact and fiction, and history and horror all collide in a boiling, bloody soup." Enjoy!

Suggested Reading Age 14+

Wow! What an incredible read! If you are like me and the last Norse adventure you read was Beowulf in Primary School, then you may not be immediately drawn to this book, even with its fabulously illustrated cover. However, once you get past the first few pages, which are full of necessary, but somewhat distracting, Norse names and terminology, then this really is an epic adventure.

Red Tide has it all: strong characters, family, friendships, terror, secrets, vampires/strigoi* and zombies/draugr*, and enough plundering and pillaging for any Viking tale - although this is definitely not a book for the faint hearted! (*Worth noting here that although this is a fabulous tale of fiction, it does include a really useful glossary.)

Set in Shetland in 900 AD, life for the people of Unst is good and the two cultural groups, the Norse and the Picts, happily live side by side. That is, until they are invaded by a Viking warband and their world is suddenly turned upside down. The adventure is told mostly through the eyes of two of the story's main characters: Hilde, the daughter of Jarl Frida, the Chieftain of Unst, who yearns for adventure and the chance to establish herself as a legendary shieldmaiden; and Cormac, a kind-hearted, hardworking blacksmith’s boy, who is good friends with Hilde and finds it hard to understand the suspicions the Picts have for their fellow Norse folk.

This fast-paced tale makes for a riveting read, with descriptive details that leave nothing to chance, creating clear images of both settings and battles. Similarly, the relationships between the main characters are developed well throughout the story even though they are in separate places for the most part!

Having escaped the clutches of evil Viking, Finn Frostmark, Hilde and the two other surviving members of the village, her nemesis Aidan and the apparently incompetent shipwright, Blair, are determined to follow the warband and rescue their families and friends. Meanwhile, having been captured and unsure of his own fate, Cormac tries desperately to help Hilde's mother, Jarl Frida, after he finds her aboard the Harrowed Men's boat.

Unlike the historical fiction written by Rosemary Sutcliff, this is not just a tale of Viking battles. I am certain that many young, confident teen readers will enjoy the first of two parts of this story of Hilde and Cormac, particularly those who like getting their teeth into something a little darker. Many thanks to Fox & Ink Books (University of Lancashire) for this copy.

322 pages / Reviewed by Sam, teacher

Suggested Reading Age 11+