Poor Athelstan—when Ecbert and Lagertha start unashamedly coupling in the bath, he’s simply ignored, left to look awkward and towel off. A brilliant ending to an amazing series of books and stories. With this, the Extinction Cycle is complete. While Lagertha seems to have learned a few phrases in Ecbert’s Old English, the show continues to play loose with translation rules. Conflicted on this. I DEVOURED the first 60% of this book. If the book ended around the 60% mark after the big thing that happens at that part, it would've been fantastic. However, the book didn't end and that's where we run into trouble... Apparently I took my sweet time finishing this beast of a book. It wasn’t bad, it was just a lot for me personally. If half of it was cut and reshaped a bit, I think we could still get the same tension and mystery.

A Warrior's Fate is the Adult Paranormal Fantasy Romance and its first installment in the The Alpha and The Warrior series.

In Kattegat, a fisherman catches two young boys in his nets who have drowned. Siggy is confused about what's going on, since the arrival of the wanderer, and visits the ancient one to discuss Harbard and the dream in which the ancient one was in. It is an through and carefully-written book - everything comes together and there are no unexplained or irrelevant plotholes- which makes reading it efffortless. Do yourself the favor and dive into the realms of Deimos, Mimas, Phobos, Mavec, Callisto, Charon, Tethys and many more, where you'll start to fear creatures that you've never heard of and where you'll agonize and laugh alongside the main characters. Having monsters and the dog as POV characters works sometimes to enhance the complexity of a character. On the other hand I find it increasingly frustrating when the same event is told several times over from different POVs. Is that strictly necessary? We already got the whole event once, there is no need to waste time with another retelling. It doesn't add to the experience. The characters are not exactly deep thinkers and the events being described are just simplistic action sequences. The first 50% is a masterpiece- a slow burn, fated mates with warring nations, and soldier training? Art. 🤌🏽

I loved the love story between Kai and Isla and the world building was easy to understand. When it comes to the mystery aspect of this book and the events that contribute to the underlying mystery, I was often confused about what was going on and felt like the plot was murky and not developed well. Once I got to the end of the book, things became clearer but I still feel like that aspect of the book wasn’t as well developed as the rest of the story. I don’t normally read mysteries so that could be why it didn’t hit for me. What's it all mean? Is Harbard good or evil? What's he want with the women of Kattegat? What's the deal with the dead boys fished out of the sea? With the initial storyline begging for other talented storytellers to tighten their belts and weigh in on their interpretation of the Variant problem and the changed character of the survivors. This branch of the masterwork brings survivors from all walks of life and range of talents. While old soldiers live on in the lives and training of those that follow, the farmer, the cook and the handyman will be the ones to craft new lives from the ruins of the old. Some will always believe that mutual religious tolerance is impossible. The tension between the Christian Saxons and the Norse Vikings has begun to create problems on both sides as we are shown early on in parallel scenes in the episode. Two of Ecbert’s court (somewhat) hesitantly call their king out for his willingness to ally himself with the Northmen, even to the point of evicting his own people from their lands and giving it to the new arrivals. The fact that they feel strongly enough about this to admit the content of their muttering to him speaks a great deal to how serious a problem his people believe this to be. While any king rules, on one level or another, by the consent of the people, an English court of the time did not have the democratic tone that tended to be more true of a Viking one where anyone could, in theory, speak his mind. On the night she’s to enter the Hunt, a perilous trial to earn her title of warrior, Isla meets her fated mate. Handsome, arrogant, and frustratingly captivating, Kai is everything she could want, but nowhere near what she needs right now. Because he is the king of the enigmatic Deimos…which makes Isla their rightful queen.

This is a slow burn but there is spice - around the 60% mark. It was well written and I appreciated that it was something earned rather than just handed to readers. Another irritant through the series - the whole storyline takes place over a couple of years. It is not an "evolutionary" timescale. So this whole "variants evolve" business is just annoyingly wrong. But I understand why the author thought it is needed. The "monsters" otherwise would be too dull of an enemy. Speaking of, while George Blagden’s sly watchfulness as Athelstan remains a fascinating portrait, his ongoing storyline being pursued by Jennie Jacques’ Princess Judith isn’t promising. Although his position as spiritual representative of both worlds marks him out for bigger things this season. bookshop after hours 🍷and shenanigans (yes this is niche but it gets its own dot point because I WANT THIS 😂. Applications for real life bookshop meet up friendship group open!)

It’s in the aftermath that the episode’s theme of belief comes in again. Floki’s visceral hatred of all things Christian outlined above, was established from the series’ start, his position as mystic/madman making his aversion seem to come from somewhere deep and primal. (The look on Gustaf Skarsgård’s face when he spits out the name “Jesus Christ” is as Floki as Floki gets.) What did you think of "Warrior's Fate"? Will you miss Torstein? Is Floki getting on your nerves? Does Harbard posses special powers? How do you feel about Lagertha and King Ecbert? Your turn friends, please hit the comments and share your thoughts with me.Lastly, we have the insta-lust, which I don’t mind even if it’s not slow burn (which this actually was so thank God) but my issue is after they mate?! Instantly, and I mean, automatically, they exchange I love yous and it’s all understanding and mate bond and sensing each others feelings and blah blah blah 😒 Which we see when Floki, without Ragnar soliciting his opinion on the subject, expresses his own misgivings in a far more passionate manner, calling Ragnar deluded. Why, he asks, are they fighting for the Christians? But what Ecbert’s men only imply—that the difference in religions makes the two cultures incompatible – Floki calls out directly: “There can be no reconciliation between our gods—the true gods—and the god that they worship.” Thus, he suggests, there is no way to reconcile the followers of those gods. His next statement seems almost ripped from the mouths of modern-day zealots. Religious tolerance is unacceptable. “One or the other must prevail.” And his prophecy that “the triumph of the Christ-God will mean the death and destruction of all of ours” was both historically true and echoes the contemporary fear that underlies intolerance: if a belief system is not fiercely defended, it will be annihilated. This was one of the most intriguing episodes of the show that I have seen so far. It perfectly mastered the balance between what seemed to me like a fairly realistic portrayal of political drama anno circa 828 and then a very convincing attempt at making sense of "paganism" as well as the clash of cultures. The dialog between Lagertha and king Ecbert of Wessex as well as Ragnar's dispute with Floki were essential for the story's progression - and also a welcome step away from "soap". Historically, we know the Viking culture was assimilated into mainstream European and Christian culture. Floki is actually making a ton of sense, but Ragnar's far too focused to pay any attention.

friendship family (it gave me the same warm feelings I got from the ACOTAR “inner circle”, while also being totally unique!) Personally, I enjoyed the mystery/plot more than the romantic push and pull in this case, but I feel a little cheated with the way everything ended. I know there’s a second book in the making, but c’mon. We got the big bombs and then they just got brushed aside in the last few chapters. Through the book I hoped to at least see Isla become the actual Luna and not just.. “oh it’s all mine now, I guess”.. The whole end arc was a little anticlimactic for me. I admittedly was nervous to start this book. I am a person who likes to invest in the main protagonists relationship and to hear they are rejecting it made me pause. Thankfully I saw someone talk a little bit about it on Tiktok and decided to buy the e-book copy. Let me start off and say I am buying the physical copy to add to my shelf. Just IMAGINE.. two fated mates who refuse to touch, (because if they touch the bond will fully form) who are from opposing sides of the political chain.

Cast of Gye Baek, Warrior’s Fate

The overall storyline of the show is a cleverly condensed dramatisation of events that actually took place in the period between circa 800 and 880 and led to the birth of the first English kingdom. The fictional Ragnar Lodbrog (Lothbrook) character as well as Ladgerda (Lagertha), Aslaug (aka. Kraka) are described by the Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus who lived in the 1200s. Most likely, Saxo deliberately used the actual viking king Godfred as his inspiration. From the mysterious deaths to the entertaining battles this book keeps you on the edge of your seat and has you on a rollercoaster of emotions! The entire cast was lovable and relatable, especially the main two, Isla and Kai. They were fleshed out and REAL in the same way I felt Feyre and Rhys were real. We get to see how the interact in all different situations, not just with each other but separately as well. I LOVED Isla, and am always excited to find a strong female character than embraces her femininity.