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A Kingdom and a Horse

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A Kingdom and a Horse

By: Snorri Kristjansson
Narrated by: Ray Porter
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About this listen

"A Kingdom and a Horse" was published in the anthology Blackguards: Tales of Assassins, Mercenaries, and Rogues.

About this story, author Snorri Kristjansson says, "'A Kingdom and a Horse' is set in the universe of my Valhalla Saga, which is pretty much 10th century Northern Europe because I'm not clever enough to build a world of my own. It contains the story of legendary Viking captain Sigurd and his trusty right-hand man Sven's youthful escapades in England. If your trade is to be looting and pillaging, you have to learn somewhere...right?"

©2015 Snorri Kristjansson (P)2015 Audible, Inc. Anthologies & Short Stories Science Fiction Fiction Royalty
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It seems impossible that someone could fit so much story drama and character development into such a short story but they do and it’s fantastic!

Short and punchy

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A competent, if extremely brief and lacking any detail, tale of a Viking raid seemingly for the purposes of training and frustrating the locals.

The writing has some quality and character that gives it some presence, and I understand that it connects to an ongoing series, but when offered as a standalone story or as part of an anthology the point seems a bit confusing. Like, there's an aspect in which this reads more like a writing exercise or a scene from a larger work found in the author's drafts or notebook.

As a taster for the author's writing I'm in two minds. As I said, there is just enough of something in the writing style, but there's also practically nothing in the story. Maybe I would file this under 'my TBR is way too long right now to add this author, but if an audiobook fell in my lap I would give it a go', which isn't the kindest review, although I don't mean any disrespect and their are various positive reviews with favourable past experiences with the author, so your mileage may vary.

A Light, Sanitised Snapshot of a Viking Raid

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Set in the same universe as his Valhalla trilogy, this short story is about a young Sigurd, Sven and Thormund. Well written and performed, it is a great introduction into Snorri's world of Vikings.

Snorri Kristjansson never disappoints

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Porter is the wrong narrator for this, but it’s a good short story, (taken from an anthology).

Interesting little story.

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