“The Line of His People” is the story of Abriel, a young man in his early twenties rescued and raised as a child by monks in a monastery, who discovers his heritage as a ‘Northman’ and uncovers a plot by the new evil abbot Hilbod to viscously exterminate the heathen population of Abriel’s home, the nearby island of Herius. Abriel craftily escapes the monastery with the help of the former abbot … Ermentarius, illegally deposed by Hilbod, and travels to Herius in search of a hidden relic. Relics attract pilgrims who bring with them donations and wealth. The island of Herius is known for its rich salt trade, and with a relic Hilbod would gather enough funds to raise an army, wipe out the population, and rebuild the monastery to control the salt trade to the Carolingian empire. Once arrived, Abriel discovers the identity of his father: a petty king from the north named Harald Haraldsson. One of the Northmen, a man with blue tattoos, knows the location of the relic, but is called to war in the north. Along the way, Abriel is joined by a particularly tough warrior princess named Kenna, who resolves to help him save Herius from destruction.
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I find this time period to be depressing because of its violence. For me it wasn’t uplifting in any way.
Enjoyed this book so much that I read the second one in the series. The author researched the time period and the places and history were on target. Not too much gratuitous violence.
It was very repetitive!
Started out loving this book. It’s setting in 9th century Brittany at the time of the Norse invasions is an era I’ve liked reading nonfiction about. But the story line was very confusing. I would think I was following the line that the main character came from only to find out that most of the people he interacted with were not his line. Almost everyone was adopted and no one was who you thought they were. I finally gave up trying to make connections between the people who all had similar names. Almost everybody was heir to a kingdom until you found out they were not. I finally gave up about 3/4 of the way through the book and quit reading.
Enjoyed it