This historical fantasy, taking place in the 8th – 9th century, is about the trials a young African woman warrior goes through after being captured by slavers, ending up in Viking-era Norway. It concentrates on the roles of women of the era, and what they have to navigate to survive. It also conveys the risks they have to take and the sacrifices they have to make to empower themselves. It was an interesting, and thrilling, page-turning story.
I have to say, the main problem I had with the world-building of this novel is that it starts with a stereotypical platform. The African father is NOT with the family and slavery is the focal driving force on the African continent. Mind you, there is also slavery once we get to Scandinavia, but the author builds a world of family lines, political rivalry, and cultural reference for their warfare and violence, which she doesn’t do in Africa. We do get to learn more about the continent and its people while getting to know the protagonist, but not much time was spent in Africa. It seems, in my view, the author brought us to Africa to set the stage for the protagonist to get to Scandinavia and the kidnapping-slavery card was the obvious way to do it, right? This was disappointing. Perhaps and hopefully, we’ll get more story-building from the continent in the upcoming sequel (fingers crossed).
Putting that aside, the characters were well developed and interesting, with three characters that are principal. Yafea, the protagonist, is a young woman in her mid-late teens, living among the Soninke people of Ghana. Her father, a skilled blacksmith, known for his trade as a weapons forger, left several years before on a commission but never returned, leaving her mother and two young brothers to provide and fend for themselves. During a raid on her village, her family is separated and Yafea is taken – probably by Arab slavers. Yafea’s father, seeing a natural talent in her, has taught her the craft of forging, hunting and fighting – skills that come in handy for her survival throughout the novel. Yafea’s ambition is to be able to use her skills and become a warrior someday.
Freydis, is a young Norwegian princess about Yafea’s age. She is the daughter and only child of a Viking king. The only duty expected of her is to marry, thereby forging an alliance for her father’s kingdom, and to give birth to heirs. Living in Freydis’ world, there is no option. This was tradition and the will of the king, her father. Something drastic would have to happen for her future to change. Freydis could only dream of another future.
Alvtir, is a shield maiden, the king’s sister and commander of the king’s hird (fleet of ships). She rescues Yafea from the slavers and Yafea goes with her to Norway. Alvtir is the key figure in recognizing Yafea’s potential and making her a shield maiden. Alvtir would not be in her position, commander of a hird, if she weren’t sister of the king, even though she was exceptionally skilled mentally and physically. Because she was a woman, her position was constantly undermined and threatened. Honestly, she was my favorite character – simply bad-ass perfection.
Throughout the novel, all three characters have ambitions of their own that goes against the norms of what is expected of them as women. Their positions and very existence are constantly threatened by the men they serve. They all struggle to forge their own fate, helping each other in the process. Yafea in particular has to deal with being in a land completely foreign to hers. The climate, the language, the traditions are completely different and being black also presents hardships and challenges.
The novel is very interesting and engaging, as the authors build the characters, we learn about their backgrounds and history, and how this shaped their personalities. They actually took their time to do this, which I appreciated. It made the novel all the more compelling. As I said, it was a page-turner. I won’t go into too much detail and spoil it for you. I finished this 450-page novel in a few days, and a sequel is expected, and I look forward to reading it allowing this saga to continue. I congratulate these two young women authors for their work – I’m smiling while I write this – well done ladies! Please give Black Shield Maiden by Willow Smith and Jess Hendel a read.