Quercus Books

'Sweeps the reader away on a vivid voyage of adventure ... mesmerising' The Times.

'Kevin Crossley-Holland is one of the giants of children's fiction' Philip Reeve.

'A Norse saga with a difference ... travelogue through a beautifully realised 11th-century Europe, full of incident and subtle characterisation' The Financial Times.

'This beautifully written and sustained story of a journey is based on an intimate knowledge of the Norse and Viking worlds' Irish Sunday Independent.

'Crossley-Holland writes prose with a poet's eye and love of words, painting a vivid picture of the world his characters move through' Guardian.

'Kevin Crossley-Holland is a wonderful storyteller who writes compellingly and whose historical novels have brought history alive for many readers' Parents in Touch.

One morning Solveig wakes to find her father, Viking mercenary Halfdan, has broken his promise to her and gone to rejoin his friend, Harald Hardrada, in Constantinople, where he is leader of the Empress's guard. Deciding to follow him, Solveig sets off in a tiny boat and into an adventure along the Baltic and through the river routes of Russia to the Black Sea, encountering Swedish traders, a ghost-ship and a Russian king, and braving arrow-storms and witnessing a living sacrifice along the way. Through it all, Solveig's belief in her father is unwavering. Will she ever reach Constantinople? And will her father be there?

A glittering novel that explores friendship and betrayal, the father-daughter relationship, the clash of religions and the journey from childhood to adulthood.

Kevin Crossley-Holland's Arthur trilogy has been translated into 24 languages, and has sold over one million copies worldwide. His re-tellings of traditional tale includes The Penguin Book of Norse Myths. He has won many awards for his fiction, including the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. He is an Honorary Fellow of St Edmund Hall, Oxford, a patron of the Society of Storytelling, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Author website