Deliver us, O Lord, from the fury of the Norsemen . . .' The latest novel from Paul Watkins is a riveting tale of epic proportions, evoking a turbulent age one thousand years removed from our own. After centuries of ranging unchecked across the northern world, the fortunes of the Vikings have begun to turn. In this time of violent change, a young man, struck by lightning, is believed to be marked by the gods as a keeper of the Norse religion's greatest secret. Stolen from his family, he grows up among mercenary warriors; upon finally returning home, he finds that war has broken out against the rising tide of Christianity. To save the Norse faith and himself, he embarks upon a journey that takes him far beyond the boundaries of the known world, where he must confront not only his own gods but the gods of a people yet more savage.