With the dragon boats comes death. Northern England in 866: at the age of ten, the prince's son Uhtred witnesses the Viking invasion. His impetuous courage in battle impresses the leader of the Danes so much that he spares Uhtred and takes him in as a foster child. Over the years, the boy almost becomes one of them. After raids and conquests full of blood and violence, Wessex, the last of the five Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, also threatens to fall to the conquerors. But then Uhtred changes sides again ... "Perhaps the greatest author of historical adventure stories known to the present day." (Washington Post)