Orphaned as a child by a blood-feud, and sold as a slave to an exiled chieftain in Ireland, the boy Hasting had little hope of surviving to adulthood. The gods had other plans. A ship arrived at his master's longphort carrying a man who would alter the course of his destiny, and take him under his wing to teach him the ways of the Vikings. His is a story of a boy who was a slave, who became a warlord, and who helped topple an empire.
A supposed son of Ragnar Lodbrok, and referred to in the Gesta Normannorum as the Scourge of the Somme and Loire, his life exemplified the qualities of the ideal Viking. Join author and historian C.J. Adrien on an adventure that explores the coming of age of the Viking Hasting, his first love, his first great trials, and his first betrayal.
"The Lords of the Wind" by C.J. Adrien is a gold medal winner in the 2020 Reader's Favorite annual international book award contest.
Trigger Warnings:
Violence
Praise
"If you want to sit down with an extremely well-researched tale involving heroic battles, first loves, and the making of a legend, this book is for you."
The Historical Novel Society
Buy Links:
The Lords of the Wind (Book 1)
In the Shadow of the Beast (Book 2)
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C.J. Adrien
(Stuff you may or may not already know!)
Fact #1: I am the third generation in my family to publish
On my father’s side, I am the third generation of writers. My grandfather published two memoirs about his life building an international commercial fishing empire and more recently a book on climate change. My father has written six novels in total, all of them based in the country of Peru where his girlfriend lives. What makes this fact a little more interesting is that I, the third and last generation, was the first to press and inspired the others to write!
Fact #2: I once caught an owl with a car.
In 2008, I drove home from my grandparents’ house on the island of Noirmoutier to my dad’s house in Nantes, near the airport where I had a flight to catch the following morning. I drove a 1987 Volkswagen Golf Boston with the old yellow lights that made it hard to see far ahead. The sun had set, shrouding the bocages on either side of the narrow French countryside road in darkness. A shadow emerged from the trees to my right around one corner just outside of St. Lumine de Coutais. A dark mass collided with the front of my car, and I screamed! The road was windy and narrow. I knew if I stopped to look at what had struck my car, another car might not see me and cause a worse accident, so I decided to continue to the next village before stopping. The dark mass hung lifeless on my grill, its disheveled feathers fluttering in the wind. Whatever I had hit, I thought, was dead.
A few moments later, the animal I thought I had killed sprung to life. An owl, the size of a medium-sized dog, rose up from the grill with a rigid body, in the same manner Dracula rises from his coffin. Its head swiveled around, and we locked eyes. With a slow and dramatic raise of its wings, it attempted to fly off, but its foot had caught in something on my grill. The beast knew it was trapped.
We spent an uncomfortable five-or-so minutes staring at each other until we arrived at the church at the center of St. Lumine de Coutais. The church lights allowed me to see my hitchhiker more clearly. I stood outside my car and examined him for a moment. His eyes looked at me, too. A taut silence set in between us. It was cut short by a sudden double honk and the arrival of a French police car. Two gendarmes emerged and sauntered toward me.
“You are parked illegally in front of the church. Give us your pa…”
Before the gendarme could finish his sentence, his colleague interrupted him: “Oh, merde!”
Their attention turned to my hitchhiker, who fluttered his wings with a majestic and authoritative grace. I laughed at their reaction and said, “Could you help me get him off?”
“I don’t know how,” one of them said. The other shook his head.
“My dad’s house is five minutes away,” I said. “We have tools.”
“D’accord,” they said. “Drive safely.”
I had to laugh. Gendarmes have a reputation for doing no more than what they need to do. These two had gotten me to move out of an illegal parking position, and that was all they felt they needed to do. As I sat back in my car, I caught them taking selfies in front of the owl. I shook my head, put the car into gear, and puttered away. What a joke!
Returned to the darkness of the French countryside, I kept my speed under 30km/hour to prevent disturbing my passenger. Bright lights flashed in my rearview mirror, and a car zoomed up behind us. As French drivers tend to do, they flashed me and even honked to tell me how displeased they were with how slow I drove. As they passed, I noticed a black Peugeot 605 with a whole family inside. The father extended his arm and hand to flip me the bird but stopped short when he caught sight of the owl. His eyes opened wide, his wife in the passenger seat gawked, and the children in the back smushed their hands and noses against the window. Their car lingered beside mine so they could stare, then sped off ahead of us.
My dad saw my lights pull into his driveway and decided to come out to greet me. When he saw the owl, he had no reaction. He just shook his head, grinned, and said, “Pourqu’oi faire simple quand on peut faire difficile.” (translation: why do things simple when we can make them hard)
My dad put on a pair of leather gloves and pulled apart the car’s headlamp. He allowed the owl to grasp his hand, and he held it up like a falconer. We did take a picture with a disposable camera, but my dad misplaced it in his house somewhere and never had it developed. Alas, all I am left with is the memory of my dad casting the owl off into the night and hearing the beating of its wings echoing in the street.
Fact #3: I had the fastest tennis serve in my conference at 17.
When I was seventeen, I played a lot of competitive tennis. My claim to fame was my serve. It was once clocked at 137 miles per hour, making it the fastest serve in my conference.
Fact #4: My fiancé and I recently released a kids' book about the Vikings
“I’m a Viking!” is a history book about the Viking Age for kids. Join Leif, a chieftain’s son who wants nothing more than to grow up to be a Viking just like his dad. Follow Leif as he gives you a tour of his life—the things he must learn, the things he likes to do for fun, and much more. “I’m a Viking!” is an excellent primer for young minds interested in the past. Don’t be fooled—grown-ups may learn a thing or two, too.
Fact #5: My sister says I talk a lot.
In writing these fun facts, I asked my sister (who is autistic) what she thinks is a fun fact about me. She said I talk a lot.
C.J. Adrien is a bestselling and award-winning author of Viking historical fiction novels with a passion for Viking history. His Saga of Hasting the Avenger series was inspired by research conducted in preparation for a doctoral program in early medieval history as well as his admiration for historical fiction writers such as Ken Follett and Bernard Cornwell. He is also a published historian on the subject of Vikings, with articles featured in historical journals such as L’Association des Amis de Noirmoutier, in France. His novels and expertise have earned him invitations to speak at several international events, including the International Medieval Congress at the University of Leeds, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), conferences on Viking history in France, among others.
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Thank you so much for hosting today's tour stop. We really appreciate all that you do.
ReplyDeleteMary Anne
The Coffee Pot Book Club
Always a pleasure.
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