The Danes hate the Irish. The Danes hate the Norwegians. The Irish want everyone to leave their island and leave them alone. And Thorgrim, leader of the Norwegian party, just wants to go home.

When The Lord of Vik-Lo begins, Thorgrim and his men are finally headed back to Norway, where he has longed to be since this series began. But, as always, the gods -- or, in this case, heavy winds -- have other ideas, and instead of crossing the sea to England and on towards home, his hard-won longship is forced back to the Irish coast. Rather than returning to Dubh-Linn, however, Thorgrim and his men find themselves further south, in Vik-Lo, a small Viking town run by the giant Dane Grimarr.

Neither Thorgrim nor Grimarr realizes, at first, that Thorgrim and his men killed Grimarr's sons in the previous book, Dubh-Linn, when they tried to abduct an Irish princess under the Norsemen's protection. But, since Thorgrim is sailing their longship, Grimarr soon figures that out. And he isn't happy about it.

Matters are worse because Lorcan, an Irish leader, is trying to win power for himself among his own people and, even more importantly, drive the invaders from his homeland. To do that, he hopes to steal a treasure that Grimarr and his Danes recently looted from an Irish monastery. Unfortunately, it was hidden by Grimarr's now-dead fighting partner, and no one seems to know where it is.

Although I have long been a fan of James Nelson's writing, I am a relative latecomer to his ongoing Norsemen Saga. I am glad I found it, however, because now I can't get enough of it. Nelson writes a taut, thrilling tale that is full of brutal, primitive warcraft among men whose greatest desire is a seat in Valhalla. Meanwhile, however, circumstances are keeping them marooned in Ireland, and I for one hope they don't make it home any time soon.