Varanger — Cecelia Holland

  A Viking saga continues with  an “entertaining adventure tale” that's “imaginative and creditable” with “sharply drawn and authentic” characters (Publishers Weekly).
 
Conn Corbansson is a clever and strong leader of men and his cousin and best friend, the god-touched Raef, is his navigator and shield against evil. After joining a fur-trading ship to Russia they are forced to overwinter in the icebound village of Novgrod.
 
But tempers flare in the confinement, and factions form -- the far-faring Norse against the native Rus, the honor-bound warriors against the gold-seeking traders. Taking service with the leader of the Rus, Dobrynya, they travel south to Kiev, and on with a raiding party that will take them all the way into the northern reaches of the Byzantine Empire.
 
Praise for the writing of Cecelia Holland:
 
“Elements of romance, mysticism, and suspense are interwoven into one superlative, spine-tingling adventure.” -- Booklist
 
“The best historical novelist since France's Zoé Oldenbourg.” -- Kirkus Reviews