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​Welcome...
...to the website of James L. Nelson, award-winning author of historical maritime fiction and nonfiction. On this page, you'll find the latest books and projects; for more information on upcoming lectures and such, please visit the Author Events page. To learn more about the author himself, see our About the Author page.
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Kings and Pawns

BOOK IX OF THE NORSEMEN SAGA
With their longships storm-blown to the southern coast of Engla-land, Thorgrim Night Wolf and his men find themselves rich with plunder and safely ensconced in a priory called Christchurch. But that cannot last. Thorgrim, in a wolf dream, has seen the enemy armies closing in, and he knows that their peace will soon be at an end. The gods do not go so easy on him and his men. He has learned that through experience and hard use.

​Nor are the gods the only threat they face. As Nothwulf, brother of the murdered ealdorman of Dorset, and Cynewise, his sister-in-law, fight for rule of the shire, each seeks to make the raiders unwitting pawns in their game, maneuvering toward a final battle that each hopes will spell the end of the other and crush the Norse strangers who have invaded their shores.
"[Nelson] writes with such clarity and conviction... follow the action and be gripped
​by it...."
– Allan Massie, The Wall Street Journal
A Vengeful Wind

BOOK VIII OF THE NORSEMEN SAGA
Summer comes to Ireland and an uneasy peace holds at Loch Garman. The Northmen, eager to get to sea, work relentlessly on their ships, with the aid of their unlikely allies, the Irish, who are just as eager to see them go. But not everyone is willing to just let them sail away. Certain that God demands the heathens be punished, the one-eyed warrior-turned-monk Brother Bécc is determined that Thorgrim and his men will not simply go free. And when another band of raiders arrives, Bécc finds the excuse he needs to take action. Meanwhile, in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex, murder leads to a violent struggle for the seat of ealdorman, ruler of the shire of Dorset. Desperate as each side is to tip the balance of power their way, no one imagines that the upper hand might come from the direction they least expect: from the sea.
"Nelson's Viking Sagas are a tour de force of tautly crafted twists, turns full of authentic detail, and plots that drive you to the finish!"
 – Dewey Lambdin, author of the Alan Lewrie Naval Adventures
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