The Sword of the Viking King

by Terry Deary, Helen Flook (Illustrator)

When King Alfred is left to wander the English countryside looking little better than a beggar, it seems there is no hope left - the Vikings will conquer the country and they will all become slaves. Ethelbert is still young, but he wishes he could fight to protect his country. And soon he is called upon to do just that. But when faced with such fearsome warriors, it is only through cunning and mystery that they will get the upper hand...A Viking story blending Norse mythology with historical fact and Terry Deary's vividly imagined characters.

64 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2010

About the author

A former actor, theatre-director and drama teacher, Deary says he began writing when he was 29. Most famously, he is one of the authors of the Horrible Histories series of books popular among children for their disgusting details, gory information and humorous pictures and among adults for getting children interested in history. Books in the series have been widely translated into other languages and imitated.

A cartoon series has been made of the series of books and was shown on CiTV for a period in 2002.

The first series of a live-action comedy sketch show of the same name was shown on CBBC in 2009 and a second series is due.

Terry is also known widely throughout children and adult reading groups alike for his True Stories series (see below for series list).

He received an Honorary Doctorate of Education from the University of Sunderland in 2000. His numerous accolades also include the Blue Peter "Best Nonfiction Author of the Century" Award in the U.K.

-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Gery · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75⭐

[Kris McCracken · Rating 4 out of 5]

My seven year old son Ezra and I have been reading this series of short chapter books, so bear that in mind with our review!

Another of Deary's tales for kids set in different historical periods. This is a bit of a look at how it must have felt during the times of seemingly incessant Viking raids in Briton. An exciting tale that we both enjoyed.

[Donna Maguire · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought that this was a great book to read! The story was well written and it was easy to read and understand and I loved the way that the story was told. I have read a few of the books in the Terrible True Tales series now and they are all really enjoyable (this one has been added to the Viking set), good timing reading this one as we recently saw the fungus King Alfred's Cakes on a walk by the local canal! It is 5 stars from me for this one - very highly recommended!

[Elizabeth]

Read as part of our history project on the Vikings.

[Ms Finley Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Gnome and I read this book together. He loved reading the story and then learning about the “real” Viking history at the end of the book.

[Helen O'Sh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever! And interesting! Actually listened to this as part of three Terry Deary stories - The Hand is the Viking Warrior, the Eye of the Viking God, and the Battle of the Viking Woman.

[Savina Angelova · Rating 3 out of 5]

Не е лоша книжката. Според мен неща, написани по този начин, има повече шанс да се запомнят. След историята има и няколко изречения кое как е било точно исторически и кое е по-скоро легенда. 3/5.

[Asif · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is a story set at the time of King Alfred. At this time the King is losing many battles against the invading Vikings. King Alfred pick up a young boy to be his squire from a village and things start to change. The young boy has an idea on how to defeat the Vikings and so they go on an adventure and eventually find a way of having peace with the Vikings.

This is a nice story, easy to read, not to long so as hopefully to keep the attention of most pupils. It has very good illustrations on almost every page which help to make the story more enjoyable. What I particularly enjoy about these series is that at the end they relate the story to actual history by mentioning which parts of the story are actually mentioned in histroy. This makes any book from these serious helpful in connecting to a history topic.

I think this book should be suitable from year 4 upwards. Can be enjoyed individually or as a class book.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this in mind to use with my Year 3 class (aged 7-8) for our Saxon and Viking topic.

This is a great book that is full of Viking information. The story is set during King Alfred of Wessex, he is trying to rid his land of the Vikings. This features the famous tale of King Alfred burning a woman's cakes while in disguise. It also goes on how he tricks the Viking leader into leaving England.

What is very good, is at the end of the story, there is a page that gives a little more historical background to the story.

The sentences and the pictures every 2-3 pages make this a very child-friendly book. I shall be using this book for Guided Reading, and I know my children will really enjoy this story!

[Xanthi · Rating 2 out of 5]

You really need to listen to Deary's Viking Tales on audiobook, as the narrator does a good job of it and hearing him do a Nordic accent is highly entertaining.