The Hungry Pack

Two packs of hostile Vikings and a cursed drakkar full of gold... Vagrant, adventurer and occasional gambler Harald arrives in Norway at the worst possible time. Unbeknownst to him, his fate is about to become intertwined with the fates of many, and it could mean either blessing or untimely death for all. Jarl Bjorn Berkfinnsson and his companions face a difficult journey that could bring them together or tear them apart forever. A sunken drakkar full of gold belongs to a sea that refuses to give up its treasures. And a hungry Danish pack is on the trail of the Norwegian Vikings. A game between two kings sets in motion events from which neither can escape. To walk the paths of honour and glory is to know no mercy. The harbours are full of worm bait, wine flows in streams, and the moonlight makes it damn hard to tell it apart from blood. As every raven knows, patience breeds fresh meat. And so many have gathered at the gates of Valhalla that The Gods have had to adjust their seating arrangements.

Reader reviews

"Beyond expectations, a good battle fantasy with just enough inventive nastiness to keep me reading. Harald is a light antihero, just enough to be believable and interesting."

"Full of unwashed brutal Vikings, violence, aggression, a little magic, a little fear, and none (but really none) "brave white-coated" hero. It was a really fast read. I'm already looking forward to the continuation of Harald's adventures."

"Martin Sladek's first novel, The Hungry Pack, is Nordic fantasy as if turned out by a precision CNC machine. (...) Nothing here is corny, nothing here is cheated. (...) Sladek even manages not to panic as the end draws near, and with the experienced hand of a true professional he cuts the finale like a musical score."

Author's comment

The Hungry Pack was the first complex work in terms of character motivations and relationships. In it, the characters undergo an inner development that is conditioned and accelerated by rapidly unfolding events - such a development is therefore believable even within the space of a few weeks. Harald gets the chance to leave the path of the morose and alcoholic, the skald Ilbor admits his fatal weakness publicly for the first time... The villain is only negative from a certain point of view. In the end, they are all just trying to fulfil their desires and needs, more or less sympathetically. The book is also a kind of matryoshka - a smaller story hidden in the main one, literally sunken like the English treasure. Tying the two together wasn't easy, and it was clear from the start that some wouldn't like it. But without finishing the smaller story, the finale wouldn't have made as much sense. In general, the finale is what matters in this book. I got goosebumps when I was writing it, and the editor got goosebumps when he first read it - so it was clear that it belonged there.