Black Shield Maiden is a Norse saga, with Yafeu taken in slavers from Africa and sold to a Viking community. There she becomes part of a political game involving Freydis, a Viking princess. It’s the debut novel of artist and activist Willow Smith, with assistance from writer Jess Hendel.
It’s a solid debut, but it also suffers from quite a few issues. Firstly, the actual premise takes up the first quarter of the book and that could have been edited more sharply. The narrative only builds momentum in the second. There is also the odd anachronism here, particularly in terms The Viking’s would and wouldn’t use. Again, that should have been picked up.
Once you get that past that, you can enjoy the gory thrills, romance and axe work we all love. Fans of series such as Vikings (cited in the introduction by Smith) or The Last Kingdom will already be forming a shield wall at bookshops. It’s a book that deals in the visceral thrill; and also one that is immune to criticism - a sequel is already in the offing. It’s released on May 7th and I thank Random House for a preview copy.
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