Book Review: Viking Warrior Rising by Asa Maria Bradley

Viking Warrior Rising by Asa Maria Bradley is the first book in the Viking Warriors series. Leif Skarsganger and his elite band of immortal warriors have been charged to protect humanity from the evil Norse god Loki. Under attack from Loki's minions, Leif is shocked to encounter a dark-haired beauty who fights like a warrior herself. Wounded and feverish, the Viking kisses her, inadvertently triggering an ancient Norse bond. But when Naya Brisbane breaks away and disappears before the bond is completed, Leif's warrior spirit goes berserk. If Leif doesn't find her fast, he's going to lose himself to permanent battle fury. But Naya doesn't want to be found, and he'll do anything to find her because they're both running out of time.

Viking Warrior Rising is a solid urban fantasy that will greatly appeal to fans of mythology. I will admit that it took me a while to get up to speed with the world created in this book, and I worried that I might have missed a prequel or something. However, there is no previous book and I got a grasp of the world and characters fairly quickly. I found that there were plenty of outside conflicts, Loki’s minions and scientists for the most part, but the majority of relationship conflicts seemed to steam from lack of trust and communication. I can total get the trust issues on Naya’s part. The secret keeping is fairly expected and in keeping with the characters. However, as with many romance novels, so much of the trouble came from a lack of discussion of feelings and the particulars of the situation. I liked both the main characters and the bevy of secondary characters that were introduced, and the high action and the turns that action took. I was just annoyed with the stubbornness and lack of “using their words”. However, I still founds it too be an entertaining and interesting read.

Viking Warrior Rising was a fast, fun ride. There was plenty of set up and build building mixed in with the action, but I really enjoyed the character introductions and set up developed on that front. The sequel, Viking Warrior Rebel, is scheduled for release later this year, and I am looking forward to following up with Astrid to see where the story takes us.