Spoiler-Free Book Series Review: The Viking Quest Series

Hello, readers! When my good friend Kamama approached me about writing for this blog, one of my first ideas to write about was this. I absolutely love this series, for several reasons. I wish I could talk about it with spoilers, but maybe I’ll do that in another post later…

Briana O’Toole is an Irish girl of thirteen, living peacefully in the Wicklow Mountains in the late 900’s. She is happy with her loving family with four siblings, Devin, Cara, Jen and Adam. However, a shadow lingers over the Glendalough because years ago, the Viking raided, taking away Bree’s sister Keely. In the back of everyone’s mind is the wonder if they will ever come again. One day, Bree saves the life of a mysterious boy named Michael, but she has a feeling that he is not who he says he is. When he disappears, she wonders if her fears will finally come true.

These five stories––Raiders from the Sea, Mystery of the Silver Coins, The Invisible Friend, Heart of Courage and The Raider’s Promise––are full of heart, conflict, drama, and deep truths. Bree is a strong-willed girl who trusts in God and is confident in herself. Sometimes she struggles with the challenges in front of her, but her faith and character strengthens as the story progresses. Lois Walfrid Johnson weaves themes of courage, forgiveness, trust, and faith through Bree’s difficult journey.

What made these stories take their places in my heart was the genuine characters, the beautiful story and the Christian truths. I love how Bree wrestled with what she believed, and yet she holds on to what she knows is right. I love the adventure of traveling to places like Ireland and learning about things like fjords (there is something so satisfying about saying and writing that word!). I laughed and cried with this story; I kept flipping the pages to see what would happen next.

If you are someone who is picky about what they read (no judgment!), then I’ll give you a few things you might want to know. If you don’t like pages and pages of descriptions of nature or things like that, you will be happy with this story. It has descriptions in it, but it relies more on dialogue and action, whether big or small. It also details the emotions and thoughts of the characters in a nice way. If you like romance or perhaps are annoyed by it, this is a nice compromise. The romance is not inappropriate or distracting but more subtle, especially at first.

For negative points, there are only a few things that I don’t like about the story. It is written for ages 10 and up, and sometimes you can tell. It can be unrealistic at times and softened for a younger audience. It is nice not to have lots of dark moments, but I wish that it was a bit more serious at times. I also noticed that the dialogue and writing style feels less mature and complex than I would like. The second book was a bit slow at times, when I was reading through it another time. Also, sometimes I was annoyed with the choices that the characters made and how the author wrote it, even though I understand why she did it the way she did.

Nevertheless, even through all those things, this book series is a favorite for me. I was reading portions of the last book a little while ago (as a seventeen-year-old), and I cried again, empathizing with one particular character. It taught me lessons that I won’t forget, specifically one moment that helped me become stronger in my faith. It is a story of great truth and empathetic characters.

If you like exploring new places and different cultures, this is a good series to read. It is a series that I talked about on the phone with a friend for an hour. It is a series that I could read over and over.

I hope you can discover this series just like I did.

~Evelyn Knight

Biographical Info:

Author: Lois Walfrid Johnson

Publisher/Date: Moody Publishers, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006

Genre: Historical Fiction/Adventure