I've been reading a lot of myths, ancient nordic classics, and some nonfiction books I've been able to get my hands on (eg. Neil Price's Children of Ash and Elm) and as a historical fiction and fantasy fan I'd love to find some novels set in the viking age or inspired by norse mythology but they seem to be far harder to find than for example their ancient greek or arthurian/medieval english counterparts that I'm also a big fan of!
I'd really appreciate any recommendations including myth retellings etc. I'm pretty much open to anything as long as it's somewhat historically accurate/loyal to the myths and legends and it's well written (read: not the booktok-popular romantasy kind of thing if you get my meaning). Preferably something more mature though, I'm a bit too old for the likes of Percy Jackson and whatever its norse equivalent might be and sticking with the greek mythological retelling example, Madeline Miller's novels I found quite weak in terms of literary value but still kind of fun to read when you're not in the mood for anything serious so I suppose a similar level of cheesiness and juvenility is still acceptable haha if not quite what I'm looking for.
The only suggestion I have so far is Riccardo Polacci's Born A Viking: Blót which sounds right up my alley based on the blurb but I sadly haven't been able to secure a copy as of yet.
I don't know if this helps, but some books with similar vibes/style I'm looking for that come to mind are LOTR, ASOIAF, The Once and Future King, Bernard Cornwell's Warlord Chronicles and Saxon Tales, David Gemmell's Troy trilogy, Michelle Paver's Chronicles of Ancient Darkness, The King Must Die by Mary Renault, Killer of Men by Christian Cameron, Ken Liu's Dandelion Dynasty series, maybe Laurus by Eugene Vodolazkin, Ursula Le Guin's Lavinia, and although I've only just started reading it, The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman seems to fit the bill.
Many thanks in advance!!!
by maedhreos