An ARKANE Thriller by J.F. Penn

Day of the Vikings

She has been called many things: murderer, madwoman, monster. She will become only one thing: a god.

Neo-Vikings storm the British Museum and seize an ancient völva staff, the only one never ritually destroyed.

Trapped inside with the hostages is Morgan Sierra, and beside her a museum researcher named Blake Daniel, whose gloved hands can read the history of any object they touch.

From the Great Court to the Lindisfarne Gospels to a storm-lashed island in the Hebrides, one day decides whether Ragnarok stays a myth.

The free ARKANE novella, and the crossover with the Dark London trilogy.

A storm is coming.

Day of the Vikings book cover
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Available in ebook, paperback, hardback, large print and audiobook. Buying direct supports the author most, and ships worldwide.

Reader reviews
“The danger, historical, religious and supernatural references in those short chapters amped up the tension and kept me turning pages like crazy. The intrepid Morgan Sierra has hard-won experience that makes her tougher, smarter, and more formidable in each story. She's a force to be reckoned with, but she has her softer side, too.”Marcia Richards, Amazon review
“Excellent thriller with a touch of Dan Brown and Clive Cussler ... a quick, fast-paced read that will have you screaming for more ... You will not be disappointed.”Minnesota Mom, Amazon review
“Wow! What a fast and thrilling read this was ... Penn has a way of taking ancient mysteries and turning them into easy to follow thrills with magic and mysticism that is plausible.”Mary A. Madsen, Amazon review
The real mysteries

The research behind the book

The exhibition

The volva staffs

The British Museum's 2014 Vikings show displayed real seeresses' staffs. Jo attended, and one staff grew a story.

793 AD

The raid on Lindisfarne

The first Viking raid in Britain, with fiery dragons in the sky, says the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

The book

The Lindisfarne Gospels

Eadfrith's masterpiece and its colophon, resting in the British Library between showings.

The Hebrides

Iona

St Columba's island, St Martin's Cross, and the Bay at the Back of the Ocean, described as exactly as Jo could.

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Orkney

The Ring of Brodgar

A Neolithic circle under the aurora, where the story begins in blood.

The myth

Odin's eye and Mimir's well

Odin traded an eye for wisdom. The novella asks what he got for it.