Author Garth Petterson provided me with an ecopy of The Sea's Edge for review. 

I have had the pleaser of reading now, three of the four books in The Atheling Chronicles. Somehow I missed the first (I have to fix that). My review site is titled "Books are Theater of the Mind" and author Garth Petterson's work lives up to that claim admirably. 

Set in medieval Engla-lond and its environs, this story chronicles the continuing tale of a somewhat reluctant warrior hero,  Harald, son of King Cnute. Author Petterson paints a vivid picture of a harsh yet beautiful landscape. Woven in among storylines of ruthless warlords and intricate political schemes is a love story. Harald, not one to shirk his duty as the son of a king, still focuses on his love for Selia his wife. We read the story of a man struggling to maintain balance in his life. As a historical novel, The Sea's Edge probably takes liberties with the actual history and I am certainly not qualified to comment on its historical accuracy. Frankly I don't care. I do know, from perusing a lengthy bibliography of source material, I'm inclined to think it pretty historically accurate. The point of a novel is to be entertaining and The Sea's Edge achieves this goal without question.

The action and intrigue are riveting. It keeps the reader enthralled and engaged while the love storyline provides relief from becoming overwhelmed and possibly numbed by too much graphic violence. In addition to the main love interests (my view as the main characters) we have lust driven players, women who use men's lusts to political advantage and feckless wimps in positions of leadership. Spies, allies and warriors of varying degrees of loyalty. I encourage lovers of historical fiction, medieval fiction or political intrigue to give The Sea's Edge a read. I think you will find it is a good way to pass some time in another time and place. Enjoy!