Welcome, I'm Lars Walker, fantasy author (Lars Rhymes With Farce, Not Cars ). Welcome to my website, where you can learn all I choose to tell you about myself and my books. I'm the author of a series of historic fantasies about Erling Skjalgsson, a great Viking lord, and some loosely connected fantasies based around Epsom, Minnesota. Get a taste for these novels on the books page.

In April 2019 I spoke at Union University on Christianity coming to the vikings. Watch the video through the link, and be sure to read my blog Brandywine Books. You'll get the latest news from me there.

King of Rogaland

New in the Erling Skjalgsson series!

It's 1022 AD. In Norway, the balance of power is poised between two mighty men — King Olaf, full of new ideas about central government, and Erling Skjalgsson, defender of the old democracy. Two worlds are watching as they contend — the familiar world we live in, and the unseen world around us, full of witches and elves and the dead who walk in the night.

Erling is fighting for survival, and for the future of the land. The steps he must take aren't always gentle ones. At his side is his Irish priest, Father Ailill, concerned that Erling might gain the world and lose his soul. Concerned, also, about Erling's nephew Asbjorn, a proud young man inclined to cut corners with the law.

This is the six book in the Erling Skjalgsson series. For the rest, look for these titles:

  1. The Year of the Warrior (Books 1-2)
  2. West Oversea (Book 3)
  3. Hailstone Mountain (Book 4)
  4. The Elder King (Book 5)

The Elder King

In a land divided, Erling Skjalgsson rules the West-land of Norway in peace and justice. But a rumor is abroad in the land, songs and tales of a man of destiny coming from across the sea, a man who would be king. In The Elder King, can Erling keep a fractious alliance of chieftains together long enough to defend their freedoms from an ambitious princeling whose ruthlessness knows no limits, and who believes himself the instrument of God?

Erling's priest, Father Ailill, must balance his clerical vows against his growing love for a woman on the run, a woman with a dark secret and a bizarre fate. Meanwhile, in the mountains, the Elder King waits. He is ancient. He is wise. He is powerful. And he is entirely mad. In the face of his deadly plan for the whole world, bitter enemies must put aside their differences and make a last stand together.

I released several pages of The Elder King on my blog, so start reading there and pick it up with your Kindle tomorrow.

Hailstone Mountain

The fourth book in Erling Skjalgsson's adventures takes place just after 1000 A.D. Hailstone Mountain is an H. Rider Haggard-esque story, in which Erling is struck by a curse that could kill him slowly. In order to break the curse, he must sail north (along with Father Ailill, Lemming, and others) to confront the source of the magic face to face. Meanwhile, Lemming’s niece Freydis is kidnapped by her relatives from up in Halogaland, and it’s not a nice kind of family, so she must be rescued. And that sets off repercussions that could destroy the whole country. Erling must join forces with a bitter enemy to stave off a monstrous horror.

"Lars Walker shows brilliance in taking us into the skulls and skins of those incredibly daring... men and women of the ancient world. [He] knows not only his Norse history, but Viking society, manners and technology as well, making the book a painless education in the ancient world's ways of living and thinking." - Hal G. P. Colebatch

 

Viking Legacy

Viking Legacy by Torgrim TitlestadBesides being a novelist, I’m a Norwegian translator. I’m very proud of the recently released work, Viking Legacy, by the Norwegian scholar and historian Dr. Torgrim Titlestad.

Viking Legacy is a groundbreaking book that makes two controversial claims. First, that the Icelandic sagas provide useful information that can be useful to historians, if handled with caution. Second, that we owe our western ideas of democracy at least as much to Viking legal tradition as to ancient Athens.

I might also mention that Erling Skjalgsson, the hero of my Viking novels, is a prominent character in this work. I first became acquainted with Prof. Titlestad though our mutual interest in this larger-than-life saga character.

 

Terrific historic fantasy novels

I can tell you are a discerning reader. That's the reason I can recommend Troll Valley, my first e-book. It's the fairy tale your grandparents never told you. Your childhood has been shafted until you read this book set in 1900 southeastern Minnesota. It follows Chris Anderson, who is a unusual farmer's son. For one thing, he has a deformed arm. For another, he has a fairy godmother (not the Disney kind). He's also bedeviled by apparitions--red, pointed Norwegian caps which dance around him on the ground when he allows himself to get angry (for which reason he always stuffs his feelings. Sort of the perfect Norwegian).




 

Death's Doors

Deaths Doors by Lars Walker In the near future, suicide is a constitutional right. Tom Galloway is an ordinary single father, just trying to keep his rebellious and depressed daughter from going to the Happy Endings Clinic. The last thing he needs is a ninth-century Viking time traveler dropping into his life. But Tom is about to embark on the adventure of his life. One that will change the world.

I originally wrote Death's Doors several years ago. As I did with Wolf Time, I simply sighted along the lines of current cultural trends and imagined what the world would be like a little way down the road. I deal with two cultural developments. One is assisted suicide. I’m sure some readers will say that a constitutional “right to die” would never be extended to minors, and certainly not without parental consent. My answer is, “Yeah. Remember how well that worked with abortion.”

The other is the worldwide expansion of Islam, particularly in Europe, but also in America.

Gene Veith says, "It’s suspenseful, exciting, and wildly imaginative, both in the author’s story telling and in the way it stimulates the reader’s imagination."

 

Renegade Swords III

Pick up the anthology, Renegade Swords III, to read my story, "Magic's Price.' It's about a wizard, berserkers, and a bereaved husband. I know nothing about the other stories, or the authors. But my story alone makes the book worth having. It goes without saying.


My First Books Direct from the Publisher

The good people at Baen Books are selling four of my books and e-books directly. Buy them here, and consider giving them as gifts to your discerning family and friends for whatever holiday is just around the corner. Late Christmas presents are always welcome, and don't forget gifts for Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, various parent days, birthdays, U.S. congressional holidays, Norwegian Constitution Day, and tomorrow--all great days for giving.

You may also buy any or all of them from through Amazon.

 

About Lars

Q: Your Erling books concern an Irishman living in Norway. You have an Irish last name, so I assume your heritage is Irish-Norwegian. Right?

A: Wrong. One of my Norwegian great-grandfathers took the name Walker more or less at random after arriving in America (which was rather courageous of him, considering he couldn't even pronounce the letter “W”). I confess to being a quarter Dane though.

(Photo credit: Philip Patton)

More fascinating Q&A with Lars here