This compelling novel explores exciting territory. It is set not in Shakespeare's English Renaissance variation of a Danish kingdom. Instead, the novel takes place in the tenth-century Viking era. PERILOUS - The Extraordinary Lives of Hamlet and Horatio returns the Hamlet story to its Northern origins. The novel captures the sweep and the ferocity of the Norse sagas. Hamlet is not a Renaissance prince who becomes a prisoner of his anguish and his hesitation. Hamlet and his brotherly cousin Horatio are Viking warriors. They are activists fighting for their survival and for the upbuilding of an honorable country. The novel introduces new leading characters, such as Ingrid (Horatio's brave wife) and Gunnhild (Hamlet's fearless aunt). Other new characters who influence the narrative include Signe, Astrith, Thorberg, Eyvind, Magnus, and Alfgeir. The novel expands and deepens the character of Horatio and enables him to stand with Hamlet as a brave warrior and a dominant figure. It also reinterprets the characters of Ophelia and Fortinbras. Its main concern is Hamlet's and Horatio's struggles to make the world cleaner and the sacrifices they make as they fight fearlessly and savagely to make their world better.