This book swept me away. Griffith immersed herself in the 7th century, and the way she's written this book, she takes you with her. You feel, smell, see, taste Hild's world. She, and the characters around her, are vivid and 3-dimensional. I don't know how she's done this without me ever sensing an info-dump, but she does. There's drama and suspense from the King's political machinations and wars, but also the day-to-day challenges of enough honey for mead, and worries over the flax crop for this year's linen.

It reminded my of reading good science fiction, where the author does world-building that takes to a new place.

The other day, I was packing up to catch the bus for work, and looking for my Kobo e-reader. I realized that I wasn't thinking "Where's my book?" or "Where's my Kobo?", but "Where's Hild?". I can't recall ever doing that before.