When one of their friends is captured and sold into slavery in the land of the Rus, the children of the old chieftain and their comrades decide to risk everything to rescue him. Little do they know what awaits them when they embark on the Viking ship, the Eagle. In addition to the dangers of the sea voyage, they must face the villainy of a traitor, marauding pirates and robbers, before they end up in a seemingly hopeless situation as slaves in a quarry. To add to their problems, they learn that they have provoked the anger of the new chieftain of their island home and have been banished.

Michael E Wills was born on the Isle of Wight, UK, and educated at the Priory Boys School and Carisbrooke Grammar. He trained as a teacher at St Peter’s College, Saltley, Birmingham, before working at a secondary school in Kent for two years.

After re-training to become a teacher of English as a Foreign Language he worked in Sweden for thirteen years. During this period he wrote several English language teaching books. His teaching career has included time working in rural Sweden, a period that first sparked his now enduring interest in Scandinavian history and culture – an interest that after many years of research, both academic and in the field, led him to write Finn’s Fate and the sequel novel, Three Kings – One Throne. Continuing in a Viking theme, in June 2015, Michael published, Children of the Chieftain: Betrayed, the first of a trilogy of Viking adventure stories for young readers. The book was described by a Historical Novel Society reviewer as "An absolutely excellent novel which I could not put down”.

Today Michael works part-time as Ombudsman for English UK, the national association of English language providers. Though a lot of his spare time is spent with grandchildren, he also has a wide range of interests including researching for future books, writing, playing the guitar, carpentry and electronics. He spends at least two months a year sailing his boat which is currently in Scandinavia.

To stay up-to-date with Michael’s activities visit his website: www.michaelwills.eu.