SEX SEX SEX!!!

The morals of the modern world are very different than those of centuries ago, which we in the modern world have evolved from, but are still prevalent in numerous societies. The VIKINGS! Trilogy (in my opinion) makes too many allowances for modern opinions because most readers in this century would be too shocked and appalled to finish reading a book where the realities of medieval common thought was prevalent.

Imagine living in this world:

• Most people are considered property (peasants, servants, or slaves).

• Most people have no legal rights and can be tortured at will by the nobility.

• Those with legal rights need armed warriors to protect their rights.

• Achieving a status above that which you were born to is criminal unless you paid off the right people.

• A stranger's religion (unless it is yours) is grounds for their murder.

• An unwed girl's loss of virginity is grounds for her murder.

• Education is intentionally denied to most women.

• Faith is mandatory.

• Religious interpretation of the Bible is the sole right of the monks.

• Cruelty to animals is commonplace (often, cruelty to animals was a game).

• Violent spousal abuse is commonplace.

• Incest is commonplace.

• Homosexuality is a capital offense.

• Most people are not allowed to defend themselves in court.

• The most common legal punishment is death.

Modern people, raised in a world of tolerance and trust, absorb these good qualities. People in medieval times absorbed their world's qualities and, although most probably questioned these standards at some point, only the rich and powerful had the wherewithal to change things, but they had the least reason to want change (just like today!).

Back then, even suggesting the need for social change was like asking to have your tongue cut out.

To write my characters from a true and unwavering medieval perspective would have made every one of them wholly unsympathetic:

• Eric would have stolen all of their gold, murdered Karl and Rafe, and raped Roselyn and Eloise.

• Karl would never have considered the opinions of women equal to the opinions of men, and he would have died on the battlements of Castle Bristlen.

• Rafe would never have accepted Eric's company, would have declared Roselyn and Eloise godless and shameless whores, and after he had slept with them both, he might have had them stoned to death for their sinful ways.

• Roselyn would have been torn by her own desire for freedom and her catholic upbringing, which would have taught her that such thoughts in women were sinful; she would doubtlessly have married Baron du Harmonn and never voiced a complaint.

• Eloise would have been married to the richest suitor available the day after her father died and never heard from again; her mother's rule of her barony wouldn't have lasted a month.

• The Seer would have been burned at the stake or imprisoned in a dungeon, and killed if he couldn't transmute lead into gold.

• Seren would have given Rafe kinky sex until he passed out from exhaustion ... and then robbed and abandoned him. She might have knifed him in his sleep.

I have heard from some people that I was irresponsible, in this modern age of AIDS and STDs, to let my characters have sex often and in the combinations that they did. To these people, I say: if I had been more realistic, then you would have liked it far less.

To those who wanted to read about more-intense, graphic sexual encounters, go buy a hardcore romance novel; I know several good authors, if you desire to read erotica. You probably would have liked The VIKINGS! Trilogy to be more realistic, but if so, then you should write your own trilogy.