I ran into the same thing with the Grail series. By book three it was sort of redundant. Yes, I understand, the bow was the most feared weapon on the battlefield, you had to be strong to use it, you can go train from childhoood, ...... but it was still a good series.I really enjoy the series. Since this is book four, some of the action gets repetitive. But, I'm fond of all things Viking. Heaven = perpetual Oktoberfest. Sweet!
The thing about the Saxon series that makes me want to read it, is that like lots of folks, I associate the Vikings only with Scandanavia. I didn't realize they spent lots of time on the mainland of Europe. That should have been obvious to me considering their rambling ways. I knew they made Iceland and Greenland so why not wreak havoc or northern Europe.