Going Viking

What I'm reading right now, the sixth of Bernard Cornwell's "Saxon Tales." It has swords and actually uses the phrase "go Viking," so what's not to like there. I think what I like about historical novels is that they make things seem so much simpler in the past. One's social class defined the attainable possibilities; there were not a lot of options from which to choose. It was often a good day to die for a warrior. Life or death. Success or failure. Simpler, at least in a way.