I've found that using historical material and being rooted in historical material is liberating because I always think to myself, 'Well, this actually happened, and this is fantastic!' That's why I don't like fantasy, in a way. Because it's sort of in emptiness.
It works better if your lead character is complex and interesting and not perfect.
I only have one idol: John Lennon.
If you're in America or Europe, walk for three blocks, and you'll pass about 14 Vikings. Their reach was immense.
I felt that a lot of Viking culture had been caricatured and misconstrued. After all, they were far more democratic than the Saxons and the Francs, who were exercising really hierarchical social structures at that time. The Vikings had popular meetings where everything could be discussed.
