Swedish Vikings founded Russia and named the realm after their leader, Rurik. A thousand years later, during the Cold War, Swedish archeologists raised the Vasa, a mighty gunship that had been meant to seal Sweden's second claim as a world power.
The Ship in the Woods follows two timelines—the Vikings venturing out from Sweden to besiege Constantinople, and the 1960s archeologists unearthing clues from Cold War spies about what seems might be the end of the world.
By the same author, The Ship in the Hill told the story of the start of the Viking age in Norway, and The Ship in the Sand described the Danes' conquest of England. In the works is The Ship in the Ice, about the Vikings' fateful voyages to Iceland and America.