Set in West Africa in the 1870s, this is the story of Shettima, a boy who is captured near his village and sold into slavery at the age of eight.

A Slave’s Tale, the sequel to Hakon of Rogen’s Saga, is told from the point of view of a slave girl, Helga, who stows away on the longship when Hakon, the young Viking chieftain, sets sail for France on a voyage to return Rark, a freed slave, to his homeland. The voyagers’ journey is perilous—they narrowly escape capture by an invading fleet, and their ship is severely damaged by a storm. Upon reaching France—where the Vikings are now hated, not feared—only tragedy ensues.

The narratives in this volume include tales of Africa, pirate ships, wild animals, witches; a slave who had ten owners, and another who led a rebellion that killed fifty-five whites; the kidnapping of a white woman and her rescue by a slave; the nightmarish tortures of the infamous Mr. Gooch; the tragicomic experiences of a pair of "white slaves"; and the story of the "original Uncle Tom."--