Robert Low

Robert Low (1949–2021) was a Scottish journalist and historical novelist whose fiction drew upon his experience of warfare and historical re-enactment. He began working as a journalist while still young and reported from conflicts in Vietnam, Sarajevo, Romania and Kosovo before becoming a full-time novelist. Low was also an active member of a Viking re-enactment society, giving him practical experience of weapons, armour and shield-wall combat that informed the physical immediacy of his historical adventures.

Low is best known for the Oathsworn series, beginning with The Whale Road, which follows Orm Rurikson and a fellowship of Viking warriors through raids, voyages and conflicts across the tenth-century world. The later novels include The Wolf Sea, The White Raven, The Prow Beast and Crowbone. His Kingdom trilogy—The Lion Wakes, The Lion at Bay and The Lion Rampant—is set during the Scottish Wars of Independence and features Robert the Bruce, William Wallace and the divided loyalties of the Scottish nobility. Low also wrote the Roman frontier trilogy Brothers of the Sand and the Border Reivers novels, beginning with A Dish of Spurs.