Customer Reviews

The Whale Road

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4 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a gritty, harsh book, full of blood and violence, and true to what I would imagine of the time of the Vikings, just before the millenium. Certainly, the opening, with the hero Orm Ruriksson fostered out to his brother's steading, reflects very well the Icelandic sagas transplanted to Norway. The events are also historically accurate down to small details, as one might expect from a journalist.

The story is well told, in a journalistic style. The main characters are believably rough, temperamental, and often brutal. People die at a rapid rate, of wounds, illness, weather, and treachery. Very medieval. Recommended for fans of gritty historical fiction and "realistic" fantasy without too many magical elements.

I really wanted to like this book ,however you are bombarded at once with a slew of characters and names that are impossible to track and remember. it is not very immersive and basically after page 90 I decided that I didnt care what happened to this dull group and their boring adventure. as it is Im out abit of coin from this experience and headed to my local used bookstore to trade it in on a non fiction book which is always more interesting in any event.