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My review of the gritty viking adventure The Whale Road was just posted over at BlackGate.com this weekend. This was a fantastic book, full of slick action sequences, vibrant details, and terrific prose. It’s told with one ear aimed at the poetry of the sagas, and the other at the modern military or adventure thriller. I found it completely immersive, from the mundane realities of everyday life in the tenth century, to the horrors of men in combat, to the dominating presence of ritual and notions of fate and religion that guided the every thought of the people of this era — The Whale Road brings this era alive in a way few other books have for me.
The Whale Road Reviewed at BlackGate.com
Robert Low’s Sequel to The Whale Road, The Wolf Sea, just came out last spring — and it is defintiely a book I plan to review soon. If you like historical adventure, Low’s series is something I highly recommend.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Benjamin Solah 10.14.08 at 10:48 pm
I’m impressed by your reading routine. I couldn’t possibly read so much.
The Tenth Century? Wow, I’m writing a book and part of it is set in the Twelfth Century. Kind of close. This might help me get a feel for it all.
Bill Ward 10.15.08 at 1:25 am
I think the The Whale Road is a great inspiration for that — the historical climate of the 10th century versus the 12th has some significant differences, but for the sheer vividness of what things felt like in this age you’d be hard pressed to find a better book.
And the battles really kick ass.