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68 of 71 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awakes a world long disappeared, 21 Feb 2006
A dear friend who shares the same taste in of books gave me this thrilling Viking trilogy with the words "The beginning is slow and a bit off putting, but get through the first 100 pages and then you will enjoy every coming page." And she was absolutely right.Roughly the first 100 pages I found difficult to read as it constantly introduces new characters and places and the author seems to be all over the place, with no focus and any real plot developing. So it was a bit of a drag, but suddenly everything seems to merge, seems to make sense and felt into its place. The story begins in the year 1001 and the main character is Thorgils Leiffson, the natural son of a Norse Chief. He tells the story of his life. The reader will encounter a world which is so utterly different from ours. Christianity and pagan religion co-exist and fight for supremacy. Life was hard, cruel and full of fights. I have never been really fascinated by Viking history and know hardly anything about it. I did never really like this time as I found it dark. However, Tim Severin masters the art of getting the reader to understand this world. One learns about the world long dead and forgotten. Forgotten? Well, you will be surprised how much of this world still lives on but we are not aware of the origins of our deep rooted habits. So this book and the two other volumes of the trilogy are more than just another action packed novel. One is wandering through this world and starts to discover it. Tim Severin is described as an explorer and traveler and living in Ireland. Well, the reader will have no problems of seeing that he made very good use of his talents in this book or better in the trilogy. It is easy reading, but it is not simple. After having finished I stared straight away No. 2 of the trilogy and the same happened with book No. 3. I believe other readers will feel the same, but bear in mind: do not give up during the first 100 pages!
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