Axe wielding Vikings!

Shieldmaiden by Marianne Whiting

This was an enjoyable novel. It has similarities to other Viking novels I’ve read (very reasonable due to the scant historical detail available) but there is freshness to ‘Shieldmaiden’ that keeps the interest high. 

It was a little bit confusing though, to find things about Cumbria that made me think twice about what I was reading, though I would have to do a lot of Viking Britain research to know what are the best know facts about Viking invasion of northern Britain, and when. 

 Vikings are so well known for their pillaging and plundering strategies but the fact that they left their own lands to find foreign land to farm was an essential part of their domination of parts of the UK. 

Heroine, Sigrid, has interesting links to Norwegian nobility that elevates her status but in essence the tribulations of surviving a harsh winter at a more, or less, subsistence level means she comes across as a very practical and hard working individual- if a little bit arrogant and naive at the beginning of the story. Ragnar, the love of her life, plays a less strong role in the novel but that emphasises Sigrid’s many strengths. She wields a mean sword but the tale is not overly gory! 

The duality of Viking pagan worship and new found Christianity comes across in the book as very realistic- I'm sure it was expedient to profess to of one faith or another depending on the life and death situation a person found themselves in at this time many hundreds of years ago.  A wavering faith also seems realistic when one faith is almost forcibly supplanted with another. 

I found the ending a bit abrupt but I’m thinking a read of Book 2 will no doubt solve that problem. 

Slainthe! 

You win and you lose....

Saturday Greetings! 

I'm late posting today since I've been out attempting to sell my novels at a local venue. Some of these days are fantastic and some a lot less so. Today was the latter but on the novelist front I did come home to find another new 5* review for The Taexali Game on Amazon UK. That is definitely the kind of boost every author needs! 

It's taken over two years to get some reviews for this novel but since the six reviews I now have are all 5* I'm glad people genuinely find it a great read. 

So...my first post of the day is the lovely accolade for my time travel novel. My thanks go to Karen E. Proctor who took the time to write this lovely little review. 

She says:

"I’ve always been drawn to novels with a time travel element but find few novels deliver on their promise. The Taexali Game takes the idea of Time Travel and sets it in a computer game thereby making the concept wholly believable. I thoroughly bought into the idea. This is a fast paced, well written and thoroughly absorbing novel."

Find the reviews HERE

If you've also read The Taexali Game and have enjoyed reading it I'd really appreciate you giving it a similar mention on Amazon. If it gets something like 50+ reviews of high standard (5 or 4 stars) then Amazon just might begin to give the book more of a boost! I live in hope...

Slainthe! 

That's another entertaining read!

Monday Morning greetings to you! 

The dawn sky was very pretty this morning. I was hoping this meant that a good day was about to follow but that's already not the case as more rain is settling in at 11 a.m.

It's not really a problem though, since my intention is to write and read and research till late afternoon when some guests are due.

In the meantime...
Another recent read...

This novel was one that I acquired through my Amazon Kindle Unlimited and was recommended to me via one of the ebook sites that I've subscribed to.

I was in the mood for a very light read in the midst of lots of heavy research reading and this was just right for the occasion.

Reclaim My Heart by Donna Fasano 4*

This was an easy read with a feel good factor. The author highlights some issues of illegitimacy, possible abortion and adoption, prejudice and bigotry but does it sympathetically showing that major decisions made by parents can be for both good and bad reasons. 

The concept that life changing decisions can be made at different stages in a person’s life is evident in this novel but the author also points out that positives can be the outcome of negative deeds.

She has also set out, I believe, to show that negative influences of other people (e.g. parents) can be devastating to a younger person but that some people can change their opinions over time, though others may only manage a partial transition. The story of how Tyne and Lucas resolve their son Zach’s dilemma is a simple one and quite predictable but I liked how the extended family were included within the whole redemption situation. 

Love does find a way of making a HEA ending. 

Slainthe!