{"id":15191,"date":"2013-04-16T05:16:26","date_gmt":"2013-04-16T09:16:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=15191"},"modified":"2013-04-15T11:21:10","modified_gmt":"2013-04-15T15:21:10","slug":"lars-walkers-new-viking-novel-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2013\/04\/lars-walkers-new-viking-novel-free\/","title":{"rendered":"Lars Walker’s new Viking novel: free"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Lars Walker, who frequents this blog, is a notable novelist who is also a\u00a0 Christian, yea\u00a0 Lutheran,\u00a0 a master of\u00a0 historical fantasy.\u00a0 His fiction is generally wildly entertaining, while also being thought-provoking and spiritually edifying.\u00a0 He has a new book out, a sequel to his wonderful Viking saga West Oversea<\/a>\"\".\u00a0 The new book is entitled Hailstone Mountain (The Erling Skjalgsson Saga)<\/a>\"\".\u00a0 And you can get it as an electronic book for Kindle for FREE if you download it today only, April 16!\u00a0 Get it here<\/a>\"\".<\/p>\n

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I haven\u2019t read it yet, but am anxious to do so.\u00a0 Here is a reader review by Phil Wade:<\/p>\n

This is an absolute ripping yarn, as ripping a yarn as you are likely to find, and unlike some TV series, it\u2019s steeped in solid historical detail. Do want a fun sense of how Vikings lived in 1000 A.D.? Read Lars\u2019 Erling novels.<\/p>\n

This one is the fourth, but the first two are combined into one book, The Year of the Warrior.<\/em> Next comes West Oversea. . . .<\/em> And here, Hailstone Mountain<\/em>. brings us the courageous, noble Erling Skjalgsson stepping into the battle of his life.<\/p>\n

First, he appears to be wasting away without reason. Father Ailill discerns he has been poisoned by magic and must find the magician to break the spell. Erling isn\u2019t willing to risk everyone\u2019s life on a quest to save his own, so his family and friends fear he will die, but when Lemming\u2019s daughter disappears, they suspect she has been kidnapped by the minions of old magical people who kill select people in order to live forever. Whereas he would not fight for his life, Erling will fight against this abomination. That is what kicks everything off, and Lars doesn\u2019t spend a chapter here and there describing the life cycle of trees. Each adventure builds to the next.<\/p>\n

Lars\u2019 heroes are epic sized, but they are also realistically drawn. They deal with honor, slavery, and bigotry just as their historic counterparts did. One of the moving threads in this book has German priests refusing to work with a pagan magician who has joined their team. They could not condone the work of the devil in this man (a fair idea), and yet their motives were also of the devil. Sometimes, Ailill is no better. I wonder if he had a greater concept of God\u2019s magnificent grace and less of his own worthlessness, would he have spoken an apt word to these men, like he does to the pagan in the beginning, and temper their disdain? But bigotry runs deep, especially when its partially dug by religious convictions. It\u2019s slow to correct course.<\/p>\n

In a dark hour when Ailill is forced past his self-centered lethargy, he says, \u201cIt was an awful thing, to be the Beloved\u2019s mouthpiece\u2026 But He does His work in the dark and deadly places, and His tools are easily broken, for He delights in turning them to unwonted uses.\u201d Then he must speak the Word. He must tell his small congregation how he sees the world and what little hope he has for it, and he wrestles with God (not unlike Jacob did) over whether there\u2019s any good in it.<\/p>\n

And is there any good in the world? Though some men live to fight another day, many do not. Where is the good for them? Can\u2019t tyranny be tolerated for the sake of a kind of peace? Can the slave live a meaningful life? These are the themes this book may leave you thinking over.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

via Hailstone Mountain (The Erling Skjalgsson Saga): Lars Walker: Amazon.com: Kindle Store<\/a>.<\/p>\n