This is a winding novel about 2 generations of a family and their individual trips out West. Also in this novel is the story of a Viking man found in Oregon. This is an interesting read and is pretty engrossing.

Thank you to the publisher, the author and netgalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for my candid review.

This book has such potential. But did not make it.

The story was comprised from of at least 5 different storylines. None of the speakers were given a name. The stories seemed completely unconnected. I was confused as to who was who most of the time. Perhaps with better editing this might have been a good book.

I really only persevered in finishing this book for 3 reasons: 1) I feel very committed to NetGalley to finish and review the books that I have been allowed to read; 2) I feel a personal defeat to not finish any book that I start (I can only remember not finishing one book in the past 20 years, and finally 3) I kept hoping that the book would make some sense.

In some small way, the book came around to loosely tie things together, but itis not a book that I would recommend.

i

I was definitely in the minority with this one so far. Oh man, this book.
I'm sure where to begin. It was a mish-mash hodge-podge hot mess. I could not find any plot throughout this book. It was impossible to follow. There are numerous stories going on, which don't seem to have any purpose. The Norway story was my favorite and had that been the novel itself, I think I would have enjoyed it. I feel John Banks is definitely talented, but I'm not sure what he's doing with that talent. I don't find this to be anything like Mark Twain as others have suggested. I feel like the author took all his talents and abilities and wrote every random thought, poem, conversation that popped into his head. There was no order, the wording, style, characters all jumped from here to there without any explanations or meaning. I like to read for entertainment and fun and this did not fit the bill. I might consider this author again, but this book was certainly not for me.

I found this to be an Interesting tapestry of stories. This is a novel of many emotions and “what if’s”. John Banks weaves it all together with his prosaic style. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is a sweeping historical and present day story that begins with a amazing discovery of a 1000 year old viking found buried at Mt. Hood Oregon. This is unprecedented as the vikings were previously not found in this part of the world. This inspires Josh Kinninger to set out on his own journey of vengeance as his life is falling apart. .He is seeking vengeance but soon he finds some redemption . The narrative then takes us to the civil war and his relatives, a history of a wagon train to Oregon , lives lost and family secrets. The story of the civil war and the wagon train were very detailed and interesting.
I enjoy historical fiction and this meets all criteria for a interesting historical read. It melds between time periods well and I enjoyed reading this book. I recommend this book for any reader that enjoys a historical novel.
Thank you for the ARC which does not influence my personal review. Cross posting to Amazon .

I was unable to finish this novel. Nothing about it lured me to keep reading.