I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I found the subject matter really interesting. The book was well written and easy to understand. I highly recommend this book.

This book is very different from what you've read before. It combines Swedish folklore with....aliens. Yes, aliens. After finding some old papers, the reader learns about aliens and storytelling and somehow this is all kept to 176 pages. It's not a bad book, and it is a quick read, but it's very strange and I honestly don't know if I really liked it or was just kind of in awe of this fever dream.

Solid 4 stars. I thoroughly enjoyed this. The world was amazing and believable told as an old saga discovered packed away from time.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this in exchange for my honest review.

The Bjorkan Sagas the writing is well styled and plays on your emotions. It is visually descriptive and the words sing on pages. Even while reading on my kindle it still has an impact. With the cultural differences explained and the imagination is amazing.

This arc was given to me by netgalley in exchange for an honest review. It was published on Oct 05 2021

* spoiler alert ** Johnson says in his notes to The Bjorkan Sagas that he wanted to write a story that honored both sides of his heritage--the Scandinavian and the Cree. The result is a strangely bittersweet piece of mythopoeic science fiction that owes a substantial debt--knowing or not--to C.S. Lewis's Space Trilogy. The text has many of the same elements--angelic, transparent aliens, gun-toting capitalists, creatures that may or may not be human.

I enjoyed the book, but I know that my training predisposes me to enjoy some of its narrative conceits--the most important of these is the "secret manuscript" conceit. Our main narrator assists an elderly neighbor who has lived entirely off grid. When he dies, he discovers a manuscript--the titular Bjorkan Sagas--written in Swedish. The story that is revealed in the "translated version" is peopled with aliens, living trees, and a people who wield magical stories. And there are dragons. The "telling magic" results in a lot more exposition than I would have liked. Nonetheless, the book captures the beautiful tone of a frozen landscape filled with people who love the trees and define themselves as their caretakers

*I was given an eARC by Netgalley/House of Anassi Press Inc of The Bjorkan Sagas in return of an honest review.*

DNF 25%

I really like the way the book was written. It had a poetic feel to it. However, the story couldn't give justice to the writing. The whole concept fell flat and failed to deliver. I do look forward to reading some other works of the author given their beautiful writing style.

The Bjorkan Sagas is a great fantasy story that tells the tales of Juha and his fellow Bjorkans. The beginning tells about a man and his dying neighbor named Joe who leaves him a box of papers which is the story of the Bjorkans. The characters are very well written and the setting is outstanding. The plot is unique and a real page-turner, it is almost impossible to put down. I loved the storytellers and their traditions. All in all, it is a fantastic book. There is a bit of an opening for more stories and I hope the author writes them.