Generic, paint-by-numbers, but enjoyable. You won't find something new here but I didn't hate reading it. Ending was pretty good.

A paint by numbers Viking story. It doesn't do anything new or interesting with the genre but it is competent. Didn't feel like a waste of time but won't think about it again most likely.

I'm a sucker for everything viking and this book was exactly what I love! There are so many things I love from this book, but my favorite being that the author is an archeologist. I worked in archeology for several years and also focused on the vikings. The author used a mix of mythology and historical facts to make the book. To me this made the story so much better as the roles of people, use of terminology, and description of clothes and tools was accurate of the time period. The plot of the story instantly captured my attention and had me in love with Asgeir. I wish the book had been longer because I was not ready for the first installment to end. I'll definitely be anticipating the next installment and anything the other puts out. I 100% recommend to anyone that loves historical fiction and vikings.

An historic novel set in what is now Norway around 870 AD, Asgeir is the son of a Norse father and Irish mother, Ulf the Old has a debt owed to him by Asgeir's father, a debt that means Asgeir is forced to join a Viking crew and leave behind his family.

While it's obvious that the Author knows his stuff when it comes to this period, I found this book a little slow to read and the intertwining of historical language with modern to be jarring. It also felt as if I got a pre-edited version as many short sentences made it feel bullet pointed and overly descriptive passages were tiresome.

But, the basis of a great story is beginning in this book and I feel it could be a fantastic series as it continues.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read and review this ARC.

Trigger Warnings: curse words are found within this story.

“A coward thinks he will ever live,

If warfare he avoids;

But old age will give him no peace,

Though spears may spare him.”

J.T.T. Ryder, also the author of "The Bronze Sword Cycles" has reached a new bar in the expectations of the accuracy in who, what and where Vikings took place. "The Viking Gael Saga" takes place in 870 AD, in western Norway, When our hero Asgeir joins the crew of a cold-hearted man: Ulf, whom Asgeir wishes revenge upon.

Now hear me out, it is entertaining to read about depictions of Vikings, especially if they happen to be in Norway, BUT I am not going to be biased here. I am giving an honest review and opinion about this piece of literature, which coincidentally hits close to home.

Ryder knows how to drag you into the story. It is phenomenal how fast he managed to get me to understand what he was trying to convey with solely two pages. As I read on, I came across certain words, sayings, and motives from characters that do not fit what I was taught in school about the Vikings that roamed the kingdom of Norway. For starters, Ryder uses words that are in terms of the old Norse language and manages to give the reader accurate meanings. However, he seems to jump back and forth between modern-day words: primarily curse words and Norse words. Some people may like that, but it ruins my experience imagining that I lived during Viking times, but that is just me! At the same time, our main character seems to be Norwegian-Irish which occasionally can create issues concerning what words to use and when.

My biggest problem is when he refers to the Kingdom of Norway as Lothlend instead of Lochlann. Lochlann is the Gaelic word for Norway, while Lothlend is seemingly a type of whisky. I also got a sense of Ryder not knowing where he wanted to go with the story for the first few pages, and then reached a moment where he got it all figured out, which is wonderful!

The story has managed to keep its pace throughout, again wonderful, but I felt the story got a bit dull at some point: the chapters were longer; I felt a sense of unequal attention to the chapters which results in not giving the reader a break, instead of dividing it into more divisions (which can make it easier for the reader to follow the story). I have some issues with how Ryder described certain female characters and seems to have spent a lot of time dwelling on that (just a personal preference).

I wish there were more inclusions in regard to Norse words, a reduction of the modern sayings which ruin the imaginary moment of believing that you are a Viking, more focus on describing characters (in a possibly non-uncomfortable manner) and dividing chunks into separate chapters. But despite that, "The Viking Gael Saga" was pretty good and I like it, not as much as I hoped, but it is still worthwhile to read!