Product Description

This historical adventure sweeps back to a time when bold men hazarded rough and unknown seas in search of treasure and glory. The orphaned grandson of Leif Eiriksson, seeks his due overseas, despite the opposition of his unforgiving kinsmen.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2468120 in Books
• Published on: 1998-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 640 pages

Review
"As with most historical novels, it is essential that the reader view this Saga as fictional, and not confuse it with the relatively meager known facts about Leif Ericsson, the Greenland settlement and Vinland. Keeping this firmly in mind, Viking enthusiasts should enjoy this engaging tale from beginning to end." -- The Norseman News, Winter 1999

The King of Vinland's Saga . . . earns a place on the bookshelf beside other neo-sagas such as Eric Brighteyes by H. Rider Haggard and E. R. Eddison's Styrbiorn The Strong. . .

Mirsky has an excellent command of the saga style and spins a fine, page-turning tale. . . there are some truly wonderful scenes of sea-faring and berserker duels. . . Vragi's final fight is worth the price of the book all by itself. . . ." -- Diana Paxson, Author of The Wolf and The Raven and The Hallowed Isle tetralogy. -- IDUNNA Magazine, November '99

Mirsky keeps us glued to this excellent first novel, using a subtle yet powerful story-telling technique that recalls old-time adventures involving swordplay, fair maidens in distress, relatives who are scoundrels, a misunderstood hero engaged in epic exploits, strange lands full of mysterious and wonderful peoples, and the power of good versus evil. The King of Vinland's Saga is a book the reader can't stay away from . . . and mourns when it is finished. --- -- Shelley Glodowski,Midwest Book Review, Fall 1999

THE KING OF VINLAND'S SAGA is a wonderfully rich adventure novel, with memorable characters, a storyline that is faithful to the mediaeval Icelandic sagas, and enough sword- and axe-play to please even the most jaded of adventure readers. . . . Mirsky's work compares well to that of his predecessors, both in terms of capturing the gloomy mood of the saga and the larger-than-life heroes, while avoiding any blatant historical inaccuracies . . . . Besides the heroic leader Sigtrygg, the huge berserker Arnliot with his cursed axe . . . in many ways reminiscent of Haggard's great Zulu warrior, Umslopogaas, Vragi the quiet and retiring old veteran who hasn't forgotten his skills with the sword, Girstein, the most reasonable and supportive of Sigtrygg's step family, and Thjodhild the vindictive and jealous kinswoman, the book is peopled with many complex and interesting characters. The fight sequences, be they between Greenlander and skraeling or amongst the Greenlanders t! hemselves are excellently portrayed, on par with any of Mirsky's literary precursors. . . This is one to please even the likes of Snorri Sturluson, and it even passed my "keep me up reading until 3 a.m. test." -- SF Site . . . Review by Georges T. Dodds

From the Inside Flap
Stuart Mirsky's auspicious first novel is less a retelling of ancient sagas than it is a reinvention of the genre. He has found what most writers only strive for -- a singular and original narrative voice that seduces and envelops the reader and draws us to times and places far removed from our own. The King of Vinland's Saga is more than just a wonderful, escapist action/adventure tale; its marrow is pure myth and, like all true myths, its characters' ambitions and passions, their loves and hatreds, their triumphs and defeats resonate in these pages as vibrantly as they must have when our ancestors first heard their like over campfires in the icy wastelands. Mirsky set himself a task analogous to a first-time climber beginning with Everest rather than a rock-wall -- miracle of miracles, he reached the top! --- Nelson Breen, screenwriter & documentarian

About the Author
A product of Brooklyn College with a BA in philosophy, Stuart Mirsky, like many writers before him, became enamoured of 12th century Icelandic prose early on. A student of the martial arts, he travelled, wrote for various publications, and earns his keep

Customer Reviews

a very BIG, very worthwhile book
The false accusation that some have leveled at this book--that of having stiff prose--is patently false. It may be a tad long for some, but I have greatly enjoyed this massive epic of the North.

I have always had a love-hate relationship with the great Norse Sagas. They are full of wonder and discovery. They can also be somewhat one-dimensional. Perhaps it is something that gets lost in translation.

Mirsky captures all the wonder and adventure of the ancient Norse landscape while at the same time somehow bringing to his tale of Sigtrygg to fully three dimensional life. What a great journey this tale is!

I know that my enthusiasm for this book will no doubt be taken with a grain of salt by those predisposed to overlook of Norse literature as a regional oddity. Such a dismissive view would be a crime. It would be like never reading Tolkien because one does not enjoy books with dragons and elves.

Is Mirsky a new Tolkien? No. And I doubt he has ever intended to be. Is he a very good writer who has made an exceptional book? Yes. And you should read it.

I give The King of Vinland's Saga my heartfelt recommendation.

Have read it twice, nevertheless, will read it thrice ...
I enjoyed the book even more the second time around! The King of Vinland's Saga is fiction about a subject difficult to research, it is based on scant record and few viking runes left behind by the Norse. However Stuart Mirsky has seamlessly filled in the historical record with a colorful and knowledgeble imagination! Stuart has crafted a saga of adventure and intrigue, even of unrequited love that alas even an ole macho like meself could handle! A drifting together and gathering of a small group of down and out n'er-do-wells, political refugee's from King Harald, and incorrigibles have Norseman sailing west from an overcrowded Greenland. There is little land available in Greenland to farm and therefore little wealth to be had for those without. No land, no farm, no status. Status was above all of vital importance to a norseman for status was power. Those without status were looked down upon by the 'haves' and treated not much better than the clan goats. However they see a way out by voyaging to a new land, ostensibly to claim the heroes inheritance, Leif Ericksons lost colony in Vinland, America. The personalities in this saga are distinctly individual, they are alive and vibrant. They're just like ... us. You know, not every norseman was at all eager to go on what they thought was a fools errand, and some that went did so just to keep a step ahead of viking justice. But what makes fictional history and this book fun for me is this ... that the story is alogether plausible! It is written in a style that that seems to have a thrumming rhythm, almost lyrical at times and is written in syntax that is appropriate to the Norse and that period of history. I found myself being drawn deeply into the tale every time I settled in to read, angering at the injustice inflicted on hero Sigtrygg, the betrayals and lies by his arrogant, treacherous kinsmen. To me Sigtrygg is the Clint Eastwood of the Norse, but he keeps a cool head. If it were me in his place I'd of been lopping off heads left and right! Each evening when I opened the book I became a part of the tale, when I become part of the story I know I am reading a superb work by a superb author.

I was initially drawn to the novel because Mr. Mirsky asked that I review it several years ago. Lack of time prevented me from doing so at the time but after reading it once again I made it a point to review. I was also drawn to the book because I had yet to read any substantive account of real or surmised Norse interaction with 'skraelings', American Indians, a subject barely recorded and virtually ignored. Inasmuch as I am a student of history and American native tribes in particular, I was very interested in Mr. Mirsky's treatment of two diverse cultures colliding unexpectedly, how the skraelings may have reacted to these rather arrogant, burly giants with beards coming from the sea. The book passages and events involving viking prejudice and treatment of the stone-age skraelings and the skraelings subsequent response rang true to what I know of viking culture, native indian culture, beliefs, and history of the time. Also, the premise that the Norse may have penetrated much farther inland in America than previously thought is not just wild speculation; ancient stone forts have been discovered as far inland as Kentucky, implements discovered far inland not of indian technology, and blue-eyed indians were a fact. In my view it is more credible that such is derived from a culture we absolutely can prove came to America, the vikings, than other theories that have been advanced.

For the history buff and adventure-minded this book is a keeper for the ole bookcase, and even though it is a large volume, an intimidating volume, the tale still ends much too soon. Thanks Stuart!

Agreat book -a great movie
I LOVED THIS BOOK - IT'S A MUST READ. My son recommended it to me. I didn't want to read it.because it's subject, the Vikings, is something I didn't think I'd be interested in at all. But I read it because he recommended it so highly, I figured I would give it a try. And am I glad I did.
This is a book written by a man, not exclusively for men but from a man's point of view. That is the only explanation that I can give to his detailed description of certain sections such as their tree cutting for weapons. But it also explains how you can get into our hero Sigtrygg's skin and truly feel all the emotions that run through his veins. This book has so much that it would please any reader - man or woman. How Mirsky captured the dialogue, I really cannot imagine. He makes you feel as if you are living then, listening to conversations that are really taking place.
This is a rugged adventure story, a story of discovery and survival and raw human emotions.
I loved how he drew and developed his characters and story line. It draws you in at the very beginning, not like some books that you have to read a while to get the feel. You feel as if you are there with them, feeling all their emotions. And there are plenty of emotions for our hero Sigtrygg to contend with. There is jealousy, greed, lust, desire, love, friendship, respect, loyalty, and fear. I could go on and on, but this book is a MUST.
It's basic story is well-known, the "disinherited knight" returns to claim his inheritance and must undertake an unexpected adventure of the to get his due. But he is blocked at every turn by hostile kinsmen. . In the process, our "knight" falls in love with two women and must make a choice between them that will determine what he wins and keeps and who he will finally be.
The characters come alive for us like real people, giving them a kind of freshness and immediacy. The medieval Norse backdrop and the North American experience of exploration that is recounted seem entirely authentic.
He combines it with tight and swiftly paced language, so that one is left with an experience of genuine adventure in far off times and places.
The plot seems a perfectly natural outgrowth of the characters and events that really led the Vikings to our American shores when others were still huddling in their huts and castles in old Europe.
Not only was I hardly able to put the book down I THINK IT WOULD MAKE A GREAT MOVIE!