Viking Saga -- Free Historical Novel

[MarkCoakley]

VIKING SAGA is a pulse-pounding literary historical thriller, set in 793 AD, when Norway was ruled by many small kingdoms and folk still worshipped the old gods. Halfdan the Black -- a young fighter and beer-soaked poet, with a Norse father and African mother -- vows revenge for the killing of his king. Halfdan's fate leads him through actual historical events, such as the raid on England's Lindisfarne nunnery and the first Norse contacts with Christianity. This spare, cunningly ironic novel is set against a brutal backdrop of life in the "Dark Ages", and features violent action, a unique love-story, odd twists, cool humour, primitive poems and more. Well-researched and fast-moving, VIKING SAGA follows Halfdan the Black as he battles, boozes and rhymes his way to revenge, love, wisdom ... and becoming Norway's first king.

[dreams]

Welcome to MR, Mark!

Thank you for offering your work to us. It's always nice when authors join and participate in our forums.

Have your looked into putting your work on feedbooks.com or smashwords.com? Your work would be available to a wider, international reader base and would be offered in more formats for the various devices.

If you have any questions just jump in and ask.

EDIT: I see your book is now at feedbooks.com.

http://www.feedbooks.com/userbook/8342

[Ea]

Mark, have you thought about converting this book into ebook formats such as .mobi/prc or epub?

I would certainly be interested to have look, being Dane with a great historical interest the late Scandinavian iron age.

EDIT: Um... you have a typo in the foreword: "Sturulson"

[lene1949]

I'm also a Great Dane (oops.. that's my dog), but a Dane nevertheless. I've been interested in the vikings for many years. I went to Denmark in July this year, and my friend and I did only 'viking stuff' - museums, current archeological diggings etc. ... Loved it.

I have started reading the book on my computer, although I'm skipping the stuff (letters) not included the the original manuscript.

The translation is easy to read, mostly in today's English.

Thanks for giving us access the this work.

[BlackVoid]

Sounds good, thanks a lot! I put it on my reading list.

[Ea]

Originally Posted by lene1949

I'm also a Great Dane (oops.. that's my dog), but a Dane nevertheless. I've been interested in the vikings for many years. I went to Denmark in July this year, and my friend and I did only 'viking stuff' - museums, current archeological diggings etc. ... Loved it.

I have started reading the book on my computer, although I'm skipping the stuff (letters) not included the the original manuscript.

The translation is easy to read, mostly in today's English.

Thanks for giving us access the this work.

You are aware this is a work of fiction?

[cmbs]

Originally Posted by Ea

You are aware this is a work of fiction?

This guy calls himself a translator, he has translator notes that say the book was written in the 14th century. He makes it look like a translation of an old document.

Are you saying that's not what it is, and that instead, he has written it himself?

[Ea]

Originally Posted by cmbs

This guy calls himself a translator, he has translator notes that say the book was written in the 14th century. He makes it look like a translation of an old document.

Are you saying that's not what it is, and that instead, he has written it himself?

Yes. It's not real, it's just a device to lend it an air of authenticity - like when Laurie R. king pretends the Mary Russell novels are really written by the wife of Sherlock Holmes.

If this was real, it would be an amazing source text, which would certainly have been very well known.

[cmbs]

Thanks for the info.

I don't like it. It should say somewhere in the book that it's not real. He purposely talks about it as if he were the translator of an old document.

Is this generally considered acceptable by the publishing community? What about the reading community?

[HarryT]

It is a common literary device; I've read many books which have used it.

[Patricia]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It is a common literary device; I've read many books which have used it.

Yes, and this literary device has a very long history.Thomas More's Utopia, Plato's Timaeus, and Apuleus's The Golden Ass spring to mind.
(Saint Augustine was quite bothered by The Golden Ass, because a lot of people thought that it was about a genuine transformation.)

Since this example is described as a historical novel, there's clearly no deceit intended.

[cmbs]

I saw that he called it a historical novel, but that could be true of it based on his description - written a few hundred years after the events took place, and having elements that were obviously fiction.

Personally I think if no deceit is intended, he should make clear it's a modern novel written by him somewhere in the book. At the end if he likes. He calls himself a translator, not an author. He says it's been translated before, and gives a name and date.

The example given of someone pretending to be Sherlock Holmes' wife is obviously false, since Sherlock Holmes is a character, not a human. And I'd have to see that book to even compare. Is the charade carried all the way through like it is in this Viking Saga? The Viking Saga could be truly a translation of an old document, there's nothing obviously fictitious about that possibility, like Sherlock Holmes' wife.

Not that I am defending any of it. I think what you're reading should be made clear in the book.

[Ea]

Well, it was the only example I could think of at that moment

Apart from the writing quality, personally, I found the presentation of the file, the cover image and the posting of it on a site like this big giveaways.

Just for fun, here's a couple of links to real sagas (not that they might not be fiction - we can't be certain) - they're considered some of the best.
Egil Skallagrimsson's Saga
Njal's Saga

[cmbs]

Originally Posted by Ea

Well, it was the only example I could think of at that moment

Apart from the writing quality, personally, I found the presentation of the file, the cover image and the posting of it on a site like this big giveaways.

Just for fun, here's a couple of links to real sagas (not that they might not be fiction - we can't be certain) - they're considered some of the best.
Egil Skallagrimsson's Saga
Njal's Saga

I thought it was odd, but I can think of scenarios making it possible. Anyone who can read and write in two languages can translate a document. Probably some extra knowledge is needed for old documents, but who's to say he hasn't got that knowledge? I don't know Mr. Coakley or anything about him.

Should I assume that everything inside a book is a lie because it's posted here? Most books have truth in them, starting with the term 'AUTHOR' describing the person who wrote it.

Thanks for the links, I will probably read them instead.

[Ea]

I probably had the advantage of having come across such a literary device before, so you could say I was forewarned I can understand if you feel let down by it.

It's worth noting that there is actually a character by the name of Halfdan the Black in several of the old texts, for example Snorre Sturluson's Yngligasaga - and he appears to be the inspiration behind this Halfdan.

I hope you will like the stories I linked to. They are old translations and the language shows it a bit, but it's great tales - though nothing like modern novels. The word 'saga', by the way, means something that is said or told - a tale.