great piece of modern nordic historical fiction

books:

	• Saga: A Novel of Medieval Iceland Jeff Janoda Academy Chicago Publishers, 2008 - 360 pages average customer review:based on 12 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

THE BEST Historical Fiction I've Read!

This is one of those books that you get so into while you're reading that you don't want it to end. Janoda has fleshed out a portion of the Eyrbyggja Saga, giving depth and dimension to the Snorri Gothi, Arnkel Gothi, and Thorbrand factions feuding, scheming, betraying and killing for possession of two farmsteads and a precious birch forest on a peninsula in 10th century western Iceland. The saga has everything a Norse and medieval history buff would want, including some really "creepy" stuff with a vengeful ghost and dark elves who live in the shadows and feed off the evil the Norse perpetrate.

Janoda's prose is fluid and effortless, and he writes as a master storyteller. I HOPE HE WRITES ANOTHER BOOK LIKE THIS ONE ON ANOTHER OF THE SAGAS!

Highest Recommendation

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Very Strong Story Telling!

This is an awsome story and a very good read. It bounces around a bit but still worth every penny!

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Masterful Writing

Janoda's retelling of a classic saga is unlikely to become a bestseller given its esoteric subject matter, but that is truly a great shame as evolved readers of any stripe will surely delight in the author's wonderful skills.

Saga is about a very small community in Iceland around 965 CE, and for an historical novel, comparatively little happens--there are no grand battles, epic journeys, allusions to well-known historical events, or famous personages. The cast is limited to a dozen or so main characters and the pace of events might fairly be considered glacial. Yet for all that, the story is oddly, almost paradoxically compelling. Somehow the sparseness of the material, the humble (even dreary) circumstances within which the story unfolds, and Janoda's supremely economical--even frugal--use of language are all superbly suited to the tale and imbue it with a veracity and vigor that mere research can never match.

Like one of his humble farmer characters, Janoda painstakingly tends the unpromising soil and climate of his setting and scratches out of it a miraculous harvest of which which we lucky readers are the beneficiaries--a quirky masterpiece that transcends the seeming limitations of its subject to yield a tale that is by turns suspenseful, moving, shocking, and utterly convincing.

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great piece of modern nordic historical fiction

Great way to bring life to this saga. Read this book more than a year ago (twice) and it still sticks. Great great stuff. Let's have more!

As bracing as a gust of wind across a Tundra

I bought this, based on the reviews here as I was looking for a good Midgard-themed book to read.

It's a great first novel and I hope the author dips into this setting again for the next one.

A fine tale of the harsh Icelandic life and of betrayal and passion. Any fans of this genre should indeed give this one a try.

Couldn't fault any of it. Good stuff.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3

Jeff Janoda brings us a masterful retelling of the ancient Saga of the People of Eyri, set in feudal Iceland, "the Free State" of 965 AD. Saga tells the story of the savage rituals of feud and sacrifice brought by settlers from Norway, and their new competing beliefs in a democratic legal assembly and a code of restraint.When Thorolf the Viking trades away his valuable lands to spite his son, Arnkel, the ruthless Norse chieftain vows to regain the land at all costs. Robbed of his rightful inheritance, Arnkel begins a venomous feud with his neighbors and with rival chieftain Snorri - a lawless dispute destined to end in betrayal and death.Janoda's characters are eloquently wrought, their passions and pagan beliefs brought to life in a tale over a thousand years old. He renders fantastical elements like spirits and elves as vividly as their human counter-parts, illuminating the harshness of life in a society on the brink of modernity, yet isolated in the farthest reaches of the planet.

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