Driven from the flaming ruin of his Iceland farmhouse, young Odd
Tangle-Hair, the only survivor of a feud in which his family is
slaughtered, steals a ship, rounds up a rag-tag crew and embarks on the
Viking life. He swears one day to return, rich and powerful enough to
take vengeance on his enemies. But how far off that day seems!His father, Black Thorvald, had once been a chieftain in Iceland. But in the year 1000, when the country adopted Christianity, Thorvald denounced the new faith and shut himself up in his hall, shunning the world and shunned by it. Odd fears that the worm of cowardice that unmanned his father has infected him too. He has inherited from Thorvald a shock of black hair, a gift for poetry, and an allegiance to Odin, god of battles and magic. But Odd is heir to darker traits as well—a hint of madness and a temper which will sometimes cost him dearly.
Fate carries him and his men to a shamanistic healer in Lapland, to bloody religious strife in Norway, to the lair of a witch in Finland, and finally to the borders of Russia. Here Odd will leave his comrades behind to join the retinue of a Norwegian princeling who is fleeing to the court of Yaroslav, Grand Prince of Rus. New dangers wait for him in that faraway country.
Eager, curious, quick-witted—and sometimes wrong-headed—Odd Tangle-Hair recounts his story with candor, insight, and always an ironic sense of humor.
Publication Date: May 26, 2015
Blank Slate Press
Formats: eBook, Trade Paperback
Pages: 400
Blank Slate Press
Formats: eBook, Trade Paperback
Pages: 400
Genre: Historical Fiction
****
I am always on the lookout for HF taking place in obscure places. Odin's Child begins in Iceland, which is a place I have never read about before. When Christianity arrives in Iceland not everyone embraces the new faith, especially Odin's father. He is despised and basically hides away causing the family to suffer the consequences. When tragedy strikes 16 year old Odd is forced to flee Iceland and so begins his journey as a Viking.This is my first novel by this author and the one thing that stands out for me is his knowledge of this time period and the various locations which is reflected in Odin's Child. There were a few times it was a little dry but not enough to take away my enjoyment in reading this book. I found it fascinating to read about the different life styles, cultures and beliefs.
Odd was an interesting character, at times I felt him brave, fighting for what he believed in and other times he acted like a scared, insecure child. Given his father's behavior it isn't surprising that Odd would be like this. Though Odd is a fictional character the story is based on cultural and similar events that took place in Iceland.
I like the writers style, harsh at times in battle scenes (but authentic reflecting the time), descriptive making it easy to visualize the setting and that added witty bit to relieve tense. The first in a planned trilogy the ending left me waiting more.
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Praise for Odin’s Child
“Meticulous research and poetic writing make Odin’s Child a multilayered masterpiece…It brings medieval Scandinavia vividly alive. Written with passion, peopled with superbly realized characters, I was gripped from the very first page of this historical novel.” -Carol McGrath, author of The Handfasted Wife and The Swan-Daughter“[Macbain’s] writing is vivid and compelling, and his understanding of Norse and Icelandic culture and history is woven deftly throughout the tale. The cast of characters is well-fleshed out and Odd makes for a wonderful protagonist. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, and I eagerly await its sequel. Highly recommended.” -Historical Novels Review, Editor’s Choice
Excerpt from Chapter 1: The Stallion Fight At Thingholt
On that day in May, as we rode to the stallion fight at Thingholt, my fate showed itself to me. A raven flew low across the sky into the rising sun and the moment I saw it I knew that Odin had spoken to me and that he would give me courage for the thing I had secretly made up my mind to do. Only now, half a century later, do I see what a long text was folded into that swift vision.The spring of my sixteenth year had come early to the South Quarter of Iceland, with hot-cold days and thunderclouds sweeping up over the mountains. The stallions, smelling the air, trembled and kicked against their stalls. At this season if you stake out a mare where the stallions can smell her, they will fight like berserkers to get at her, and a great one will die before he breaks and runs.
Black Grani was such a one. This was his fourth spring and the time had come to bring him to the South Quarter Thing and fight him. Thorvald, my father, grumbled and held back, but I gave him no peace, until, at last, he flung up an arm, which meant ‘yes’.
Although my brother Gunnar and I had set out early from the farm, the day was far gone before we came in sight of Thingholt plain and heard the distant shouts of men and the whinnying of horses. We left Grani and our mounts at the horse lines and walked across the sparse heath into the holiday crowd. And as we pushed our way through, there were some who knew us. A few old men came up and in low voices asked to be remembered to our father. But one red-faced woman, seeing us, cried, “Jesu!” and dragged her little daughter from our path.
From boyhood, Bruce Macbain spent his days in reading history and historical fiction. The Greeks and Romans have held a special fascination for him and this led to earning a master’s degree in Classical Studies and a doctorate in Ancient History. Along the way, he also taught English as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Borneo. Later, he taught courses in Greek and Roman civilization at Vanderbilt University and Boston University, and published a few dense scholarly monographs, read by very few. Recently, he has turned to writing fiction, a much more congenial pursuit. He has previously published two historical mysteries set in ancient Rome, Roman Games and its sequel, The Bull Slayer. Now, he has turned his attention to his other favorite folk, the Vikings. Odin’s Child is the first novel of a trilogy, Odd Tangle-Hair’s Saga, which follows our hero—a wanderer, poet and warrior—from his tiny Iceland farm to the Great Palace in Constantinople. It will be published by Blank Slate Press in May, 2015.
Bruce spends his spare time in the kitchen, cooking spicy food.
For more information please visit Bruce Macbain’s website. You can also follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Goodreads.
Odin’s Child Blog Tour Schedule
Monday, June 29
Review at A Book Geek
Interview at Shelf Full of Books
Spotlight & Giveaway at Unshelfish
Review at A Book Geek
Interview at Shelf Full of Books
Spotlight & Giveaway at Unshelfish
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