Jul 25 2009
West Oversea by Lars Walker
I have followed the writing of Lars Walker for some time (at Brandywine Books, The American Spectator, etc.). And I was vaguely aware of this fiction writing but his books never bubbled up to the top of the reading pile for some reason.
So when Lars asked if I wanted a review copy of his latest work, West Oversea, it seemed like a good time to rectify this gap in my reading. I have been in a bit of a funk of late – not quite knowing what I want to read – and this seemed a good time to shake things up with something different.
And Lars’s fiction is different: historical fiction focused on the Norseman or Vikings but with a supernatural or spiritual component. Here is how his publisher descirbes his most recent book:
Lars Walker’s third novel about the Vikings begins in the year 1001. King Olaf Trygvesson is dead, but his sister’s husband, Erling Skjalgsson, carries on his dream of a Christian Norway that preserves its traditional freedoms. Rather than do a dishonorable deed, Erling relinquishes his power and lands. He and his household board ships and sail west to find a new life with Leif Eriksson in Greenland.
This voyage, though, will be longer and more dangerous than they ever imagined. It will take them to an unexplored country few Europeans had seen. Demonic forces will pursue them, but the greatest danger of all may be in a dark secret carried by Father Aillil, Erling’s Irish priest.
West Oversea turned out to be an entertaining read with action, intrigue, and philosophical, and spiritual, musings. This is not an easy blend to pull off, but Walker does it by not overdoing the commentary and skillfully mixing it in with the story’s supernatural aspect.
