I am still not sure – as is so often the case with these type of questions, the answer is really all of the above. But this e-book only work by novelist Lars Walker is a captivating read and one that pulls you into its characters and settings – making you feel like you are reading about a real place and real people; that you are reading history in a sense not literature or not just literature.

More thoughts below …

Here is a blurb from the author/publisher:

Chris Anderson has everything. He’s the son of the richest family in town. He lives in a beautiful, loving home. He even has a fairy godmother.

Chris Anderson also has nothing. He was born with a deformed arm, and when he gets angry he sees visions that terrify him.

At the turn of the Twentieth Century, in a nation wrestling with faith and science, tradition and change, Chris will be forced to confront his own nature, and learn the meanings of freedom, love, and the grace of God.

The set up seems to hint at historical fiction: you have the introduction in modern times with flashbacks for the history. The basic plot follows Chris as he grows up; moving from farm to town and dealing with his complex Norwegian family and community.  The drama comes from conflict within the family – his old school grandfather and his progressive teetotaler mother for example – and from his deformed arm which looms large in his own mind and life.

But always on the edge of the story is the “underworld” – the world of fairies and magic.  He has his own real live fairy godmother in fact, who reminds him  that the magic side is often dark and dangerous and who desperately wants to be baptized.  Chris himself has a strong connection to this world.  When he is angry or feels threatened he sees little men with red hats who seem capable of great violence.  He has dreams and visions.

All this complexity leads to dysfunction and struggle – despite the wealth and success of the Andersons.  One by one the men are driven away. His Norwegian immigrant grandfather is driven out by his domineering mother and her progressive causes.  His brother rebels and heads west to escape.  And soon his father joins the path west.

Chris tries to stay rooted.  He takes a position in the family firm and seems committed to what normalcy he can find. But his deformed arm and his love for Sophie – an adopted girl who is in some ways like a sister but who he loves with desperation – prevent him from peace or stability.  He can’t accept himself as he is and thus can’t accept love from Sophie and this brews deep and ugly bitterness inside him.  When this emotion surfaces it drives him out west to find his father and brother.

He connects with them but out of fear of ending up lonely and alone heads back to his hometown to make a life for himself.  His awkward and often ugly attempts to do this make up the rising climax of the book and highlights the truly changing nature of the community he returns to.

What struck me about the style and content of Troll Valley is how, at bottom, what makes it worthwhile is the simple storytelling.  Walker creates such believable and entertaining characters that the reader is sucked in and soon begins to care about these complex characters.  This is what storytelling is all about: the ability to see the world through someone else’s eyes; to experience and explore new things without having to go anywhere. Walker gives us this chance to visit Minnesota around the turn of the century and see what a Norwegian immigrant community might look like and how its inhabitants might live and interact.

But there is also an element that is almost post-modern or a unique mix of pre and post-modern – unmodern if you will.  With a magical realism influenced by classical Christianity and Nordic myth; with genres blended and intertwined and big ideas wrestled with and unpacked.

In some ways this makes it messy. The plot isn’t particularly tight and it isn’t clear what exactly the device of the modern-day relative drug-addict and his Native American helper brings to the story.  But it works because it is full of interesting characters, settings and language – because it touches on powerful emotions that grow out of conflicts we still wrestle with today.  It touches on faith and family – on community and relationships.  It feels like history, literature, theology and psychology all rolled up in a story.

Who knows what you call it.  But it is engaging, entertaining, often thought-provoking and for $3 a real steal.  If you have a Kindle or a Nook I encourage you to download Troll Valley and experience this unique journey.

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.

I have not read any of the previous works.  And that isn’t really necessary as they are written to work both as a series and as stand alone books.  I think having read the previous works would just give you a deeper understanding of the characters and the history.

The story has two main threads: Erling’s giving up his power and seeking out a different future than the one he had planned; and Father Aillil’s search for his sister Maeve.  These two combine to lead Erling and Aillil to take a voyage to Greenland via Iceland.  They plan to trade in order to make the trip profitable but it is also clear that Erling is seeking path forward.

A twist is that Father Aillil comes into possession of an eye that gives him the “sight” or the ability to see visions of the future.  But this power is, not surprisingly, more difficult to resist and to wield than Aillil had originally thought.  This brings both temptation and the potential for betrayal.  On top of this, an old enemy is out to destroy Erling and he haunts the traveling party seeking its destruction at every chance.

Erling and Aillil travel to Iceland, get blown off course and end up visiting North America, before making it to Greenland and Leif Erickson.  But what they find there is not what either Aillil or Erling was expecting.  Events conspire to put Erling’s dreams about a possible settlement in the new lands they saw are put to rest and he is called home.  This leads to a climatic battle and yet another supernatural surprise.

Image via Wikipedia

The historical elements of the story are well done.  Walker brings this interesting period just after the introduction of Christianity to the Norse to life with interesting characters and descriptions of their mores and values.  And he uses historical events to power the story create a story with both action and intrigue.

But he blends in to this both a supernatural element and a philosophical one.  There is the supernatural battles that come from the intersection of the Christian faith with the gods and spirits of the Norse world.  This adds a layer of mystery and danger to the story.

Along with this, Walker here and there weaves in some philosophical musings about the story of Western Civilization and its ideas about government and society.  Using the supernatural aspect of the story – and Aillil’s unique gift of “the sight” – Walker looks both backward and forward in time to muse on the impact of what people believe on how they structure their government; and the consequences of such structures and beliefs.

None of this is too intrusive but it enlivens the story line with an interesting philosophical undercurrent to the people and events described.

So if you like historical fiction, particularly if you have an interest in the Vikings and their world, be sure to check out Lars Walker’s unique fiction and West Oversea.  You will be rewarded with an entertaining story and some thought provoking ideas as a bonus.