The Thrall's Tale

I felt that reading this book was a slog. There is so much negativity, so much brutality and anguish and cruelty with no real justification. The author knows Viking culture, so the book is quite accurate. I just can't believe that a mother could feel such hatred for her daughter, that a girl could be so inhuman, that people do such mean and petty things just because they can. Well-researched, for sure, but horribly depressing.

Had I known this, I probably would never have picked the book up. Yet there are some happy points, too. They do get squished, though. The way the book is written is also distracting and makes the four-hundred-some pages more difficult to get through.

Interesting novel concerning the early settlement of Greenland, as told by three women: One, a thrall [slave]; her daughter born of a violent rape; and a seeress. The mother and daughter hate each other: there's also a bit of jealousy on the daughter's part. The seeress takes both of them into her house. Culture clash involving the coming of Christianity to the island. Somewhat melodramatic. Meticulously researched, but sometimes the telling falls into purple prose--fault of a pseudo-bardic language the author adopts, which is not always successful and sometimes seems forced. Life in medieval Greenland was certainly gloomy and grim.

I really wanted to like this book, the writing was good and the setting was intriguing to me, but the execution/storyline was boring as all hell.

This was one of those stories where you hold your breath waiting for something to happen, and nothing ever does. There were some moments that had me hopeful, but then the characters were like "nah, bruh" before going about their way.

The most interesting part of this book were the historical notes at the very end. You can tell the author did her research, but the story was just incredibly bland.

Obviously well researched and well fictionalized version of life amongst the Vikings, but DAMN, it could have stood to be shorter. I listened to this book, it was over 19 hours long, and while it was never bad or uninteresting enough to make me want to give it up, it was never good enough to make me want to go back and listen some more, either. There's a lot of detail of the realities of daily life and religion in 10th century Greenland, but not a lot of meat to the actual story, and a good editor could have saved me at least four or five hours of audiobook where nothing really substantial happened. Overall, interesting due to its unique setting, but not something I'm rushing out to recommend.

A thousand years ago a warm ocean current swept against the southwest coast of Greenland, breaking up the ice. Soon after, Erik the Red came in search of a new land to settle. His eyes beheld green hills rich with grass for his cattle and deep, dark fjords teeming with seal and walrus.

Erik led other Icelandic Vikings to this land. Eventually the settlements held nearly 4,000 people. The Vikings stayed in Greenland for 500 years. This is the setting for The Thrall's Tale.

The story is told through the voices of three women.

Thorbjorg: A Seeress, worshiper of Odin and the old Norse gods, healer, and one who discerns the motives of human hearts. Twice Thorbjorg was made homeless by those who feared her power.

Katla: Born to an Irish slave. show more Her mother taught her what little she knew of the Christian God. Caught between two religions, she yearns to be united with a freeborn man. All her illusions are shattered when she is savagely raped by her master's son. Ever after, Katla lives her life in trepidation, trusting little.

Bibrau: Katla's daughter who never speaks. She knows that she is unwanted by her mother. Her mistress, Thorbjorg, believes that she is a gift from Odin, a repository for all the secret wisdom Thorbjorg has to teach. Bibrau is guided by a familiar spirit. Too late, she comes to the full knowledge of the evil within her.

The story of these three women depicts Greenland's Viking society as it survives violence, plague, and famine while turning from the old Norse gods to the new faith of Christ. The mystical atmosphere of this book shows that human flaws are found in all levels of society. Those with power can abuse. Those without it can succumb to false pride. Those who are injured or oppressed can hate.

And all can be misled into thinking they hold more power than they do. show less

I really wanted to like this book, the writing was good and the setting was intriguing to me, but the execution/storyline was boring as all hell.

This was one of those stories where you hold your breath waiting for something to happen, and nothing ever does. There were some moments that had me hopeful, but then the characters were like "nah, bruh" before going about their way.

The most interesting part of this book were the historical notes at the very end. You can tell the author did her research, but the story was just incredibly bland.

I really wanted to like this book, the writing was good and the setting was intriguing to me, but the execution/storyline was boring as all hell.

This was one of those stories where you hold your breath waiting for something to happen, and nothing ever does. There were some moments that had me hopeful, but then the characters were like "nah, bruh" before going about their way.

The most interesting part of this book were the historical notes at the very end. You can tell the author did her research, but the story was just incredibly bland.