Axe of Iron: The Settlers
by J. A. Hunsinger
Published by Vinland Publishing LLC
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Reviewed by Michele E. Davis
Hunsinger creates a scintillating, adventurous tale that happened over one thousand years ago when the Vikings (or Norsemen) settled Greenland during a warm front, and then settled parts of Canada and the upper Midwest of the United States. They were here before Columbus set sail from Spain. They interacted with numerous indigenous Indian tribes and were also a very violent bunch of men. The Dark Ages was a period were there was a lot of constant fighting and warfare, and no one could live peacefully. The Norsk brought that attitude with them to North America.
This book, Axe of Iron centers on the Norse leader Halfdan Ingolfsson and the more than 300 settlers who made the journey from Greenland to, what is believed to be North America, during a 400-year period. Pedantic details of their lives are left out and we get an interesting historical perspective of what might have happened. Everything is fictionalized conjecture since the Norse had no documents, ruins or artifacts that are deemed certifiably authentic. Author Hunsinger creates an amazing world of new colonization in North America and dealing with its indigenous people.
Ingolfsson is a born leader and he knows that getting along with the Indians is imperative. Killing halts, trading continues and inter-breeding occurs because of the lack of women.
Gossip, about sex and other issues, is a constant rhythmic diversion of conversation in the book, and gossip, ”...regardless of the topic, served to relive the tedium of daily work.”
An interesting take on an earlier colonization of North America in approximately the year 997.
Armchair Interviews says: A must read for historical aficionados.
Web site: http://www.VinlandPublishing.com