Legend of the Last Vikings - Taklamakan - Hardcover

Halsted, John David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 095605840X ISBN 13: 9780956058409

Verlag: Abela Publishing, 2006

Inhaltsangabe

Book by John Halsted

Über diesen Titel

Críticas:

Between historical research and fictional account, Halsted explores the Viking world from a fresh, new perspective. Tearing past the course stereotypes that Vikings are condemned to, Legend of the Last Vikings: Taklamakan represents a flourishing world of unity, justice and a rich thriving community. Halsted challenges each and every tradition creating a united world of Christians, Muslims and Jews struggling together as one against a common evil in a time before the devastation of the Crusades. Taklamakan pushes boundaries, refusing to believe the world to be divided; this brave and bold narrative dares to confront accepted views. Battling against the swelling seas, the torturous currents, and the sweltering heat of the deserts, Ulf Uspakson scours the land for Ingvar Vittefarne, a lost Viking. Not only does Mother Nature prove to be an obtrusive obstacle, but the menacing and sinister Black Scorpions ruthlessly pursue Uspakson and his men across the edges of the world determined to end their adventures, permanently. Our Viking explorers, with their long flowing blond hair, knee high boots and pale skin, a guise that would hardly go unnoticed under the beating sun of the East, find themselves making new comrades, and discovering perfectly preserved hidden worlds. Despite attempting to blend in to the backdrop they find themselves unable to escape the blood thirsty Black Scorpions, who remain firmly on their trail. Educated in South Africa but currently based in England, John Halsted started writing for pure passion. After completing his studies and working in different fields and travelling around the world, he commenced an in-depth personal study of Viking history (from which his family are allegedly descended), whose result is this promising novel. Emotionally engaging, tugging on heart strings, full of spectacle and painted with such fine detail, Halsted s entire canvas is a haunting display of Viking culture, eleventh century history and forgotten people. The author unearths a past that lays hidden behind continuously shifting political systems and boundaries. On a whirlwind of adventures we are whisked off to meet Zoroastrians, Hephthalites, and lost Buddhist relics, on an incomparable and unforgettable journey for forgotten truths. --

--Book-promotion.com

EXCELLENT! The book tells a story that captures the reader on several levels. What appears to be an historical novel becomes an adventure set in a background of rich experiences and wide diversity. This adventure, alongside the stories of the different settlements and religions, and that of a moving love story, means that this book provides a compelling and exciting journey of discovery for both the characters in the book and the reader themselves. --

--Laura Stannard

This is a wonderful blend of fact and fiction, putting flesh on the dry bones of history, demonstrating the insatiable restless human desire for discovery, adventure and the pursuit of knowledge. Be drawn into a classic sojourn which spans many religions and beliefs and incorporates the ingredients of friendship, dignity, honour, love, betrayal and greed; against the backdrop of a hostile environment which gives no quarter just what one expects from a Viking. An intellectual read, leaving the door open with a promise of more to come. Riveting stuff!--

--Paul Sweetland

EXCELLENT! The book tells a story that captures the reader on several levels. What appears to be an historical novel becomes an adventure set in a background of rich experiences and wide diversity. This adventure, alongside the stories of the different settlements and religions, and that of a moving love story, means that this book provides a compelling and exciting journey of discovery for both the characters in the book and the reader themselves. --Laura Stannard

This is a wonderful blend of fact and fiction, putting flesh on the dry bones of history, demonstrating the insatiable restless human desire for discovery, adventure and the pursuit of knowledge. Be drawn into a classic sojourn which spans many religions and beliefs and incorporates the ingredients of friendship, dignity, honour, love, betrayal and greed; against the backdrop of a hostile environment which gives no quarter just what one expects from a Viking. An intellectual read, leaving the door open with a promise of more to come. Riveting stuff!-- --Paul Sweetland

Reseña del editor:

A Viking Saga. Action and adventure at the end of the Viking age from Norway across the European Steppe, along the Silk Route into China's notorious Taklamakan desert. The desert so called by locals because those who venture in seldom venture out. Experience ancient peoples, cultures, lost tribes and hidden kingdoms. As well as mystery, action, adventure, love, lust, greed, comradeship and betrayal. Just what one would expect in a Viking Saga. As the Viking age is brought to an end in 1066 with ignominious defeat at the battle of Stamford Bridge, a rag-tag group of Vikings conclude the quiet life is not for them and they decide to go-a-Viking one last time. Retracing a journey of their youth across the European Steppe and down the mighty Dniepr river heading for Byzantium. Enroute a chance discovery in a Kiev library leads them to venture even further afield - to Astrakhan, across the Caspian sea, up the mighty Oxus river, through Parthia and Bactria and along the ancient Silk Route into Asia and Tian Xia (China). Engaged in a battle not of their choosing, they inflict fatalities on the sinister and evil Black Scorpions who want to exact their revenge. Escaping entrapment in a cave, pursued, they flee by night across the Roof of the World and meet the remnants of the "lost" European tribe of Asia, the Hepthalites, who offer them protection in their city, hidden in the Tien Shan - the Celestial Mountains. A place where romance is kindled and love unexpectedly blossoms. During their winter sojourn in the Hidden City they gather more clues, and in the spring continue with their quest, on into the Taklamakan desert. The desert so called by locals because those who venture in seldom venture out. More danger and peril lies in wait for this rag-tag Viking crew as they travel along the Silk Route, the world's first super-highway. At the eastern end of their journey they meet the Lang Ren, the Wolf people of Lou Lan, outcasts thieves and criminals living in an abandoned city in the desert. A city without water. A city about to die. A city in which the final clue to their quest is uncovered. What fate awaits this motly crew and what fate awaits the Lang Ren, a rejected element of Asian society?

Über diese Auflage

• Verlag: Abela Publishing
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2006
• ISBN 10: 095605840X
• ISBN 13: 9780956058409
• Einband: Tapa dura
• Auflage: 2
• Anzahl der Seiten: 332
• Herausgeber: Words R. U. R. U., Words R. U.