Goblins & Vikings in America: Episode 1

Goblins & Vikings in America #1

by Norman Crane

Five hundred years before Columbus, the Vikings discovered North America. That much is known. What they found there was not -- until now.

Goblins & Vikings in America is the epic saga of Dvalinn the Riverraider and his quest to find his son, Framarr; a quest that will take him and his ragtag companions (escaping the law, thralldom, and the impossibility of love) to the very edges of the known world, and beyond: to a land of exotic civilizations, ancient mystery, and unprecedented danger. To survive, they will have to work together. To succeed, they must do nothing less than change the course of history...

Episode 1: "Fatherland"
Length: 17,500 (~64 minutes)

Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Fiction

71 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 8, 2014

About the author

I live in Canada. I write books. I'm also a historian, a wise guy and a cinephile. When I'm not writing, I'm probably reading or trying to cook. Philip Dick, Haruki Murakami and Graham Greene are some of my favourite authors. I enjoy fiction that makes me curious because curiosity makes me creative. I peer under mossy rocks, knock on hollow trees and believe in hidden passageways—not because I have proof of their existence, but because imagining them is itself the reward. I like non-fiction for the same reason. I also like computers, text editors and mechanical keyboards.

[Norman Crane thinks the third person is pretentious.]

Reviews

[Steve Vernon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a big fan of Ragnar Lothbrok from the History Channel's TV series VIKINGS I was very excited to give this a read.

I really enjoyed this story. The writing was strong and the plotting was capable. It moved at a fairly fast clip and it left us hanging at just the proper moment in time. Norman Crane does a fine job of spinning a fast and exciting cross-genre yarn.

I had to quibble over the choice of armament for one character - Kaspar - who wields a weapon that sounds like a cross between a musical harp and a bow. While there is such a thing as a "bow-harp" they were - as far as I know, never meant to serve as a weapon. I talked with a few archers and none of us could visualize how such a device would work.

Still, if you are a fan of adventure fantasy and if you dig the TV series VIKINGS you will REALLY want to pick a copy of GOBLINS & VIKINGS IN AMERICA today.

yours in storytelling,
Steve Vernon

[Charles van Buren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part one of a series

By Charles van Buren on July 1, 2018

Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

Both the premise and the prose are good. The story flows well but hits a few snags such as running out of water, ale and food and drinking seawater. A few pages later there are stowaways, food, water and ale under the cloth covering their supplies. The worse problem is that the 71 pages just end with much of the story untold. There is an episode two available in a seperate volume. I do not know how many such volumes must be acquired to get to the end.

Four stars for the writing and plot but the small inconsistencies in the plot and the lack of a good ending drop it to three in my opinion.

[Kaj Samuelsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not expect much of this book but as I continued reading I got more into it. The way it is written it reminds me of the Icelandic Sagas or rather the fornaldarsagas (Legendary Sagas), but without the poetry. However, it was interesting and I look forward to the next episode.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great start to the story ... very well written.
Goblins in America I can believe, but Vikings? :)

[DOUGLAS J BERRY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nobody yells Oooooodin.

Author freebie. A few short chapters to interest you in the story. Vikings are drifting from island to island during the period of global warming that occured during the 1500's. They will eventually find a strange and wonderful country they call Vineland..

[Velvetink]

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