Runestone

by Don Coldsmith

The hand-picked crews of two longships set sail from eleventh-century Norway across the great sea to Vinland and the colony of Straumfjord, where they encounter the native peoples of an uncharted continent. 30,000 first printing. $30,000 ad/promo. Tour.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Novels

489 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1995

About the author

Don Coldsmith was an American author of primarily Western fiction. A past president of Western Writers of America, Coldsmith wrote more than 40 books, as well as and hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles. His “Spanish Bit Saga,” a series of related novels, helped to re-define the Western novel by adopting the point of view of the Native Americans, rather than the European immigrants.

Reviews

[Michael]

I can't get enough of speculation on this subject. Fact: There's a stone inscribed with Viking runes, dated to 1000 AD. In OKLAHOMA. There are others that have been found as far from the Atlantic Coast as Minnesota. The Mandan Indians when encountered by Lewis and Clark 800 years later had blue eyes and permanent stone settlements built in the style of medieval Europe.

Each leg of the trip from Norway to Iceland, to Greenland, to Canada was easily within their ability. The Vikings were here, and given the North American river system could have brought their longships within two days walk of the Oklahoma site. Certainly they could have navigated the Great Lakes, anywhere along the Mississipi, the Missouri, the Ohio, etc. Since there have been settlements found in Canada, it seems almost a surety that they travelled up and down the Atlantic coast.

A lost piece of history. What if they had stayed? Anyway this book is about Vikings that makes their way into the continent. It seems likely they were killed off by the natives, but no one really knows.

[Joe White · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a historically researched story for parts of North American People at around 1100 AD., this may be unparalleled.
The cons: it is overly long, with 300 pages of extra micro detail. It is somewhat repetitious. It also seems written more for a younger naive reader who might be more receptive to simplistic religious intertwinings.
I was looking for a story more oriented to the Norse as explorers as a group, rather than as stranded individual stragglers who became enmeshed in the local population. This story takes a very valid viewpoint, in that it occurs in a reasonable timespan and contains realistic plot elements. The Norse also settled nearly every area they interacted with, so it would be inline with that cultural mixing capability for a piece of historical fiction to reflect an actual possibility.

For historical fiction of the North American time period this book could be given 5 stars. Personally I almost lost interest just because of the subject plot by 1/3 of the way, and had to complete it largely by speedread scan, thus only the 3 star rating for my reading objectives.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent story, lots of action. Epic.

[Scott A · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read all of Dr. Coldsmiths.....TRAIL OF THE SPANISH BIT..... books back when they first hit the shelves and as soon as I completed one I couldn't wait for the next one to be published. The story starts in the mid sixteenth century with a lost and injured Spanish soldier wearing metal armor and in possession of the first horse that the very confused Natives had ever seen in the Great Plains. The People take the man and beast into the fold and the Saga begins. There is not a bad read in the bunch. There are 29 books in the series and 7 or 8 stand alone Super novels. They are all GREAT. (This book is one of the stand alone novels and one of the very best) .....ŔADARONE.....09-21-2017.....

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting speculation, although it doesn't really prove anything. A great adventure tale for younger readers. Somewhat overboard on detailing the characters' every thought.

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic historical fiction of the Vikings in North America. Very recommended

[Andy2302 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this 18 years ago. Enjoyed it immensely. A travelog in speculative North American history.
4.5 stars.

[SewUnicornish · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not terrible though for some reason it failed to wow me as much as I thought it would. It is an easy read. The word usage is simple and flows rather well. Though it seemed to spend a lot of time on characters thoughts and planning their ideas. A lot of times the same thoughts and ideas are repeated again later as if we didn't remember what they had thought a few pages back. This led to what seemed as a ton of non-essential reading and started making me feel impatient.

A lot of pages were spent also on the story telling of the natives. Though interesting at first it quickly seemed to become an easy page filler throughout the book.

The story wandered but it had to. I like how it gave us a warm feeling of family because the characters all seemed very real. We see the main character grow as a person in understanding and maturity and that I think was the point of the story. Nils starts out as a very naive adventurer. There are some action scenes though not very intense. As the book nears the end it turns in my opinion slightly dark and grim. A little scary even. Nil's night vision of the river was down right creepy. I really wanted to bonk him on the head and tell him not to go!

I loved the romance in this book! I wish it had been highlighted even more than it was but then...well it would be a romance novel. Which it is not.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. Historically we know that Vikings explored what is now North America. Setting sail from Stadt, Norway with brief stops in Iceland and Greenland they landed in Straumfjord, a viking settlement in nowday Newfoundland with intentions to map this new county believing it to be an island. This is a story of much adventure and what may have happened thru many years travel and exploring. After encounters with native tribes some good friendly , and some warlike, they ontinued on their trek. Calling upon mystic beliefs of natives and the vast knowledge of a captured one-eyed Indian, two long ships start out to explore. The groups get separated, so Nils, Sven and one-eyed Odin take up the quest traveling on rivers and by foot by themselves and with friendly tribes they eventually they reach the the area now called Oklahoma. There are huge stones near Heavener with carvings from the Vikings, called runestones. Many experts disagree what is written, but the story in the book is one way of imagining how it happened.

[Bree (AnotherLookBook) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn’t sure about the writing style for a while…but it grew on me until it just felt like another narrative style. I really loved the transformation of the characters through spiritual and cultural influences on each other. Things like approaching the world as thought not simply in it, but a part of it. I also didn’t realize until almost all the way through the book (when I skipped ahead to the author’s note) that the setting of the book was around 1000. Very cool, very unusual. The author was known for reframing the classic “western” genre. I certainly see that here.

[Mike Winters · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a great historical adventure novel. Telling the story of viking ships coming to North America and the time they spend with the native tribes while traveling through dangerous wilderness. It was a great adventure read. Don Goldsmith is a great storyteller of the historical American native tribes.

[Robert C. smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slow Moving But Overall Enjoyable.
Although not quite as ancient as "Clan of the Cave Bear," there are many similarities as two culturally different groups use their particular skills and knowledge to earn respect with limited mutual trust from each other. Definitely a fun but slow read.

[Kyle · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm sad to say this book fell far from my expectations. Someone recommended it to me as a good historical fiction account of viking explorations in America before the Age of Sail, but it seemed to me more like a chance for the author to take a new angle on the classic 'cowboys vs indians' novel. The characters are one-dimensional, dim-witted, and hard to identify with. The dialog is flat. The plot tends to go in circles. The storyline is intriguing, but doesn't deliver. I gave this book 100 pages to impress me and will go no further.

[Diana Petersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Native Americans were here before Columbus before the Vikings but did you know that there are ancient viking marking inland in this country not on the coast. This book is an intreaging story of how the Runestone came to be. It makes one think. Google Runestone museum (images) and see what you find. I did. How did Runestone end up in Minnesota?

[Ulla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tolles Abenteuer, Wikinger mit Indianern. Spannend. Ich war beim Lesen in Odin verknallt. Don Coldsmith's Schreibstil gefiel mir gut.

[TOTO from Kansas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did not enjoy as much as Spanish Bit series, but still a good read