|
Reviews
Axe of Iron series review, Walter Sopher, Edmonton, Alberta, July 2010
Confrontation, Scandinavian Press magazine, Summer 2010
Confrontation, Norwegian American Weekly, June 2010
Confrontation, Midwest Book Review, May 2010
Confrontation, Allbooks Reviews, Canada, May 2010
Confrontation, BookReview.com, April 2010
Confrontation, US Reviews of Books, April 2010
Confrontation, IP Reviewers, Melissa Levine, April 2010
Confrontation Review: Write Field Services, Canada, March 2010
Confrontation: An Axe of Iron Novel, March 2010, FIRST REVIEW
The Book Connection Review, Axe of Iron: The Settlers, May 2009
Good review of Axe of Iron: The Settlers by author J. R. Hauptman, May 2009
The Tome Traveler's Weblog, April 2009
Viking Trader, Issaquah, WA, March 2009
ReadingMama Blog Site, Chicago, IL, March 2009
You can tell that Hunsinger put a lot of time and effort into his research. Hunsinger explains the daily lives of the Northmen in great detail. As you read this book you get the feel that you are actually there. You can see, hear, and feel what the Northmen had to endure to survive. I am just glad that I don't have to do all they did just to have food. Read more...
CafeofDreams Blog, Brighton, IA, March 2009
I have to say that before I read Axe of Iron: The Settlers, I knew next to nothing about the Norse and Viking Age. Not for lack of interest, I just never really thought about it, I guess (a bit of a contradiction, perhaps). In any case, when I read that this book pertained to this period and the exploration of unknown regions, I was highly intrigued! Read more...
Tracy Roberts, Write Field Services, Chester, NS, Canada, December 23, 2008
As historical fiction, the author successfully captures a glimpse of the life of the Norsemen. It becomes quite clear that a great deal of research went into creating the story. The attention to detail is quite remarkable. Read more...
The eBook Sales, UK, November 2008
Armchair Interviews: Review of Axe of Iron--The Settlers, June 14, 2008
Axe of Iron: The Settlers
by J. A. Hunsinger
Vinland Publishing, LLC (August 1 release)
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. Read more...
Week's Literary
The Settlers, the first book in the Axe of Iron series, follows a band of Norsemen from Greenland to the shores of North America. The would-be settlers sail the coast of Vinland, finding food and resources to be plentiful, which reinforces their desire to become permanent residents.
As Halfdan Ingolfsson and the men, women, and children who make up his band work to establish a colony, they try to establish relations with the Native Americans. While the Thalmiut welcome the strangers, the Naskapi view them as a threat, and a fringe element of the Norsemen proves them correct. Halfdan turns the troublemakers over to the tribe; justice is swift — and deadly. Halfdan's act of honor establishes an uneasy peace between the natives and the settlers, but it's only a matter of time until hostilities break out again.
Hunsinger not only weaves a fascinating tale of adventure a thousand years past, but he also shows readers the daily lives of the settlers in vivid detail, answering those questions that nag at the back of the mind when one reads historical fiction: How did they preserve their food? How did they deal with sanitation? How would their customs translate to a new land? By the end of the book, readers feel like they've taken part in the hardships and joys of colonization.
Reviewer: Jan Weeks, Weeks Literary, http://www.weekslit.com/
Alternative Read Reviews
Title: Axe of Iron: The Settlers
Author: J.A. Hunsinger
Website of Author: http://www.vinlandpublishing.com/
Publisher: Vinland Publishers, LLC
Website of Publisher: http://www.vinlandpublishing.com/
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publication Date: May 2008
ISBN: 978-0-9801601-0-9
Length: 400 pages
Format: Paperback
Reviewer: Lucille P. Robinson
Halfdan Ingolfsson and the shipmates accompanying him left Greenland with their minds filled with the stories told by other Northmen—Northmen who had been successful in helping to build two settlements on the eastern coast of North America long before Columbus was born. Halfdan understood the hardships of carving a living space out of virgin territory. He knew about the fights with the area's inhabitants known as Skraelings (thought to have been Indians). As a result, Halfdan wants to go to a different place, hoping to make contact with different Skraelings and try to live peaceably amongst them. Read more...
Kirkus Discoveries
Hunsinger, J.A.
AXE OF IRON: The Settlers
Vinland Publishing (384 pp.) www.vinlandpublishing.com
$17.95 paperback
August 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-9801601-0-9
A solid first novel, Axe of Iron offers a comprehensive look into the lives of early Norse explorers who arrived in North America 500 years before Columbus' "discovery."
While school children are no doubt familiar with the rhyme "In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue," few are likely aware that the Vikings predated his arrival on these shores by hundreds of years. Read more...
Allbook Reviews
Title: Axe of Iron: The Settlers
Author: J. A. Hunsinger
Publisher: www.vinlandpublishing.com
Genre: Historical Fiction
Halfdan Ingolfsson is a brave, intelligent leader of men. His second in command, Gudbjartur Einarsson is loyal, invaluable and ruthless. He does what must be done. The two men lead a group of Greenlanders, sometime between the year 997 and 1003, to a new and exciting land. A land filled with game, fish, fresh vegetation and North American natives. Can the two men discover the perfect home for this diversified group of men, women and children? Will Halfdan decide to take a wife from amongst the women traveling with them? How will they coexist with the natives? Read more...
IP Book Reviewers
Axe of Iron: The Settlers
J. A. Hunsinger
Vinland Publishing, LLC www.vinlandpublishing.com
Fiction/ Historical
2008
Soft cover 384 pages
It's the details that grab the reader's attention in J. A. Hunsinger's historical novel, Axe of Iron: The Settlers. The book is the first installment in a planned series of stories about the migration of Norsemen Greenlanders to North America . From the introduction, which provides background information, to the brutal ending, Hunsinger uses his extensive knowledge of the history and culture of Norsemen to craft a story that exposes the lives of an ancient people with an admirable sense of adventure and value for community. Read more...
Heartland Reviews
Title: Axe of Iron: The Settlers
Author: J.A. Hunsinger
Illustrator: Glenda Scheuerman, Colorado
Publisher and/or Distributor: Vinland Publishing, LLC/AtlasBooks, Inc.
Publisher Website: www.vinlandpublishing.com
Pages: 384 ISBN: 978-0-9801601-0-9
Price: $17.95
Publishing Date: 2008
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts
This great historical chronicles the Norse culture of 1008 AD. Six ships of Norse families, including their livestock, horses, and dogs, sail to the American continent. The details of how they lived and supported themselves are both practical and believable. Read more...
|
