Legend of the Last Vikings
So why an alternative ending?
What happened to the Vikings after Stamford Bridge? Where did they go? What did they do?
Well Legend of the Last Vikings is just one possibility…………..
But why an Alternate Ending?
When I started researching the book I was amazed to discover that the Silk Route was not just one route, but instead a whole network of routes reaching out from Eastern Europe and criss-crossing Asia. As such I had to decide which routes my characters would travel on. Before I could make this decision I had to research the routes. In doing so I found so much fascinating information on each, trying to decide which route to “travel” was not easy. Even though I eventually settled upon a route, I did not want to waste potential stories so decided to write an alternate ending which in effect brings these stories in and gives the reader a two-for-one.
A Synopsis of the Book
On returning home to Norway after defeat at Stamford Bridge, our hero, Ulf Uspakson, Herald to King Harald, realises an era is over. He remembers the story of a Swedish Viking Adventurer, Yngvar Vittfarne (Yngvar the Far Travelled), who went missing on a journey to the East and in a last fling of youth decides to try and trace him – somewhere on the Silk Route. No easy task! His journey takes him and his crew across the Euorpean Steppe, down the mighty Dniepr to Kiev and the Black Sea. Across the Balck Sea and the Sea of Azov, up the Don river to the White Fortress at Sarkel, across the Khazarian Way and down the Volga to Astrakhan. Across the Caspian sea and up the mighty Oxus River (Amu Darya) to Bactria and then along the Silk Route into China’s Taklamakan desert - and that’s just the route. Add all the action, adventure, interaction, hate, love, greed, lust and betrayal and you have an epic on your hands!
The alternate ending starts at Chapter 34
What Happened to Chapters 1 - 33?
They’re still in the book of course. As you have seen I have given a brief summary of these chapters.
Introduction to the Alternate Ending
The adventure of a lifetime in the Taklamakan is now behind them. T
he crew are tired and weary and are approaching Astrakhan from the North East having looped around the top of the Aral sea from the Jaxartes River (Syr Darya) in Kazakhstan having crossed the Karakum and Barsuki deserts in the process.
They are on the final leg of their two year journey. But the action and adventure isn’t over yet.
Alternate ending chapters are posted on this site and can also be found at
www.viking.legend.com and
http://johndhalsted.pnn.com/4575-alternate-ending
The Book
The book can be bought online at www.VikingLegend.com for just GBP9.90 or about US$19.50 It is a 511 page hardback with character descriptions, historical companion, place name lexicon and maps and measures 7 inches high /18 centimetres by four and a quarter inches / 11 centimetres wide. In the words of one reviewer:
“….much smaller than the typical hardcover. It may seem an odd thing to remark on, but there is a satisfying heft to the book and it is easy to carry around, fitting nicely in a pocket in my windbreaker.”
Reviews of the book can also be found at www.VikingLegend.com and at http://www.revish.com/reviews/0978589297/Max/
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