Saturday, February 05, 2005

The Viking that wasn't very interesting....



I finished Sandra Hill's Truly, Madly, Viking on Thursday. It was definitely not as fabulous as The Last Viking. I had to give it a C+.

Second in the Contemporary Viking Series, Hill tells the story of Geirolf's brother Jorund. Jorund returns to his homeland after several years warring to find his wife (whom he really didn't love) and his twin daughters (who he did love) dead. They have died in the famine. His father has asked him and his brother Magnus to go out and search for his younger brother Geirolf, who they think is lost at sea.
While on his voyage, an Orca whale 'kidnaps' Jorund and takes him through a time portal to Texas (yr 2000).
Maggie is a psychiatrist who is raising twins on her own. The girls are trying desperately to find a father, even to the extreme of wishing upon a star (it won't hurt to try EVERYTHING). On one of thier trips to Orca World (the local Sea World) they see a man being dumped into the Orca's water pen by a free whale. The man (Jorund) swims (bare naked) to shore thinking that he has died and is in Valhalla. Everyone thinks he is crazy and so Maggie steps in and claims he is a patient from her hospital. Why she does this, no one can understand, not even herself.

Anyway, the book spends a lot of time discussing how Joe (the name Mag-he has given Jorund) is helping the patients (there is quite an assortment of interesting characters in the book) but not enough time on his relationship with Maggie. He acclimates too easily to the modern world, there is barely any shock to his system upon encountering modern day stuff. He loves watching soap operas and loves the exercise machines but is not floored by simple things like beds and showers… there was just not enough humor in it. There was also his issue with Maggie's daughters, since they are twins like his children he doesn't want to spend time with them, but gives in waaay too easily when they approach him. It was an okay book but nothing I would ever recommend.

Now on to the third book int he series, The Very Virile Viking. Based on reviews, this last one seems to be the best of the three. I'll let you know.

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