Faith of Their Fathers ~ Book Review

False God.

At the dawn of the 11th Century in a small Icelandic settlement, these words, daubed in blood, herald the arrival of a killer. Soon, a spate of murders threatens the fragile peace between pagans and a growing Christian minority. Arinbjorn, a young pagan farmer resolves to track down the killer before the community is permanently torn apart. His investigations draw in Freya, an isolated housewife whose secrets could either condemn or free her. Meanwhile in Norway, King Olaf Tryggvason has his own designs upon Iceland and its people. War is rife in Scandinavia, and a Christian Iceland would bolster his control over the region.

Only one thing is certain: these murders will change Icelandic society forever.

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StoryGraph

Samuel M. Sargeant

11 July 2024

Historical Fiction

352 Pages

My Rating ~ 4 bites and a nibble

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Wow. Talk about a roller coaster ride of emotions! Mine were all over the place while reading this historical fiction set in Iceland during the High Middle Age. The Roman Catholic Church is really gaining traction against all other religions and, specifically in Iceland, paganism. I cannot express enough how tense this book is. The King of Norway needs Iceland under his thumb, so that means he needs them united under the Christian God. What an unbelievable ass he is. 

Telling from several POVs gives an overall well-rounded feel to an unbearably tense situation. There are murders to solve and secrets to keep. There are superstitions and bigotry and an unwillingness to let people just stay in their lane and live their lives. Sound familiar? All these centuries and this world is still fighting over religion. It’s infuriating.

Anyway, this is a book that will stick with me for a very long time. Not just because of the strained religious situation, but because I’ve never read a book about Iceland. And Ancient Iceland at that. What a delight the Icelandic background is in comparison to all of the tension. If you like history, mystery, wonderful writing, and great characters then this is a book you’ll want to pick up.

Samuel Sargeant is a Lecturer in the English Literature and Creative Writing department at the Open University. He studied at Cardiff University as part of his doctoral degree programme where his PhD thesis focused upon the structure of Medieval Old Norse-Icelandic sagas. He is currently researching the samtíðarsögur (contemporary sagas) and how their narrative structures compare to the other saga genres. He is viewing these broadly historiographical texts as acts of creative writing and using them in the development of his novels set within this period.

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