I am happy to say I am on the Rachel’s Random Resources Blog tour for Storytellers by Bjørn Larssen. Thank you both for my invitation and the copy of the book.
Would you murder your brothers to keep them from telling the truth about themselves?
On a long, cold Icelandic night in March 1920, Gunnar, a hermit blacksmith, finds himself with an unwanted lodger – Sigurd, an injured stranger who offers a story from the past. But some stories, even those of an old man who can barely walk, are too dangerous to hear. They alter the listeners’ lives forever… by ending them.
Others are keen on changing Gunnar’s life as well. Depending on who gets to tell his story, it might lead towards an unwanted marriage, an intervention, rejoining the Church, letting the elf drive him insane, or succumbing to the demons in his mind. Will he manage to write his own last chapter?
Bjørn Larssen’s award-winning, Amazon #1 best selling novel is an otherworldly, emotive Icelandic saga – a story of love and loneliness, relief and suffering, hatred… and hope.
This book is such a unique one. A historical fiction thriller that is told over two timelines. It is actually two stories intertwined. Bjørn Larssen has definitely shown that his storytelling is topnotch in his debut book.
I was immediately transported to Iceland in the 1020s. Gunnar is a lonely blacksmith with his loyal dog, Ragnar. He ends up having to take care of an injured stranger. As the stranger recovers, he tells Gunnar a story. The story is told over a few nights, as simultaneously, Gunnars is told. The strangers tale is about love, death, and feuding brothers.
Both tales are so compelling, and the story from the stranger being told in instalments begins as it should, quietly and calmly. Then, as Gunnar himself is impatient,so was I. As the story gets close to the end, the speed and tension really increases and I was so enthralled in the storytelling.
Complex characters with a storyline that is sometimes mystical and, at times, bordering on creepy, Bjørn Larssen’s book draws you in to the point of almost obsessive reading to reach an ending that surprised me.
I always love discovering new authors and this one is an author I will definitely keep my eye on! An unusual and brilliant read.
Purchase Link
https://books2read.com/storytellers/
Author Bio
Bjørn Larssen is a Norse heathen made in Poland, but mostly located in a Dutch suburb, except for his heart which he lost in Iceland. Born in 1977, he self-published his first graphic novel at the age of seven in a limited edition of one, following this achievement several decades later with his first book containing multiple sentences and winning awards he didn’t design himself. His writing is described as ‘dark’ and ‘literary’, but he remains incapable of taking anything seriously for more than 60 seconds.
Bjørn has a degree in mathematics and has worked as a graphic designer, a model, a bartender, and a blacksmith (not all at the same time). His hobbies include sitting by open fires, dressing like an extra from Vikings, installing operating systems, and dreaming about living in a log cabin in the north of Iceland. He owns one (1) husband and is owned by one (1) neighbourhood cat.
Social Media Links –
https://twitter.com/bjornlarssen
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