Cover Art: Bergthora's Saga: A Heathen Revenge in a Christian Iceland

After his presentation on Viking-age culture and its sphere of influence from North America to North Africa; Reiner will read from his book and sign copies.

FREDERICK, MD, UNITED STATES, February 11, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- On November 17, 2024, Europe Books released Reiner Prochaska’s new historical novel, Bergthora’s Saga: A Heathen Revenge in a Christian Iceland, for worldwide publication.

A presentation by the author on Viking-age culture and its influence across the Atlantic from North America to North Africa will be held in the Community Room of the C. Burr Artz Public Library in Frederick, Maryland, from 2:00pm to 3:00pm on Saturday, March 8, 2025. At the event—hosted by Curious Iguana und the Maryland Room of the C. Burr Artz Public Library—copies of the book will be available, and the author will sign them.

The 346-page paperback novel—inspired by a trip to Iceland in 2018—is the culmination of over five years of meticulous research into Norse history and culture.

It is the story of Bergthora Bjornsdóttir, who in 1019, after burying her husband in Greenland, returns to Iceland to exact her revenge for a violent act she suffered as a young girl. But in her hunger for vengeance she drives Engilborg, the young wife of Egill—a powerful and ruthless chieftain—into the arms of her uncle, Leif, shattering the lives of family and friends in the rural community along Hvamms Fjord. Kjartan, Engilborg's father—who spent 15 years in Constantinople as a Varangian warrior, so he could buy back his family's farm—struggles to protect his family from shame and ruin. Ægileif, a seeress obsessed with Egill, uses her witchcraft in a desperate attempt to win his love while Óstarki, her enigmatic son, seeks to reclaim the moral compass his mother has abandoned. Spanning across four decades and geographical settings that include Iceland, Greenland, and North America, as well as present-day Switzerland, Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, and Syria, we follow these men and women as they navigate the struggles of pastoral farming, war, family life, and death while searching for a path from their heathen past to a Christian future. Secrets surface, friendships fracture, and long-buried animosities culminate in a gripping tale of honor, betrayal, friendship, faith, and heathen magic.

Kirkus Review calls the novel “a historically rich, vengeance-fueled tale.” Diane Donovan at the Midwest Book Review hails it as “a powerful work of Icelandic fiction that traverses the history and culture of 1019,” adding that “Reiner Prochaska creates a sweeping epic story.” She asserts that “the complexity of these experiences and changing times makes Bergthora's Saga of special interest to readers of historical fiction in general and those attracted to Icelandic experience in particular.” She argues that "vivid passages depicting social, political, and religious change are especially well done, promising to attract readers who may have little prior Icelandic history knowledge, but who enjoy epic sagas filled with memorable characters and understandable, hard-hitting passages of insight.”

Richard Prause at Readers’ Favorite posits that “Prochaska masterfully blends themes of love, lust, revenge, religious conflict, magic, and betrayal into the storyline,” and BookViral Reviews praises the novel’s "vivid storytelling and meticulous historical detail," concluding in its final verdict that the book “is a richly layered historical novel that combines gripping storytelling with deep thematic resonance,” adding that “Prochaska’s ability to blend historical accuracy, mythological depth, and compelling character development results in a book that is both intellectually engaging and emotionally powerful…It is a brilliantly told saga that lingers in the mind long after the final page is turned.”

The book is available online from the publisher, Europe Books, Amazon, and from Barnes & Noble. Indie bookstores can be supported by ordering from Bookshop.org.
Curious Iguana, at 12 N. Market in Frederick, also carries the novel.

Reiner Prochaska is a playwright, a novelist, an actor, a director, a filmmaker, and a university lecturer. His plays have been produced at Maryland Ensemble Theatre and published internationally. His novel Captives—the story of German soldiers interned at the historical POW camp in Frederick, Maryland, between 1944 and 1946—was published by The Permanent Press in 2019. He is the Producer and a Co-Director of the Catoctin Furnace Living History Festival. A graduate of Towson University’s Professional Writing program, Reiner teaches writing at his alma mater. He lives in Frederick, Maryland.

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Reiner Prochaska
Historical Storycraft
+1 3016936599
reiner.historicalstorycraft@gmail.com
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