The Voyage of Freydis

By: Tamara Goranson

Narrated by: Sofia Engstrand

The Vinland Viking Saga: Book 1

History set her fate in stone…

Murderer. Mercenary. Temptress.

Trickster. Traitor. Thief.

But under a hammer that falls like thunder, stone will always shatter.

So with her voice she lights the forge.

The Voyage of Freydis sings the silenced tale of Freydis Eiriksdottir, the first and only woman to lead a Viking voyage across the Atlantic in this tempestuous retelling of an ancient Icelandic saga set at the dawn of the 11th century.

Content notice: spousal abuse.

©2021 Tamara Goranson (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Had potential

The heroine had experiences that provided hope, but she did not reflect female empowerment. If anything, she reflected self-sacrifice and a victim’s mentality. She was a survivor, but she did not break the cycle, as well-intentioned as the author may have been.

Brazen warrior turned into a desperately co-dependent pacifist

For better or worse Freydis was a historic domineering woman, described as interested in autonomy, power, and wealth, famously known for various massacres including one against the First Nations peoples while 8 months pregnant.

This book is nothing like the few writings we have on her. She is portrayed as whiny, needy, and obsessed with not being told what to do - more akin to a toddler than an independent woman.

I was expecting this to be more like a reimagining of a typically portrayed as villainous character but instead the author took one of the few truly powerful women of history and continuously made her desperately codependent, constantly pleading, and forever fawning men in her life, and obsessing over being a good woman obsessed with pregnancy. There is more focus on her unborn child than Freydis herself… who though this sappy want to be romance was a good idea?

Truly not remotely what I expected based on the context and description.