Review of POSTCARDS FROM VALHALLA by DANNY WESTON

 In a departure from what I normally blog about, this is a review of a novel for Young Adults, POSTCARDS FROM VALHALLA, written by DANNY WESTON. Danny Weston is an alternative pen name used by PHILIP CAVENEY.

Phil is a friend of mine but he’s more than that. He was a mentor to me and helped me get started as a writer. I go into further detail about this on THE SIX GUN JUSTICE podcast where I’m interviewed by acclaimed author and podcaster PAUL BISHOP. Here’s a link to the podcast: https://www.sixgunjustice.com/2022/11/six-gun-justice-podcast-episode_0314401616.html

Here’s some of what I say on the podcast: ‘I have to credit a friend of mine called Phil Caveney… I went to a writing group he was running and he took me aside. He said ‘I think… you should become a writer. I think you’ve got talent’ … This was the first published author I’d ever met… he was successful. I gave him a lot of respect because he’d actually done it. He was a professional writer… what he was doing worked.’

Phil’s first novel, ‘THE SINS OF RACHEL ELLIS’ was published in 1977 and he produced a series of adult thrillers over the following decades. His first novel for younger readers, ‘SEBASTIAN DARKE: PRINCE OF FOOLS’ was released in 2007. Since then, he has concentrated on writing exclusively for younger readers. He also writes under the pseudonym DANNY WESTON. Danny's debut novel ‘THE PIPER’ won the Scottish Children's Book Award in 2016 and in 2018, ‘THE HAUNTING OF JESSOP RISE’ was shortlisted for the Scottish Teenage Book prize and nominated for a Carnegie Medal.

POSTCARDS FROM VALHALLA is specifically pitched at Young Adult readers.

POSTCARDS exceeds any previous Caveney/ Weston book in the number of awards it’s been nominated for, which are: The Leeds Teen book award, The Staffordshire Teen book award, The Hampshire Teen Book Award and the Hounslow Teen Book Award. It was long-listed for the Warwickshire Teen Book Award and the Er... Amazing Book Award.

Here’s the blurb for POSTCARDS FROM VALHALLA:

Viggo is fifteen years old, living in Edinburgh with his mum. He has no plans for the future other than to watch the new Thor movie at his local multiplex. But one morning, he wakes to the news that his older brother, Magnus, has gone missing on Shetland. Mum has already booked tickets to go and search for him. There’s good reason to be worried. Five years ago, Viggo’s dad, Jonathan, went ‘off grid’ in the same location and disappeared. He is now ‘missing presumed dead.’ Viggo has no option but to go to Shetland with Mum - but from the moment they set off, he’s troubled by strange visions: images of armed warriors, mythical creatures and Viking longships. And then they encounter Leon, a mysterious wandering musician who attaches himself to them and proves impossible to shake off. Once on Shetland, the search for Magnus begins in earnest and Viggo’s troubling visions start to intensify. Soon he is finding it difficult to separate fact from fantasy… and who knows what terrors lie in wait for him deep beneath the ground?

And here’s my four star review:

‘A rattling good yarn rooted in adolescent angst and Viking mythology

Another cracking YA novel by Danny Weston, who also writes as Philip Caveney. Viggo Ryan is a 15-year-old boy still traumatised by the disappearance of his father 5 years earlier. Dad went missing while excavating Viking ruins in the Shetland Islands off the north coast of Scotland. Now Viggo’s brother Magnus has vanished in the same location. Viggo’s mother decides to go to Shetland and find both lost family members, taking Viggo with her. Along the way they’re joined by Leon, a so-called ‘travelling musician’ who is definitely more than he seems. In Shetland they encounter a tech-billionaire with an interest in Viking history, particularly in a mysterious cave under a mysterious tree. Viggo tries to find refuge in his normal adolescent concerns but he’s increasingly plagued by dreams and hallucinations, not only of his lost brother and father but of figures from Viking legend and mythology. It all comes to a climax in the cave under the tree… For me the joy of this tale is in the telling. Caveney/Weston always writes a rattling good yarn, but here his writing is on particularly good form, witty, conversational, suspenseful and exciting when it needs to be. And galloping along at a rollicking pace that entertains the reader throughout. Highly recommended.’

I did some browsing on related matters, getting most of my information from Wikipedia.

I decided the Vikings merited a blog entirely to themselves. In this bog I’m only going to focus briefly on issues relating to POSTCARDS FROM VALHALLA specifically.

The Shetland Islands are a group of islands belonging to Scotland, lying in the North Sea between the north-east tip of Scotland and the south-west of Norway. They are about 110 miles (170 km) from Scotland and 140 miles (220 km) from Norway. 

Features of the islands are the rugged coastline and low, rolling, mostly treeless hills. Native trees such as rowan and crab apple are only found in a few isolated places such as cliffs and loch islands. 

The general character of the climate is windy, cloudy and often wet.

The Shetland pony and Shetland sheepdog are two well-known Shetland animal breeds. 

Because of the islands' latitude, on clear winter nights the Northern Lights can sometimes be seen in the sky, while in summer there is almost perpetual daylight, a state of affairs known locally as the "simmer dim.” 

Humans have lived in Shetland since the Mesolithic period. The British tribe known as the Picts were the inhabitants of the islands prior to invasion by the Vikings (also known as the Norse.) The Norse conquered and colonised the islands during the late 8th and 9th centuries. We don’t know what happened to the indigenous Pictish population.

From the 10th to 15th centuries the islands formed part of Norway. In 1472, the Lordship of Shetland was absorbed into the Kingdom of Scotland.  

JAMES THE THIRD of Scotland and PRINCESS MARGARET of Denmark whose betrothal in 1469 led to Shetland passing from Norway to Scotland three years later.

The local way of life in Shetland reflects the Norse heritage of the isles, including the Up Helly Aa fire festivals and a strong musical tradition, especially the traditional fiddle style. Almost all place names in the islands have Norse origin.

There are numerous Viking historical sites in the islands. At Underhoull on the Isle of Unst are the remains of Viking longhouses. There are more rural longhouses – 30 in total – in Unst that anywhere else in the world, including Scandinavia.

Here’s Skidbladner – a replica Viking galley or longship at Haroldswick, Unst.

Adjoining is a reconstruction of a Viking longhouse.

Here’s a few elements of Norse mythology that feature in POSTCARDS FROM VALHALLA

Yggdrasil is an immense and sacred ash tree. Around it exists all else, including the Nine Worlds.

Yggdrasil is in the centre of the Norse cosmos, a gathering place of the gods. Creatures living within Yggdrasil including the dragon Niohoggr and the hawk Veorfolnir.  

Harbard (aka Greybeard) the Ferryman refuses, in one Norse tale, to ferry the god Thor across a swollen river. Instead he mocks and curses him. Some scholars think Harbard was the god Loki (known for his trickery) using another name; others that Harbard is the god Odin in disguise.

Shetland has been depicted in film several times, including THE EDGE OF THE WORLD (1937) made by the acclaimed English director MICHAEL POWELL and filmed on the island of Foula. Despite being in black and white the film captures the stark beauty of the islands.

The BBC TV series ‘Shetland,’ a crime drama, is set in the islands and partly filmed there. I can’t comment on it as I haven’t seen it.

If I do produce a blog about Vikings it’s likely the 1958 film THE VIKINGS will feature as it’s one of my favourite movies!

KIRK DOUGLAS in ‘The Vikings’ (1958)

I’ve also given a 4-star review to another YA novel by this author, this time writing as Philip Caveney. STAND AND DELIVER is an adventure yarn about highwaymen in 18^th Century England. From my review: ‘An exciting, enjoyable romp with some nice touches of humour, counterbalanced by plenty of gritty action.’

Find the review here: https://andrewmcbrideauthor.blogspot.com/2023/05/review-of-stand-and-deliver-by-philip.html

Other reviews of POSTCARDS FROM VALHALLA:

‘A brilliant book!’

‘A very good book for teenagers… I like the overarching idea that family is family and, no matter how infuriating or annoying we find them at times, we still love them and look out for them.’

‘Myth and magic, plus realistic teens! …Loved it. There’s some fab characters, brilliant settings, and magic realist elements steeped in Norse mythology.’

 

Find POSTCARDS FROM VALHALLA here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Postcards-Valhalla-Danny-Weston/dp/1915235650

REVIEW of HIRED GUNS by STEVE HOCKENSMITH

 

STEVE HOCKENSMITH has written novels that are a hybrid of western and mystery, hybrids of horror and classic novels (‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls’) and a mix of mystery and magical. He’s also written short stories.

Several of Steve’s short stories have been nominated for awards in the mystery field. He won the Short Mystery Fiction Society's Derringer Award for ERIE'S LAST DAY, published in the May 2000 issue of ‘Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine.’  Other short stories were finalists for the Shamus Awards and the Anthony and Barry Awards.

His short story HIRED GUNS: MULE’S GOLD was, for me, one of the highlights of the SIX GUN JUSTICE PODCAST WESTERN STORIES anthology. From my review of this anthology: ‘HIRED GUNS: MULE’S GOLD is a stark outdoors tale of prospectors searching the harsh Sonora desert for an abandoned gold mine. Meanwhile, they’re being stalked by hidden enemies. Again this features terse, cinematic prose, with some laconic humour. It reads like the gritty first chapter of a novel (or a series) which I would be very happy to read.’

Well, now it is one! It’s the first in a series of ‘Double-A Western Detective Agency’ novels.

Here’s my four star review of HIRED GUNS, the novel:

‘Fun’ is not a term that features too frequently in reviews of western fiction – more often books in this genre are praised for being ‘action-packed,’ ‘gritty,’ ‘exciting’ etc. But Steve Hockensmith’s ‘HIRED GUNS’ manages to tick all those traditional western boxes and still be rollicking good fun. It’s the first in a series of ‘Double-A Western Detective Agency’ novels. In 1894 Arizona a diverse group of mercenaries – an Anglo, a Mexican, a black man and an Apache – sign up to the Double-A. They’re tasked with helping a small mining company in its David-and-Goliath fight with a larger mining conglomerate. Action soon ensues. While there’s plenty of the laconic and the menacing in Hockensmith’s prose (‘Hoop and Romo watched Schuck’s men in tense, coiled silence.’) he freshens up the familiar western aspects with quirky humour where quips fly as fast as fists and bullets. So a satisfying and entertaining read for those seeking the usual western thrills, but also a lively re-invention for anyone looking for something more original. Highly recommended.’ 

You can find the review (and novel) online here: https://www.amazon.com/Hired-Guns-Western-Double-Detective-ebook/dp/B0CZXXGR4F/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr

and here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hired-Guns-Western-Double-Detective-ebook/dp/B0CZXXGR4F

It’s difficult to find historical examples of gun men in the Old West involved in mining disputes. In the so-called ‘Battle of Cripple Creek’ – which also happened in 1894 – there was a dispute between the owners of the 150 mines in the area of Cripple Creek, Colorado, and the miners. The mine owners wanted to cut costs by slashing miners’ wages and extending the working day. The miners went on strike in response. A County Sheriff intervened on behalf of the mine-owners, supported by six ‘deputies.’ When he sent a team of six deputies to defend a mine, they were captured by the local marshal's ‘special police,’ who were on the side of the strikers. So were these ‘deputies’ and ‘special police’ hired guns? In this instance the state governor intervened, sending the state militia to calm things down, and helped negotiate a better deal.

BAT MASTERSON (1853 - 1921)

BAT MASTERSON and other gunmen were involved in the so-called Royal Gorge Railroad War of 1879. This clash was between the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and the smaller Denver and Rio Grande Company. Masterson and co. were actually on the side of the larger company, (whereas the heroes in ‘HIRED GUNS’ are on the side of the underdog.) As a sheriff in Kansas at the time, Masterson had no authority in Colorado, but this did not prevent him from enlisting a large company of men, including  such noted gunmen as BEN THOMPSON, 'MYSTERIOUS DAVE' MATHER and possibly 'DOC' HOLLIDAY. However, Masterson's involvement came to an inglorious end on June 12, 1879, when he surrendered a roundhouse his men were holding. The ‘war’ between the railroads was finally settled out of court.

The most notable example on screen of a team of mercenaries hired to fight a powerful enemy is, of, course, THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (1960.) I’m surprised I’ve not been banished from every western movie forum in existence, as I have previously expressed my opinion that this is NOT a great western film. It’s good, it has a great score and good action scenes, but it’s not a masterpiece, particularly in comparison with the film that spawned it, Akira Kurosawa’s SEVEN SAMURAI (1954) which is, IMHO, a masterpiece.

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN itself spawned a series of mediocre spin-offs, including a 2016 remake where the ‘hired guns’ take on a mining tycoon.   

Another ‘hired guns’ movie is THE PROFESSIONALS from 1966.

A clash with a large mining company out west is depicted in BROKEN LANCE (1954.) Here they’re in dispute with a local cattle rancher.

SPENCER TRACY in ‘Broken Lance’

On TV conflicts with mining companies are depicted in ‘The Big Valley’ episode ‘Heritage’ and ‘The High Chaparral’ episode ‘No Irish Need Apply.’

From the right: CAMERON MITCHELL, HENRY DARROW and JOHN VERNON in ‘No Irish Need Apply.’

More reviews of ‘HIRED GUNS’:

“Tempered with a wry grin and the wink of an expert Western wordslinger, Steve Hockensmith delivers the action fast and hard as iron.”

“Steve Hockensmith has jumped to the front of the line to establish himself as a top-shelf creator of westerns… he’s a genre wordsmith with his own voice whose already here and giving us fortunate readers his very best.” 

“Steve Hockensmith paces the story superbly, building to a terrific final showdown. ... The story also contains some neat twists and turns and a touch of mystery. If you like traditional westerns that are packed with tough, brutal action, mixed with elements of humour and have plots that will keep you guessing until the end, then look no further than Hired Guns.” 

I’ve also blogged about Steve’s novel HOLMES ON THE RANGE where a character seeks to be the Sherlock Holmes of the Old West.

The blog includes a look at the Sherlock Holmes phenomenon, which has lasted 140 years. Find it here: https://andrewmcbrideauthor.blogspot.com/2022/03/author-favourites-holmes-on-range-by.html