Jack Alriksson's "The Call of Gelduur"

Title: Adventure for the Ages

“The Call of Gelduur” by Jack Alriksson

Reviewed by M. Windholtz

9/5/16

6:09 pm

Each year, Norrlanders set out to sea from their homeland in search of plunder and glory. Ivar Skullcleaver is a skilled warrior with a fondness for reading, seizes leadership aboard one of the ships in a Norrlander fleet. All seems well for the sailors until they sail into a massive storm and are shipwrecked on the foreign coast of Ingorle. Captured as slaves and forced to fight mysterious creatures of the forest, the Norrlanders rally behind Ivar in their pursuit of freedom and defeat of their Ingorlian captors.

Part adventure, part fantasy, “The Call of Gelduur” is a lively, humorous romp that will have readers laughing and turning the page with equal measure. The characters’ comical banter and fights are extremely amusing and the fast pace of the plot keeps readers on the edge of their seats. The histories of the many peoples that populate the fantasy land are told in stories as recollected to the characters, enriching both their minds and the reader’s as well as further immersing book lovers in the world.

Ivar and his companions are compelling characters, who exhibit their grey morals both thinly and proudly as they fight both friend and foe. No matter how readers feel about some of the greyer moments, they cannot help but cheer for the Norrlanders as they win their fights and hope their situation improves when it is a negative one.

Author Jack Alriksson puts his readers directly in the action with his descriptions of the intense fights, boisterous conversations, and colorful settings. And while the story telling favors telling over showing a few times too many, Alriksson still uses a fresh narrative voice. At times, it is nearly as if the narrator is in the room speaking directly to the reader.

Anyone who enjoys fantasy novels will surely take pleasure in following Ivar’s journey.

I give “The Call of Gelduur” 4 out of 5 stars.

Enjoy!

M. Windholtz