THE WOLF IN THE WHALE by Jordanna Max Brodsky, Author and Narrator (Hachette Audio, January 2019)
Summary from the Goodreads website . . . . .
A sweeping tale of clashing cultures, warring gods, and forbidden love: In AD 1000, a young Inuit shaman and a Viking warrior become unwilling allies as war breaks out between their peoples and their gods - one that will determine the fate of them all.
"There is a very old story, rarely told, of a wolf that runs into the ocean and becomes a whale."
Born with the soul of a hunter and the spirit of the wolf, Omat is destined to follow in her grandfather's footsteps - invoking the spirits of the land, sea, and sky to protect her people.
But the gods have stopped listening, and Omat's family is starving. Alone at the edge of the world, hope is all they have left.
Desperate to save them, Omat journeys across the icy wastes, fighting for survival with every step. When she meets a Viking warrior and his strange new gods, they set in motion a conflict that could shatter her world...or save it.
My review on the Goodreads website . . . . .
Ilistened to the audiobook of this whenever I had a car trip of 20 minutes or more, so it took some time to get to the end. With a lot of audiobooks, those tiny doses of the novel and frequent lengthy pauses between trips would most likely diminish the impact of the storytelling.
Not so with The Wolf In The Whale. The storyline was so fascinating and the impact of the events within was equally memorable so that I could always return to this and quickly pick up where I had left off.
I regret not reading the printed version, as some of the prose is presented so eloquent and the images so descriptive that the audio version prevented me from lingering over them. However, having the author as narrator was a even bigger benefit. I don't think anyone could have told this long tale as well as Brodsky. She really puts her heart into it.
It's amazing that the germ of an idea for this story began with Brodsky studying early history and coming across some details on an abandoned Norse settlement in old Newfoundland, and then spinning it into such an adventurous yarn where Inuits encounter Vikings.
The first section of this book reads like the best historical fiction, with compelling characters that are easy to empathize with and details that help portray the setting and create understanding (and learning). Brodsky did an incredible amount of research on the Inuit tribes that inhabited the Arctic region that became northeastern Canada in the early history of North America. It must have been incredibly difficult and demanding to survive in those times, and readers may be constantly worrying for the fate of the poor tribe and main character Omat.
After many trials and tribulations comes the eventual meeting between Inuit and Norse, with equally researched details and accuracy regarding the ways of the Norse. Despite the sections regarding omens and visions/trances and Omat's development as an apprentice shaman, The Wolf In The Whale still feels like a great historical novel.
It's not until mid-way through the book, and especially during the last third of the story that Brodsky really ramps up the relationship between humans and gods, and brings both Inuit and Norse mythology to play a major role in the conclusion. It's a dreamy blend of folklore and mythology and deserves to be read by all fans of these genres.
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