Hello Readers! Welcome to the Release Day Celebration for
The Extremely Epic Viking Tale of Yondersaay
by Aoife Lennon-Ritche
presented by Tantrum Books!
Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!
Happy Book Birthday, Aoife!
This winter, siblings Ruairi and Dani Miller visit their ancestral homeland: the legendary Viking island of Yondersaay. Even with Granny Miller's storytelling to pass the time, the pair manage to find trouble. In less than twenty-four hours of their arrival, Ruairi is mistaken for the lost Boy King of Denmark, kidnapped by Vikings, and scheduled to be sacrificed at sundown. Granny isn’t very pleased.But when everyone except them goes Viking, the three turn to Granny’s epic tales of the legends of Yondersaay, The Gifts of Odin, and King Dudo the Mightily Impressive for clues. But not all stories end happily, and Ruari, Dani, and Granny will have to write their own happy ending.The Princess Bride meets Vikings in this enchanted tale of high adventure, buried treasure, villainous treachery, violent ends, and – of course – true love. Aoife Lennon-Ritchie's debut middle grade novel, THE EXTREMELY EPIC VIKING TALE OF YONDERSAAY, is a humorous and heartwarming story for readers ages 9+.
The Extremely Epic Viking Tale of Yondersaay
by Aoife Lennon-Ritchie
Publication Date: October 11, 2016
Publisher: Tantrum Books
The
Little Secret
Granny had to shout now because of the noise of the wind
on the gangplank of the ferry she, Dani, Ruairi, and Mum were boarding. Granny
was eating the steaming hot pie Mum had gotten for her in a sailor bar in the
port. They huddled close together and shuffled up the gangplank in their winter
clothes.
“About three weeks into the voyage,”
Granny bellowed, “a few days after the warriors started wondering why they
hadn’t found land yet, dusk fell on a clear, calm ocean. The night was full of
light from the crystalline moon, and Brother Brian turned a little in his
position in the prow of the lead longship and made a long slow nod of the head
toward King Dudo, closing his eyes as his head reached its lowest position. It
was a very cool move. Brother Brian had been practicing it in his head for weeks. He waited for King Dudo to take
his seat beside him.
“‘We are close,” Brian said to Dudo and
looked to the stars, then back down at the books and scrolls and charts laid
all about him and back up to the stars again. “‘All my information, all my
years of training, and all my expertise tell me we are very close.’
“The boat glided quietly through the
water. Most of the Vikings were sleeping. Not so much as a seabird disturbed
the stillness of the night. The monk and the king looked hopefully all around;
it felt to them that they could see for miles. If the island was there, they
would see it.
“They looked and looked. An hour passed,
two hours passed, then three. But no land came into view. All of a sudden, King
Dudo swung his head around to the left. ‘Shh!’ he hissed. Brother Brian swivelled
his gaze around and looked hard, but he couldn’t see anything. ‘It sounded
like—’ King Dudo said, stopping short.
“‘Like what, my lord?’ Brian asked.
“‘Oh, nothing, it’s ridiculous … but for
a minute there, I thought I heard children laughing.’
Brother Brian gasped, clutched his
chest, and went pale.
“‘It’s nothing,’ King Dudo continued.
‘The ocean is playing tricks on my mind.’ Dudo’s shoulders sagged, and he let
out a big sigh. ‘This is ridiculous! What am I thinking? A magical island in
the middle of the ocean … Enough. Time to let it go. Let’s get back on track
and deliver my men to land.’
Irish actor and writer Aoife Lennon-Ritchie studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, the Universita di Catania in Italy, University College Dublin in Ireland, and the University of Cape Town in South Africa. Aoife holds diplomas, degrees and a Masters in the multiple fields of business and information technology, English and classic literature, theatre and creative writing; she looks forward to doing her PhD in Film and Media. Always searching for new adventures, Aoife has lived in the UK, France, Greece, Italy, and several US cities, including Chicago, New York and Pittsburgh. She speaks three (and a half) languages. Although she was once an investment banker, she much prefers acting, fencing, writing, and being a mum. She currently lives in Cape Town with her handsome husband and two small children.
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