Why did the Viking settlement in America fail? One saga claims the problem was "uniped" monsters. The other says the Norse left because one of their women instigated the murder of an entire crew. The Ship in the Ice weaves together the most credible saga sources with findings from actual archeological excavations, but because the book is a historical novel it is free to spin a broader tale -- and to speculate about mysteries. The book alternates chapters between Jorund, a Viking poet trying to discover the truth about his missing parents in Vinland, and Mette Gustmeyer, a modern archeologist investigating many of the same sites. Along the way they encounter Greenlandic shamans, restless Viking ghosts, and the crush of Arctic ice. The first three books in the Viking Saga series dealt with the start of the Viking Age in Norway, the Danish conquest of England, and the Swedish Vikings who founded Russia. The Ship in the Ice concludes the series with the end of the Viking Age -- and perhaps the end of the world. and , . follows the facts that are known about Norse explorers in the New World -- including revelations from archeological excavation -- but because the book is a historical novel it is free to spin a