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Legend of the Last Vikings – Taklamakan

Mediacom

Thursday 7 June 2007, 2:45PM

By Mediacom

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What really happened to the Vikings after the epic, era changing battles of Stamford Bridge and Hastings in 1066AD? After three hundred years did the Vikings simply cease to exist? Did they stop doing what Vikings were renowned for doing, or were their journeys and adventures after these dates overtaken by larger world events, relegating their achievements to the realms of legend? More is revealed in Legend of the Last Vikings – Taklamakan by Jian Media and New Zealand author John Halsted.


London, England, 1 June 2007 – Jian Media and John Halsted announce the publication of an epic historical novel, Legend of the Last Vikings – Taklamakan. A finalist in this year’s ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Awards and a book that puts flesh on the dry bones of history, demonstrating the insatiable restless human desire for discovery, adventure and the pursuit of knowledge in an age of darkness.


$1.00 of the profit from each book will be donated to the Tear Fund for use in their refugee camps in Darfur, Sudan, transforming the lives of some of the world’s poorest people through relief and development.





PAGE TWO


As the Viking age is brought to an end in 1066 with ignominious defeat at the battle of Stamford Bridge, a group of survivors decide to "go-a-Viking" one last time, retracing an epic journey of their youth across the European steppe and down the mighty Dniepr River to Byzantium. A chance discovery in a Kiev library leads them to venture even further afield - to Astrakhan, across the Caspian sea, up the mighty Oxus river, through Parthia, Bactria and the Hindu Kush, along the ancient Silk Route deep into Asia and Tianxia - China. After inflicting fatalities on the sinister and evil Black Scorpions in battle, pursued, they flee by night across the Roof of the World and in the midst of a sandstorm are rescued by the remnants of the "lost" European tribe of Asia, the Hephthalites, who offer them protection in their city, hidden deep in the Tien Shan - the Celestial Mountains.


Continuing their quest they traverse the Taklamakan Desert, so called by locals because it means those who venture in seldom venture out.


Consisting of Christians, Moslems and Jews, will this group’s battle with the Black Scorpions mean their fundamental religious differences can be overcome and unification against the common enemy be possible – or will they self destruct in the face of adversity?


Author, John Halsted, currently resident in the U.K., is a New Zealand citizen of South African descent. John will be signing books at the Isle of Man Viking Festival at Peel from 30th June through 7 July. When their children complete their education, he and his wife plan to retire to their home in Wellington. For more details see his full biography at www.vikinglegend.com.


Jian Media Ltd specialises in publications that have the potential to improve the working and personal lives of individuals and communities. For more information on the book and the author email press@vikinglegend.com.