The Celtic Ring

Let me clarify a few things right at the beginning: I am no sailor, I have never been to northern Scandinavia nor to Scotland, and I had never felt a great interest for Europe's Celtic heritage. But this book changed all that! It made me want to live on a boat, it gave me an appetite for a trip to northern Europe, and it aroused my interest in the history of the Celtic civilization. In short, "The Celtic Ring" has it all: an intelligent page-turner, so to speak. But what exactly is the book about?On a cold January night in the Danish port of Dragor, Ulf - a young Swede living aboard his 31-foot-yacht "Rustica" - gets to know Pekka, an inscrutable Finn who has just arrived in the port utterly exhausted and green with fear. Pekka hands his logbook over to Ulf before disappearing again during the night that follows. After reading the logbook, Ulf decides to sail across the North Sea to Scotland together with his friend Torben in order to find out more about the so-called Celtic Ring, an enigmatic organization dedicated to the obtainment of political autonomy for the former Celtic nations of Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Brittany. Along the way, Ulf and Torben have to battle both with adverse meteorological conditions as well as with shady characters who clearly disapprove of foreigners poking their noses into matters that are none of their own. In the end, the two Swedes succeed in uncovering a vast network of activists fighting for the Celtic cause, although much about the Ring's core organization remains unknown."The Celtic Ring" is a gripping novel bristling with nautical detail and historical footnotes that will appeal to experts and laymen alike. The plot is fast-moving and full of unexpected twists. The only part of the book I did not quite like was the end which leaves the reader in considerable doubt about the story's outcome. Also, the map provided in the book is of a too general nature, and I would have greatly appreciated a second, more precise map outlining those parts of the Scottish coastline that are so vividly described in the book.

Before making my comments below, I should preface this review by stating that I read this novel while recuperating from oral surgery, and therefore my appreciation of this book may have been influenced by the medications I was taking as well as by lack of sleep and expected interruptions in my attention span. Nonetheless, while engaging in its descriptions of the sea and as an ode to sailing, as well as initially creating and sustaining a sense of suspense and mystery, the conspiracy elements introduced in the novel never became successfully resolved, and at book's end did much to undermine the novel's other strengths, and were I allowed to award half stars, this work, because of this, would have merited only three and a half stars. The book starts out well enough under dark, threatening skies in the harbor of Dragor, Denmark, the cold, wintry setting and empty, inhospitable sea establishing the perfect milieu for the chance and mysterious encounters that are to propel the main protagonist, Ulf, to undergo a nautical and dangerous journey to Scotland where he will soon find himself involved in murder, secret societies and intrigue. The initial stages of this voyage, undertaken in the midst of winter and involving the potentially deadly crossing of the North Sea, are marvelously detailed and suspenseful in the slow unraveling of the plot, each secret revealed further adding to the evolving mystery, and bringing the protagonist closer and closer, not only to answers but the inherent danger the truth may contain. Between the often gripping perils encountered on the ocean and the increasing and murderous attempts to prevent their quest for answers, suspense builds, the mystery deepens and the reader is compelled toward the final, and what will hopefully be, exciting and climactic conclusion. However, without giving too much of the narrative away, the resolution of the mystery behind this book is predicated upon the existence of a loose confederation of secret Celtic societies, with hints of ancient rituals and possible magic. While during the bulk of the narrative the potential of a hidden and menacing cult's existence propelling events contributes to both the mystery and suspense building within the novel, the necessary resolution never comes, the identity and motivations of the "cult"---the true nature of the underlying conspiracy---remaining vague and tenuous, hidden within a fog of hints and references as veiled as the mists that physically disguise the setting at book's conclusion. Though it is perhaps unnecessary to entirely unmask the "villains" at book's end, too much is left to conjecture, the conspiracy that has threatened the protagonists throughout, and whose exposure is the purpose behind all their efforts and risks, remaining but for its outline unclear and dissatisfyingly revealed. Despite the book's strengths of characterization, plot and description, the absence of any true resolution to the mystery prevents me from wholeheartedly

Uniquely quirky book has everything including exotic travel and exotic locales..Somebody should make a movie of this...GREAT

Sailing, politics, history, terrorists, exotic ports. Outstanding, creative plot. Made me want to move onto a boat. I've kayaked the same route Torben and Ulf take accross Scotland (only in reverse), and Larsson describes it to the letter. One of my favorite reads ever. As my wife said, "I wish I didn't know what happened so I could read it again." Is this guy going to write another? I'll be first in line

A wonderful book! In addition to the intrigue, the account of simple survival on the North Sea during winter is captivating. You'll never appreciate a warm fire more than when reading this book.