What do you think?
Rate this book
Yngling #1
The Yngling
Earth, 2801: Wracked by petty rivalries, splintered into warring factions, the tribes of Europe cannot unite against the evil legions of Kazi the Undying. A hero—a Yngling—must arise or Europe fall forever!
They call him Nils—a fiar youth with the iron arm of a seasoned warrior. A leader of men from the Dark Lands of the Barbarians.
Only Nils possesses the supra-natural power to see into the mind of Kazi the Undying. Only Nils can unite the European tribes against the imminent attack of Kazi's terrible hordes.
Nils must claim the title of Yngling—and at once! But what war chief will give credence to a stripling's boasts? What tribe will vouchsafe to an alien youth the sacred sword of conquest?
They call him Nils—a fiar youth with the iron arm of a seasoned warrior. A leader of men from the Dark Lands of the Barbarians.
Only Nils possesses the supra-natural power to see into the mind of Kazi the Undying. Only Nils can unite the European tribes against the imminent attack of Kazi's terrible hordes.
Nils must claim the title of Yngling—and at once! But what war chief will give credence to a stripling's boasts? What tribe will vouchsafe to an alien youth the sacred sword of conquest?
Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1971
3 people are currently reading
79 people want to read
About the author
John Dalmas
50 books33 followersJohn Dalmas—pseudonym for John Robert Jones—wrote many books based on military and governmental themes throughout his career. He grew up in Minnesota and Michigan and resided in Spokane, Washington. He was a parachute infantryman in WWII and was discharged in 1946 without ever being put seriously in harm's way. He has worked as a longshoreman, merchant seaman, logger, construction worker, and smokejumper. He attended Michigan State University, majoring in forestry, but also took creative writing.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 10, 2009
Post apocolyptic world where civilization has returned to barbarism. Pretty good, although I haven't been in a hurry to pick up the sequels. Still, I thought it worth reading.
September 19, 2013
I read this book years ago.... It really struck me, being a combination between science fiction and fantasy. I thoroughly enjoyed it and have gone on to read the next book Homecoming and the third book, the Yngling and the Circle of Power. Interesting characters and an excellent flow.
October 31, 2020
Well, that was...not very good.
The term "Mary Sue" has come to mean a lot of different things as it's spread through the realms of criticism. Taking it to mean a lead character who is the strongest, the smartest, the best looking, and the best at everything without trying or earning that status would definitely make Nils the male equivalent, a Gary Stu.
He's big, handsome, has psi-powers, is always right, is somehow better at everything he does than anyone else he meets because of *waves hands* Viking upbringing?
This is one of those Fantasy books that takes place in Earth's future, where something bad has happened and humanity has reverted back to the Middle Ages. But they've really reverted back, recreating old ethnic groups, cultural identities, and nation states for...reasons.
Lots of stuff just sort of happens. He's captured. But then he escapes. There's an army. But then apparently the army is defeated. That one character that folks talked about a few chapters back and sounded like he was going to be important...yeah. He's dead. I guess we're broken up about it or something, but since we never actually met him, I'm not sure.
Every problem Nils finds himself in, he simply has the answer to and walks out of. At no point does it seem like he's in any danger, but that's not even the real problem. If you asked me to tell you about Nils, I could say he's big, he's blonde, and he has psi-powers. Could I tell you what he's like? Could I tell you what he wants? Could I tell you anything about him as a human being? Nope. He's not really a character at all. This is why I think he may be a Gary Stu. He's not so much a stand-in for the author as much as he is a plot device. A walking, talking, occasionally psychically projecting plot device. He's there to make sure the next scene the author wants to write happens. And that's about it.
Don't even get me started with the weird obsession with troop numbers in the back half of the book, either. Jeez.
Apparently this is the start of a series (trilogy?). I do NOT care what happens next. I will not be tracking down book 2.
On a sentence by sentence level, this book is written well enough. But as a novel? Bah. No thank you.
The term "Mary Sue" has come to mean a lot of different things as it's spread through the realms of criticism. Taking it to mean a lead character who is the strongest, the smartest, the best looking, and the best at everything without trying or earning that status would definitely make Nils the male equivalent, a Gary Stu.
He's big, handsome, has psi-powers, is always right, is somehow better at everything he does than anyone else he meets because of *waves hands* Viking upbringing?
This is one of those Fantasy books that takes place in Earth's future, where something bad has happened and humanity has reverted back to the Middle Ages. But they've really reverted back, recreating old ethnic groups, cultural identities, and nation states for...reasons.
Lots of stuff just sort of happens. He's captured. But then he escapes. There's an army. But then apparently the army is defeated. That one character that folks talked about a few chapters back and sounded like he was going to be important...yeah. He's dead. I guess we're broken up about it or something, but since we never actually met him, I'm not sure.
Every problem Nils finds himself in, he simply has the answer to and walks out of. At no point does it seem like he's in any danger, but that's not even the real problem. If you asked me to tell you about Nils, I could say he's big, he's blonde, and he has psi-powers. Could I tell you what he's like? Could I tell you what he wants? Could I tell you anything about him as a human being? Nope. He's not really a character at all. This is why I think he may be a Gary Stu. He's not so much a stand-in for the author as much as he is a plot device. A walking, talking, occasionally psychically projecting plot device. He's there to make sure the next scene the author wants to write happens. And that's about it.
Don't even get me started with the weird obsession with troop numbers in the back half of the book, either. Jeez.
Apparently this is the start of a series (trilogy?). I do NOT care what happens next. I will not be tracking down book 2.
On a sentence by sentence level, this book is written well enough. But as a novel? Bah. No thank you.
December 13, 2011
Fun fantasy and escapism. I picked up this used copy at the laundromat.
February 9, 2022
(This is mostly two stars because I didn't completely hate it, otherwise: woza one star)
You know how Game of Thrones (I'm talking baout the TV show) spent years telling us how dangerous and evil the Night King is and then doing what they did at the end, and like how they spent years showing us how villainous Cerci is (making us crave seeing her fall from grace) only to end things the way they did? This book? Yeah, that, but even worse (or I own a very bad copy that missed important plot points because that's the only reasoning I have that sounds reasonable enough to explain what I just read).
Hhayi khona ma-eh, hhayi khona. This is not the one.
The premise for this book is intriguing, but the book itself is a mess. Not actually, but it's a mess in that there is absolutely zero conflict. The main character just breezes through everything, everything is just so easy for him.
Books like this one should be, at least, 400 pages long. But this one is short and that, I think, is one of its biggest mistakes. This book needs to be longer because there is so much that needs to be explored. The psi thing is interesting, but it's done so lazily that it didn't intrigue me, didn't make me care.
Speaking of not caring, I didn't care about not a single character. There is so much that needed to be explored for me to care about the characters, but it just wasn't given. Every character here just feels like an insignificant side character, even Nils. Like he's the main character, I'm supposed to be given enough story to care about it, but I'm not, he's just there. I'm given nothing.
Everything, as I said before, happens way too easily. There ks not a moment in the entire book where Nils feels pressure, where he fails, where he struggles. He learns new skills in a singlr sentence, he doesn't struggle through it. I like my characters struggling, thanks. He's a true Gary Stu, no need to learn a thing because it comes so naturally.
Aayiiiii, I cannot.
Nils is so damn plain and flat. He's about as interesting as a cardboard box. I'd have more fun watching cement being mixed and being left to dry. He has no growth whatsoever. He's perfect from the very first moment he's introduced and just... I don't care then. If I'm not going to watch him being terrible at his gift (even as a natural) and see him slowly learn how to control it, or maybe even slowly learn how to emote (because he's so emotionally detached to everything) then I don't want it! Give me conflict, give me pain, or give me nothing at all.
I will definitely not be continuing the series because I alreayd know I'm going to loathe the rest of the books if they continue this way. I have no desire to 'give book 2 a try' because wow, book one has failed me and book 2 is too short to have properly explored everything, too. I'm too disappointed to even try, so hard miss.
It should be noted that the writing is good, that I did enjoy what I read mostly, it's just that the story is way too short to have fully explored everything. It did not reach its potential and came off almost as lazy, or maybe a prequel to an already well established character, maybe. So.... So.
It should also be noted that by the end I was not retaining nay information and was shocked and confused when the book ended.
CW/TW: death, blood, graphic description of gore, graphic violence, graphic description of animal death, murder, mention of rape, racism, genocide, invasion, swords/sword violence, knife/knife violence, slavery, torture, imprisonment, stanning/stab wounds, ableist slurs, ableism, war, graphic child death
You know how Game of Thrones (I'm talking baout the TV show) spent years telling us how dangerous and evil the Night King is and then doing what they did at the end, and like how they spent years showing us how villainous Cerci is (making us crave seeing her fall from grace) only to end things the way they did? This book? Yeah, that, but even worse (or I own a very bad copy that missed important plot points because that's the only reasoning I have that sounds reasonable enough to explain what I just read).
Hhayi khona ma-eh, hhayi khona. This is not the one.
The premise for this book is intriguing, but the book itself is a mess. Not actually, but it's a mess in that there is absolutely zero conflict. The main character just breezes through everything, everything is just so easy for him.
Books like this one should be, at least, 400 pages long. But this one is short and that, I think, is one of its biggest mistakes. This book needs to be longer because there is so much that needs to be explored. The psi thing is interesting, but it's done so lazily that it didn't intrigue me, didn't make me care.
Speaking of not caring, I didn't care about not a single character. There is so much that needed to be explored for me to care about the characters, but it just wasn't given. Every character here just feels like an insignificant side character, even Nils. Like he's the main character, I'm supposed to be given enough story to care about it, but I'm not, he's just there. I'm given nothing.
Everything, as I said before, happens way too easily. There ks not a moment in the entire book where Nils feels pressure, where he fails, where he struggles. He learns new skills in a singlr sentence, he doesn't struggle through it. I like my characters struggling, thanks. He's a true Gary Stu, no need to learn a thing because it comes so naturally.
Aayiiiii, I cannot.
Nils is so damn plain and flat. He's about as interesting as a cardboard box. I'd have more fun watching cement being mixed and being left to dry. He has no growth whatsoever. He's perfect from the very first moment he's introduced and just... I don't care then. If I'm not going to watch him being terrible at his gift (even as a natural) and see him slowly learn how to control it, or maybe even slowly learn how to emote (because he's so emotionally detached to everything) then I don't want it! Give me conflict, give me pain, or give me nothing at all.
I will definitely not be continuing the series because I alreayd know I'm going to loathe the rest of the books if they continue this way. I have no desire to 'give book 2 a try' because wow, book one has failed me and book 2 is too short to have properly explored everything, too. I'm too disappointed to even try, so hard miss.
It should be noted that the writing is good, that I did enjoy what I read mostly, it's just that the story is way too short to have fully explored everything. It did not reach its potential and came off almost as lazy, or maybe a prequel to an already well established character, maybe. So.... So.
It should also be noted that by the end I was not retaining nay information and was shocked and confused when the book ended.
CW/TW: death, blood, graphic description of gore, graphic violence, graphic description of animal death, murder, mention of rape, racism, genocide, invasion, swords/sword violence, knife/knife violence, slavery, torture, imprisonment, stanning/stab wounds, ableist slurs, ableism, war, graphic child death
June 25, 2021
I read this book several decades after first reading it, just to see if it was as good as I remembered.
Short answer : sort of
Longer answer : Sort of. It's very much of its era ... post-apocalyptic, ESP is assumed to be real, sooper-dooper-competent hero. What saves this from the usual run-of-the-mill similar books are the philosophical and sociological underpinnings that the author infuses the story with. I can't say that Mr. Dalmas was entirely successful (I gather it was his first published novel ... and was initially serialized in ANALOG magazine, and I first read it there), but it is a decent enough adventure story with a bit of something extra.
Overall, 3 stars for the adventure, plus an extra star for the nicely done bit of extra depth.
Short answer : sort of
Longer answer : Sort of. It's very much of its era ... post-apocalyptic, ESP is assumed to be real, sooper-dooper-competent hero. What saves this from the usual run-of-the-mill similar books are the philosophical and sociological underpinnings that the author infuses the story with. I can't say that Mr. Dalmas was entirely successful (I gather it was his first published novel ... and was initially serialized in ANALOG magazine, and I first read it there), but it is a decent enough adventure story with a bit of something extra.
Overall, 3 stars for the adventure, plus an extra star for the nicely done bit of extra depth.
January 31, 2024
A thousand years after the Great Death, when technological society crashed and feudal dynasties developed, a number of clans of neo-vikings live in the heart of Scandinavia. One of these is young, tall, blonde and muscular Nils Järnhann - Iron Hand. Banished for killing a mouthy lord of the Eagle Clan, Nils starts to travel with no particular place in mind. In a Danish city he meets a Finn, Kuusta Suomalainen, who joins him in his travels. Killing a lord’s deer almost sees them hanged as poachers but they end up being mercenaries for the Danish lord. Nils is also unknowingly a member of the Kinfolk, psis who can sometimes read minds or have premonitions. When released from Danish duty he finds himself in the court of the psi tyrant Kazi who, wary of Nils’s closed mind, has him thrown into the arena hoping to kill him for sport. Escaping from the pit Nils helps unite the neovikings (fleeing the endless cold) and the European armies, to combat Kazi. John Dalmas has used a SFnal setting to write an exciting sword and sorcery yarn that certainly entertains, despite the abrupt ending.
January 18, 2022
This book was serialized in Analog October of 1969 and later. I only read one installment, I couldn't afford to keep up with the later chapters. Some how I missed the published books. The installment that I read has stayed with me and I have always wondered how the story ended. Now I know!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this thriller of swords and psi. I am looking forward to reading book two in the series and learn how the Yngling deals with the new challenges of Earth.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this thriller of swords and psi. I am looking forward to reading book two in the series and learn how the Yngling deals with the new challenges of Earth.
January 16, 2026
I remember this book fondly from the seventies, and I enjoyed it. The Post Apocalyptic Sword and Sorcery vibe works for me, but at the end of book one we are already heading to our guy being a bit too superman, and like at least one other reviewer I am not motivated to pick up any of the sequels right away.
February 12, 2024
Dalmas Deep Dive#1
Yngling #1
The first book from this geezer and the first in this series feels a little dated, it held some interest but not a massive amount.
A decent enough story and diverting for a while.
Yngling #1
The first book from this geezer and the first in this series feels a little dated, it held some interest but not a massive amount.
A decent enough story and diverting for a while.
February 24, 2013
Dreck, even for pulpy 70s fantasy.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews