Icelandic novels making it big in Australia
Ragnar Jónasson. Photo: Iceland Monitor/Eva Björk Ægisdóttir
With his latest offering Nightblind , Ragnar Jónasson is the first Icelandic author ever to have had two e-book bestsellers in Australia.
Jónasson previous novel Snowblind topped the Australian e-book charts one year ago, and this weekend Nightblind achieved the same feat – somewhat to the surprise of the author.
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“Books are sold at a lower introductory price at the beginning to increase sales, but I was surprised on both occasions when the two books reached number 1,” Jónasson says.
Snowblind, by Ragnar Jónasson. Photo: Ewa Sherman
The author’s books are selling well outside of Iceland and have now been sold to eleven different countries.
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“Iceland is in fashion at the moment – it’s as if everybody is interested in Iceland and wants to know more about the country,” he explains. “Maybe I am just lucky to be writing stories set in Iceland and which are very Icelandic in nature!”
Ragnar Jónasson. Photo: Sigurður Ægisson
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Snowblind and Nightblind are the first two books in Jónasson’s ‘Dark Iceland’ series, described by the author’s UK publishers Orenda as “tightly plotted, atmospheric, chilling and almost timeless whodunits.”
A third book, Blackout , is expected to come out later this year.
The crime series is set in the North Iceland town of Siglufjörður. Photo: Sigurður Ægisson
