Tiny-sized book - it really should be much larger in order to enjoy all of the stunning photographs. Makes me want to visit Norway!

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest, personal review. Good coffee table book, with beautiful pictures.

Norway by Claudia Martin is a gorgeous photo collection that presents the country’s geography, history, and culture in an enticing way. It's broken down into four sections: Glaciers and Fjords, The Islands, Provinces and Towns, and Oslo. The photographs and maps help to illustrate the country’s beauty and diversity. Norway is an excellent introduction to the country's history and culture. It is an enjoyable and educational read that would be a great addition to any library.

***Many thanks to the Netgalley & Amber Publishing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This was another gorgeous travel book from Amber Books, those publishers who keep tempting me and other bookbloggers with their fab nonfiction books on NetGalley.
As always there were amazing photos with short text to explain what you’re looking at, making it easy to read. The book is split up into six chapters including an Introduction, Glaciers and Fjords, The Islands, Provinces and Towns, Oslo, plus of course the ever important Picture Credits.
I think my favourite photos were of the fjords, mountains and glaciers. They were amazing and I imagine are even more breathtaking to see in real life.
I didn’t realise that Norway is made up of 55,000 islands! How did I not know that?! One thing I did know was that the global seed vault is in Norway, in Spitsbergen to be precise. It was opened in 2008 and provides secure backup storage for seeds held in 1706 gene banks worldwide, holding up 2.5 billion individual seeds! Apparently it situated there because of the permafrost and the distinct lack of earthquake activity.
I thoroughly enjoyed my armchair visit to Norway and would love to go there on holiday sometime. In fact we almost went a few years ago, but the flight and travel times were so awkward for where we wanted to stay that we decided not to go in the end. Who knows maybe one day it might happen?
Highly recommended if you enjoy travel books.

This book is a captivating view of the beauty of Norway. From the small islands to the big cities and from the towering fjords to a fisherman’s catch, this book explores it all. Perfect coffee table book for those that love Scandinavia, Norway, or just beautiful scenery. The colors are a perfect mix captured of vibrant and moody. I felt as though I was standing in a small village but I also felt as if I was standing on a fjord looking out over the ocean. A wonderful and well rounded view of Norway.

Having recently read a few Norwegian novels, I’d grown curious about the land their authors had sprung from and was delighted to have my request for a digital copy of this book approved by Net Galley. This is a beautiful text, likely best appreciated as a coffee-table volume. There are some stunning photographs of natural wonders—particularly of the many deep fjords that extend the country’s coastline to 29,000 km/18,000 miles, making it the longest in Europe—as well as fine ocean views of several traditional towns and sea-facing sections of cities. Included, too, are photos of flora and fauna; statues, monuments, museums, buildings of historical, cultural, and architectural significance; fish markets and the fishing industry. Oslo gets its own chapter, with its distinctive neighbourhoods well represented. Unfortunately, a few of the images appeared quite dark on my iPad.

In reading this, I had hoped to gain a better sense of Norway’s counties and regions, but I only managed to do so by performing my own online map searches to connect names with their locations. Why the author/editor Claudia Martin didn’t include a single map is beyond me. Another problem is that a few counties/jurisdictions had their boundaries adjusted and names changed in January 2020. For example, two former counties—Hordaland and Sogne og Fjordane— were merged to form Vestland (which is centred around Norway’s second largest city, Bergen, in the southwest). Likewise, at the beginning of the current decade, Finnmark was merged with the neighbouring county of Troms to form the new, most northerly county: Troms og Finnmark. Martin confusingly uses only the older county names throughout this book, which is apparently a reissue of the 2020 edition. The appropriate updates were not made.

There is some specialized vocabulary, as well: “vernacular” to describe architecture (I’d only ever heard or used the word in relation to language); “orthogonal” to describe a right-angled street layout; “staved” medieval churches, built of upright wooden planks; and “koine,” a common language that arises naturally when two languages or dialects mix.

I’ll leave off with a few interesting facts gleaned from this informative text:

• Norway has 1600 glaciers. (By comparison, according to the World Glacier Monitoring Service, Canada has 267 named glaciers. If we exclude the ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland, however, Canada has more glacier cover than any other nation on Earth—roughly 200,000 square kilometres.)

• Most fjords are deeper than the coastal sea into which they empty. (Lysefjord, for example, is up to 30 times as deep as the water at the sea end.) Fjords have shallow “sills”—underwater ridges—at their mouths, which were formed from the collected debris of the grinding glaciers that created the steep inlets.

• The centre the tiny village of Ulvik, situated at the end of a sidearm of Hardangerfjord, a major fjord in Vestland, was burned by the Germans in 1940, in retaliation against Norwegian resistance fighters. (If I ever knew that German warships had used the fjords to penetrate the interior of the country, I’d completely forgotten.)

• There are approximately 55,000 islands off Norway’s coastline, most of which are columns of rock—i.e, “stacks”—populated only by seabirds.

• Norway has sovereignty over the Svalbard Archipelago, 930 km/580 miles north of Tromsø, well north of the Arctic Circle. The world’s most northerly town, Longyearbyen (named for an American mining magnate), is found on the largest island, Spitsbergen. Longyearbyen has a permanent population of 2100, of which 60% are male. There are very few people over 65 there. In fact, a person is only allowed to live there if he’s employed in the place—mining dominates—or if he’s independently wealthy. Otherwise, he’s deported.

• The abandoned Russian ghost settlement of Pyramiden is also found on Spitsbergen. The Russians extracted coal in the area from 1910 to 1998. When they left, they didn’t take their statue of Lenin. It still stands. Tourism to this site is now being encouraged! Yes, really. The hotel has been cleaned up and reopened.

Overall, I found this book visually pleasing and informative, but there are some problems with it. Recommended with a few reservations.

This was a fantastic book about such a wonderful country. I didn't know much about Norway before reading this book. Now I feel like I know quite a bit about it. Norway is such a beautiful country and this book really showed this with stunning photographs. Nearly every picture in this book had me in awe and saying wow. I loved the way that each picture had more writing describing the area and some fascinating facts. I could spend hours losing myself in this book. It made me feel so happy and relaxed. I was totally imagining myself there. I just love books like this that allow me to travel to different countries inexpensively. Big plus you will also stay warm looking at their cold climate, especially the stunning ice sheets. I loved learning about the colourful homes. Also, the pictures surrounding the fisheries.I really recommend reading this book if you want to experience new countries through amazing detailed pictures.

Only the highest of praise goes out to the author and publishers for creating this beautiful book that I learnt from. It took me on such a wonderful adventure. I just can't wait to read more books like this.

The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog today https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/norway-by-claudia-martin-amber-books-5-stars under ladyreading365

I’ve always admired the beauty of Norway but it wasn’t until this book did I realize how truly amazing it is. NORWAY, LAND OF FJORDS AND THE NORTHERN LIGHTS, by Claudia Martin.

Norway has some of the most varied habitats of all the European nations, from numerous national parks, massive glaciers, spectacular fjords, steep mountains, quaint fishing villages, and beautiful beaches. The stunning photos in this book shows the beauty of Norway, and highlights both the natural made beauty and the man made contributions, as well.

I recommend this book to anyone that may be planning a trip to this location and also to those that just want to admire the beauty of Norway from the comfort of home. Every photo in this book is truly something to admire. 5 stars!

Thanks to NetGalley and Amber Books Ltd. for the honor of reviewing this book. It’s a true work of art.

This is an absolutely stunning collection of images, showing the range and complexity of the Norwegian scenery. As someone who is hoping to visit the country in the near future this has whetted my appetite and has really increased my sense of the beauty to be found.

5 stunning stars

Norway: Land of Fjords and the Northern Lights is a feast for the eyes. Layouts are artistic in the well-organized four sections: Glaciers and Fjords, Islands, Provinces and Towns, and Oslo.

Martin wisely lets the photos ‘do the talking.’ Each section has a short introduction with each captivating photo described in two or three sentences – enough to give details, but to let the water, sky, and colors shine through.

Words I thought of when enjoying these amazing photos: mesmerizing, magical, charming, colorful, wow. I want/ Need to go there.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was breathtaking! The pictures were amazing and I loved the descriptions listed for each of them. The author does a good job of taking you through the history and events that led to the pictures presented. I also loved that the book included city life. The addition of art pieces to the naturally beautiful landscape, along with the common houses and ways of life (such as fishing and drying fish), shows that Norway has way more to offer than just fjords.

A wonderful coffee table book with stunning photography throughout. The book covers the amazing landscapes, fjords and glaciers but also covers the native wildlife. Not to be forgotten, the book also covers the art and culture of Norway including the towns and cities and general way of life.
Beautiful images on every page with a little text to give more detail and explanation.
If you are interested in Norway or a lover of photography then this book should be on your list.

Beautiful photographs!
Can someone give me an airplane ticket to Norway?

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher.

A gorgeous book with beautiful landscape and animal photography . Looking through the photos made me want to go back to Norway !

Ich war noch nie in Norwegen, umso gespannter war ich auf dieses Bildbad, um mich für eine künftige Reise inspirieren zu lassen.

Das Buch "NORWAY" bietet einen guten Überblick über das Land im hohen Norden, indem es in die Kapitel "Gletscher & Fjorde", "Die Inseln", "Provinzen & Städte" und "Oslo" eingeteilt ist. Der Inhalt gefällt mir gut, da die kleinen Geschichten zu den Bildern die norwegische Welt lebendiger werden lassen. Obwohl die Bildqualität besser ist als bei "THAILAND", vermisse ich einen modernen Anspruch. Das Design ist klassisch, aber es gibt faszinierendere Bücher über Skandinavien, die die Magie optisch besser vermitteln.

Great book that shows Norway from cities to villages and its nature. It almost feels like you are travelling with each page. I am sure it can be a great coffee table book too.

Stunningly beautiful! We're already looking forward to visiting Norway, and this sealed the deal. Gorgeous book!

My first time with this Amber Books title, which is now in a second size, ready for you to pick between smaller, photobook format and chunky A4 presentation. The bigger one surely is the better for this exceptionally attractive volume, that takes us from Svalbard right down into the Oslo bar areas. The mountains, fjords and pretty waterways linking the two really do look photogenic here, and the book – as per many of these country guides from Amber – is easily grabbable as a souvenir of visits or inspiration for trips to come. That said, surely there are places here where very few people indeed have got to tread, with icy interiors of barely inhabited islands on show. You could easily take ninety per cent of these pictures and want them framed – some of the Oslo redevelopment, and said bars, you're on your own in that – but it would be no bad thing to have this intact on the shelf or coffee table to flutter a few pages past your eyes at will. If the contents had had more structure and not been so randomly flitting across the country and back, this may well have been five stars.

Thank you NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read and give an honest review of this book.

The book contains photos of the gorgeous country of Norway. There are forests, glaciers, mountains, lakes, fjords, northern lights, and beautiful cities. If that doesn’t convince you to read this book (and look at the pictures) I don’t know what will.

Several years ago I had the privilege of visiting Norway and many of the sights I saw were captured in this book. It brought back wonderful memories and made me want to return there again.

A lovely photo book filled with beautiful images encapsulating the immersive and subliminal landscapes of Norway. Great book for any travel lovers!