What an interesting take on the Santa Claus origin story, and I have to say I loved every minute of it!. This isn't your cute little animated story Santa. Nope. And I'm so glad it isn't!

The story starts in the early 1800s when the Santa family, Nicholas Santa, his wife and his son, decide to trek to the North Pole, to be the first people to do this. What they find there is beyond their wildest imaginations. We meet the elves and the Abominable, we learn how reindeer fly, and we meet Jack, who is one angry, angry guy! We learn how Santa can fly around the world in one night, how he can fit down chimneys, and so much more. When I said this wasn't a cute little Santa origin story, I meant it. There is some grit here, but that just keeps you even more interested and unable to put the book down.

I'm trying to be careful to give nothing away, because I think a lot of the fun of this book is going "Oh, that's where that story came from!" Suffice it to say, nothing is the way you learned it, and that's fine with me!

In summary, I highly recommend this book and give it an enthusiastic 5/5 stars. ( )

With more thought, I enjoyed this sci-fi take on Santa a lot. The fact that it keeps coming back to mind made me add another star to the review. ( )

In the early 1800's, a family of explorers, Nicholas, Jessica and Jon Santa attempt the first human trek to the North Pole. The family stumbles upon an ancient race of people left over from the Ice Age. They are short, fat and hairy, slide across the ice on scaly soles and carve their homes in the ice that floats on the Arctic Ocean. The elven race has adapted to life in the extreme cold. They are as wise as they are ancient.

Their scientific advancements have yielded many great inventions - time-stopping devices, gravitational spheres that build living snowmen and genetically-modified reindeer that can leap great distances. They've even unlocked the secrets of aging. For 40,000 years, they have lived in peace.

Until now.

An elven known as The Cold One has divided his people. He is tired of their seclusion and wants to conquer the world. Only one elven stands between The Cold One and total chaos - he is white-bearded and red-coated. The Santa family will help him stop The Cold One. They will come to the aid of a legendary eleven known as...Claus.

I have to say that I loved this book! I have been suffering from the flu for about a week and a half and truly haven't been feeling the Christmas spirit for quite a while because I was so ill. I picked up Claus: Legend of the Fat Man on Christmas Day on a whim and was completely drawn in from the first page. This is an unexpected twist on the legend of Santa Claus that I thoroughly enjoyed! I give this book an A+! and am looking forward to reading another book by Tony Bertauski that I have on my TBR pile, The Annihilation of Foreverland as soon as possible. ( )

Fantastic!!! Thank you to the author for sending this to me free. I could read this story multiple times and still get something new from it. I absolutely loved it and will make it a Christmas tradition. ( )

First off you have to remember this is a series, second dont be thinking about Santa Claus just yet and third, this is a SCI-FI book not some Christmas story or moral obligated read! Just read it and dont be afraid to wonder! In this book Christmas is the farthest from it. Nicholas, his wife Jessica and their son Jon are on an adventure trip, they live to have it and may die to get it. Jon is but a stick of a teenager and is not well fitted for this kind of trip. As their trip goes on they are separated and must figure out not only where they are but how to get anywhere that even looks normal. This is a good vs evil read and the elven men and elvan women are a major part of the story not so much for the family. Really good read really good new way to explain and old tale. ( )