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Comment: Jack, a
Saxon farm boy, has recently been apprenticed to a druid who is
teaching him to do magic by drawing on the power of the life
force. Unfortunately for Jack, he's living in what is now the
North East coast of England in a time-period that is fascinating to
look back on but must have been terrifying to live through (as that supposed
Chinese curse says, "may you live in interesting times!" - see sidebar for more
on this).
Before Jack's training is complete the Vikings invade
and kidnap him and his sister. They're taken to the Norse homeland,
to the court of Ivar the Boneless and his terrifying half-troll
wife, Queen Frith, who fancies Lucy as her next sacrificial
victim. Only Jack can prevent this terrible outcome by
completing a dangerous quest across the Sea of Trolls to Mimir's
Well in Jotunheim, the heart of Troll-land.
Farmer
cleverly intermingles myth and history in The Sea of Trolls. For example,
her description of the first Viking invasion of the British
Isles (at
Lindisfarne
on June 8th, 793) is taken from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle:
"A.D. 793. This year came dreadful
fore-warnings over the land of the Northumbrians, terrifying
the people most woefully: these were immense sheets of light
rushing through the air, and whirlwinds, and fiery, dragons
flying across the firmament. These tremendous tokens were
soon followed by a great famine: and not long after, on the
sixth day before the ides of January in the same year, the
harrowing inroads of heathen men made lamentable havoc in
the church of God in Holy-island, by rapine and slaughter. Siga died on the eighth day before the calends of
March.
All reviewers wax lyrical about Sea of Trolls, with all four major USA pre-publication review
sources giving it
starred reviews. For example, Amanda Craig writing for The
Times (UK) says, "every so often something comes along which should
instantly be added to the list of those books which leave an
indelible mark on the imagination....Nancy Farmer's The Sea of Trolls is such a book.... I have
no hesitation in recommending it as the best children's novel of
2004."
If that isn't enough of an endorsement I can also add
the opinion of one of our own in-house reviewers (then 11-years old), who summed it up
quite simply saying, "it's amazing!"
Nancy Farmer is the author of seven books for
children and and some short stories. She has written books for
almost all age groups of children, from 4 years right through to the
mid-teens, usually set in hot climates.
I first discovered her books on a Virgin
Airways flight some years ago. Each child was presented with a
substantial goody bag which included a copy of The Ear, The Eye, and the Arm (1994).
I assumed that anything offered for free was likely to be of low
quality but out of desperation for something to read I requisitioned
it from my then 3 year old son (who, unsurprisingly, had little
interest in it). I can still remember the story (set in
Zimbabwe in the year 2194). The next
book I read was The House of The Scorpion
(2002), another thought provoking, futuristic tale - about a boy
cloned from a wealthy drug lord in order to guarantee the latter
'eternal life' (recommended for ages 11+).
This review was originally published in The BookBrowse Review in February 2005, and has been updated for the June 2006 edition. Click here to go to this issue.
If you liked The Sea of Trolls, try these:
Master storyteller Joanne Harris has created a magical and epic romp a fresh, funny, and wonderfully irreverent new take on the old Norse tales, sure to be enjoyed by readers young and old.
Theodosia Throckmorton has her hands full at the Museum of Legends and Antiquities in London. Her father may be the head curator, but it is Theoand only Theowho is able to see all the black magic and ancient curses that still cling to the artifacts in the museum.
A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
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