Retro Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Angie of Angieville and "focuses on reviewing books from the past. This can be an old favorite, an under-the-radar book you think deserves more attention, something woefully out of print, etc."
The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer
Publisher: Atheneum
Publication date: 2004
ISBN: 9780689867460
Source: Audiobook download from the library
When Jack and his sister are stolen by Northmen and taken as thralls to their home, Jack isn't quite sure what to do. When they are brought before the half-troll queen, Frith, he ends up forced to go on a quest for a magical well hidden deep in the kingdom of the Trolls. Can he complete this quest, with the help of the gruff Thorgill and Olaf one-Brow in time to save his sister from being sacrificed?
Things I Liked:
What a fun story! I wish I'd read this one sooner. The mythology is absolutely fabulous. I adored learning more about Norse and Scandinavian mythos, particularly the gods and the trolls. The story is interesting and unique and it evoked the great quests so common in high fantasy. But what I really loved was the historical element as well. This is set in the dark ages of England and Scandinavia and that setting is written so thoroughly that you can't help but fall into it! The book is rich with myths and history and entirely relatable characters. In addition, it talks so neatly about the issues of slavery and the animosity between countries that you almost don't notice it. I adored Thorgill and I could write an entire treatise on her complexities, but I'll spare you. I listened to this one on my new horrifically long commute to work and it kept my mind completely off the traffic (hopefully in a good way). The narrator does incredible voices and accents and I truly loved delving into this story through audio. A fantastically underrated fantasy series that I've got to read (or listen to) more of.
Things I Didn't Like:
It did seem a bit long, but for fantasy fans the thick book will be nothing extraordinary.
Read-alikes:
It felt rather Lord of the Rings ish
Icefall by Matthew Kirby
A bit like the Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan
BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: !
there were some here and there
mrg-factor: none
v-factor: ->->
several rather gruesome battles described
Overall rating: *****
Anybody else read this series or know of any other Viking books for kids?
If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage
