An adventure story set somewhere in Great Britain during the "Dark Ages", after the Romans had left but the monasteries and government had not yet centralized their power. Hobgoblins, elves, and scary beings to appease, along with the Old Gods of power. Wise women and bards are the knowledge carriers, along with a few good monks.
Although I hadn't read the previous book, there were enough unobtrusive references to past adventure to let me know I could find more story if I wanted.
Some pagan traditions are included, and Saxon chants, to counterbalance the christianity. The adventure begins when Jack's sister, Lucy, insists on wearing a metal necklace during the New fire ceremony. This causes a shift in the earth's balance, a bad humor takes hold of the family, until the bard learns that Lucy is really a changeling. Jack, Lucy, and their father set off to restore balance & find the exchanged child while the mother stays home to tend bees, garden, & sheep. ( )

I was very excited when I saw this on the bookstore shelves, because I really enjoyed the first one, and I'm a huge admirer of Nancy Farmer in general.

I enjoyed the adventure, and certainly the kids who liked [book: Sea of Trolls] will love this one, too. However, I was disappointed in the mythology and folklore allusions in this one. Perhaps it's just that the world of hobgoblins and elves is more well-trodden than the realms of Nordic mythology that Farmer introduced us to in the first book. The story is good, even great (and addresses some of my earlier issues with the character of Lucy), but the novel lacks the depth and innovation of Sea of Trolls.

All of that being said, I will be eager to see what happens to Pega and Thorgil next, which, I now see from the flap copy, we will learn be able from The Islands of the Blesseds in 2009. Why does it seem so arrogant and pushy to have the publication date for the final book so soon? It feels like they're flaunting it in my face, "Ha, ha, the final book is done, but we're going to make you wait two years before we let you see it!"

Sheesh. Think of the effect on a fifth grader. Are they still going to be interested when they're in the seventh grade? ( )

The boys would give it 3 to 3.5 stars. I just felt it was largely a re-hash of the first book. Nonetheless, the boys enjoyed it, and as my youngest said "any book with Thorgil in it is a good book." ( )

Good book ( )

The Land of Silver Apples by Nancy Farmer is the second volume in her Sea of Trolls Trilogy. I was totally enchanted by the first book, but this one didn’t quite cast the same spell upon me. I found it overly long and it wasn’t able to hold my interest. I also missed those rough and tumble Viking characters. I also found the Nordic mythology much more interesting than the Celtic myths that were explored in this book.

In this outing Jack’s spoiled and unlikeable younger sister is spirited away by elves and Jack, after his magic goes astray and he accidently causes an earthquake, is sent to both recover his sister and find the water that drained away during the quake. His companions are a slave called Brutus, a disfigured girl called Pega, and Thorgil, the shield maiden. Along the way they fall in with hobgoblins, whose king decides he has fallen in love with Pega, and meet both a priest and a half-elven princess that play an important role in the story.

The story of Jack’s sister has been resolved and I am glad to see the end of the unlikeable Lucy as a main character. The last book will probably deal with both Torgil and Pega, and hopefully see Jack become the bard that he is training to be. ( )