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Loading... The Sea of Trolls (original 2004; edition 2004)by Nancy Farmer (Author)
Work detailsThe Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer (2004)
Tiptree Honours/shortlist 2004. I nearly stopped reading this book after the first few chapters - the anachronisms kept jolting me out of the story. The author provided a whole list of further reading and references at the end of the book so surely it wan't beyond her to do a bit more reserach into Saxon Northumbria and at least used more appropriate names (Jack and Lucy - WTF?) and less modern idiom - it was really quite jarring. The family and farming life seemed more suited to Victorian pastoralism than Dark Ages Northumbria - and the irritating little girl could easliy have stepped out of the Narnia wardrobe. On the plus side I quite liked the slight snarkiness about the credulity of the Christians - believing any ludicrous bit of doctrine without thought. Fortunately, the Vikings arrived in the nick of time to liven things up and the story kicked on quite entertainingly, with plenty of pillaging, adventuring and general mayhem. (  ) SChant | Apr 27, 2013 |  An ordinary Saxon farm boy with a kind of abusive dad is picked by the local bard/Druid to be his apprentice and promptly has an adventure involving some Norse pillagers, trolls, and a petulant "shield-maiden" warrior who passes as a boy. Good times! (  ) anderlawlor | Apr 9, 2013 | I enjoyed this book immensely. The characters are finely drawn and sympathetic, with the possible exception of the whiny/dreamy/mad little sister. The wanna-be-Berserker shield-maiden won my heart from the beginning. I liked the way Farmer wove in Norse myths and legends as well as historical detail. None of that ever overpowered the sheer storytelling, either. Highly recommended. (  ) satyridae | Apr 5, 2013 | Jack thought life was looking up, he’d been apprenticed to a bard, and taken away from the tedium of rounding up sheep, but then their Saxon village is raided by the Viking berserkers of Olaf One-Brow and he and his little sister are taken as slaves. But a seemingly hopeless plight turns into a grand quest deep into the territory of trolls. Like The Hobbit, this is an adventure story for young readers based on Norse mythology. MaowangVater | Dec 9, 2012 | the sea of trolls was perfect for me because i love anchient civilisations!!!! ( ) natalieleclerc | Sep 22, 2012 | no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0689867468, Paperback)Three time Newbery honor author Nancy Farmer's epic fantasy, The Sea of Trolls, is gigantic in every way. There are big Vikings and bigger trolls. There are big themes--hope, despair, life and death. At a substantial 450+ pages, the sheer size of this hefty tome is impressive. But, like all of Farmer's fine work, the large scale has room for enormous quantities of heart and humor. At the center of this massive adventure is a small Saxon boy named Jack, who's never been much good at anything until the Bard of his medieval village makes him an apprentice. Then, just as Jack is learning to tap into and control his power, he is kidnapped (along with his little sister, Lucy) and taken to the court of King Ivar the Boneless and his half troll queen Frith. When one of Jack's amateur spells causes the evil queen's beautiful hair to fall out, he is forced to undertake a dangerous quest across the Sea of Trolls to make things right, or suffer the consequences--the sacrifice of his beloved sister to Frith's patron goddess, Freya. Along the way Jack faces everything from giant golden troll-bears to man-eating spiders, yet each frightening encounter brings wisdom and understanding to the budding young Bard. No quester who enters these pages with Jack will go away unsatisfied. Farmer's skillful melding of history, mythology, and humor, is reminiscent of both Tamora Pierce and Terry Pratchett's medieval fantasies, and will no doubt be HUGELY enjoyed by fantasy readers of all ages. --Jennifer Hubert(retrieved from Amazon Wed, 02 Jan 2013 15:20:44 -0500) After Jack becomes apprenticed to a Druid bard, he and his little sister Lucy are captured by Viking Berserkers and taken to the home of King Ivar the Boneless and his half-troll queen, leading Jack to undertake a vital quest to Jotunheim, home of the trolls.… (more) (summary from another edition) |
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