After a long streak of non-fiction it was nice to read some simple adolescent fantasy. I have long been looking for a story in this genre with a Viking theme. I ran across this book in target and was pleasantly surprised to find that it seemed fit the bill. Of course, it really got my attention because it was written by Jonathan Stroud. He is the author of the Bartimaeus Trilogy. That series didn't end as strongly as it started but I would reread the first book again just to laugh at the footnotes. I loved the darkness of the trows, evil creatures living and attacking from under the ground who had been banished to live beyond the rock cairn borders of the valley. They were described with a good balance of horrific detail and unknown mystery to make them very creepy. It was fun to follow the progression of the main character, Halle, from awe and revernce of the mythical heroes of the past to becoming a hero in his own right but in a much more realistic and meaningful way. The book is up for a Book Video Award in the UK. I don't know much about this award but this link has a nice video clip that sets up the legend behind the story and finishes with a glimpse of Halle and his uncle.
Historically, there was a lot less Viking in the book than I was hoping for but the setting and many parts of the story fit the general theme well. It's a little less Viking than Megan Whalen Turner's series,"The Queen's Thief" is Greek. Turner's geography is based on ancient Greece and the story is full of tales of the gods and conflicts between rival city-states that mirror Greek history in a very interesting way.
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