Katherine Langrish

[dwndrgn]

I just heard about this author and her book Troll Fell. Apparently this is very much in the vein of fairy tales and is based quite a bit on Nordic folk tales. Has anyone read this? It sounds rather good to me but not being up on the Nordic stuff (I'm so good with words ) I'm a little hesitant to pick this one up.

 

[Alia]

Nope, I haven't heard of her Dwndrgn or seen her stuff.

 

[dwndrgn]

I believe this is her first book but it has been out in the UK for a while and the second is already available over there. Here you and I still only have the first but since you are such a fan of the YA authors I thought you might have heard of it.

 

[Alia]

I'm a fan by natural design, I'm afraid... it's my reading level.

I will check her out this weekend while shopping for some other YA books.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

It's one of the few books I've read recently. It's almost more of a Juvenile than even a YA, but it has some nice moments, and there are occasional passages of quite beautiful (if simple) prose. There's as much English folk lore as Nordic. The sense of time and place didn't quite gel for me, but that's where I tend to get nitpicky and tedious with most books anyway. The story was suspenseful and the main character likable. It's the sort of book (based on folk lore and fairy tales) that I might have been wildly enthusiastic about and somehow wasn't, but it was enjoyable. Someone who's not already up on the "Nordic Stuff" might very well find it refreshing.

Hope this rambling and ambiguous assessment is of some help.

 

[GOLLUM]

Not read these particular books and probably won't be doing so BUT in case you wanted to know this is Book 1 of a Troll series. Book 2 Troll Mill just came out in HB, but may not be in PB until mid 2006...

 

[Mark Robson]

I reviewed this here some time ago. See: http://www.chronicles-network.net/forum/showthread.php?t=4144I hope this is useful.

 

[GOLLUM]

Thanks for the insight Mark!...

 

[Alia]

I picked this book up this weekend... found, naturally, in the young adult section. I'm not up on my 'Nordic stuff', so I hope I do find it refreshing.
Nice review, Mark, thanks for the link!
And Gollum, thanks for the information! If your not careful I'll put you to work.

 

[GOLLUM]

And Gollum, thanks for the information! If your not careful I'll put you to work.

I like it, nice one Alia... HE HE...

 

[Rosemary]

Katherine has a new book out now - Toll Blood, her third book in this series. The historical children's books featuring Vikings and obscure folklore.
In this book her young Vikings travel to Vinland where they meet the Skraelings: Native Americans.

 

[Lenny]

I've got both Troll Fell and Troll Mill, and I think they're pretty good. Looks like I need to get Troll Blood too.

It's based in Nordic times, but there isn't much Nordic in it. Yes, there's the Dragon Boat. Yes, they're fishing communities. But that's it.

I only picked these up because her Grandfather is friends with my Grandfather, who then recommended them to me.

Does anyone have any idea how many Troll ___ books she's going to write? Or is it just a trilogy?

 

[dsmith]

I just checked out Troll Fell from my library- it looks really good! I plan to read it next after my Dresden Files book.