Lou Anders ’ novel novelFrostbornis one of those middle - form fantasy books that you ’ll buy for your kid , just so you may have an excuse to read it yourself . The high-pitched compliment I can give Frostborn is it consecrate me Lloyd Alexander flashbacks . Minor spoiler ahead …
Until recently , Anders ( no relation ) was best known as the editor program of Pyr Books , a place he hold for nearly a X . At Pyr , he published a range of mountains of poppycock from hacker to steampunk , but he seemed to tree the market place in grittysword - and - sorcerybooks , from authors like James Enge and K.V. Johansen . But Frostborn is something quite dissimilar — a gratifying coming - of - age tale with just the right amount of peril and self - discovery , and a number of “ hell yeah ” second .
Without go into too much detail , Frostborn follows two protagonists who are sample to find their own identities and make their own way in the world . Karn is a nerdy kid whose dad expects him to grow up and start the family farm , but all he cares about is get the hang the game of Thrones and Bones , which is sort of like cheat except that one side is the defender and one side is the attackers . Karn longs for adventure and turmoil , but also lives for his gameboard game . Until , of course , he gets more excitement than he can handle , and he has to use all of the scheme he ’s learned from the game to survive .
Meanwhile , Thianna is a half - frost giant , half - human girl who live in a village full of rime giants . The other kids process her like a freak because she ’s only seven feet marvellous , and she ca n’t beat them at their game by using her intensity . So instead , she apply guile and ducks out of their way instead — which only underline that she ’s smaller than they are . She keeps insisting that she ’s a behemoth , but the other Thomas Kid point out that “ Giants do n’t move like that . ” She ’s not interested in memorise about her human female parent ’s heritage , until someone comes looking for a powerful object her dead female parent go forth behind .
The theme of not fitting in is present in both characters , but it ’s different enough for each of them that they weave up compliment each other rather than reinforcing . Thianna ’s position as a sundry - backwash kid who gets bullied by the other Thomas Kid is poignant , but it ’s never ham it up . And Karn ’s desire to be something other than what his father expects is a much subtle manikin of identity crisis — you’re able to see the two of them study from each other pretty much from the moment they run into .
But also , Frostborn is a rollicking adventure , in which there are a ton of villains who pursue and frustrate the main characters . The characters are constantly going from scratch to another , and they generally survive by their wits rather than by destiny or persuasiveness . The affair that makes these persona admirable is their braveness and their resourcefulness , rather than any power or “ choose savior ” status , which is refreshing in itself .
At the same time , Anders does a terrific job of making the novel experience fast - paced while still allow for lots of character - building moment and quieter stretch . It ’s a tricky challenge , to keep the impression that the account is rocketing forward while also film ample time to show the characters bonding and learning from their experience , and Anders sway that remainder .
The other affair that jumps out at me as laudable in this book is the fantasy worldbuilding . As a Norse fantasy , Frostborn draws on a lot of element of Scandinavian myth , including troll , icing giants , wyverns and dragons . But Anders also manages to convey a lot of cultural stuff , about societal roles among the humans and frost giants , with a light soupcon . partially , he does this by focus on the civilization clash between the two groups . But he also throw a lot of ethnical hooey into fill-in by concentre on people ’s modest foibles and the ways that they bind out from their culture . He also gives enough hints at a long and complicated history in his world , without ever plunking the reader down for a lesson .
address of lessons , the proactive female case and messages about tolerance for those are who are different are very welcome , but the book never throws up any big guidepost to them . And that ’s one big reason why I care I ’d had this book back when I was gobbling up middle - grade fantasy as a kid — the characters are perfectly well - rounded , including Thianna , and she gets to be just as heroic as Karn in her own path . And the subtle messages about acceptance and learning to value yourself are just perfect .
I bring up that this book cue me a bit of Lloyd Alexander ’s Prydain Scripture , which is high praise . Like Alexander , Anders has a good - natured approach to his case , casting their flaws and mistakes into relief without seeming to condemn them . In fact , this feels in a lot of ways like an old - fashioned approaching - of - historic period report , one without a spate of angst or serious darkness , but with a great good deal of adventure and cameraderie . If you could forgive a more or less tap finish , you ’ll determine Frostborn a delightful read — and you ’ll unquestionably require to share it with your kid .
book reviewFantasy
Daily Newsletter
Get the estimable tech , skill , and culture news in your inbox day by day .
News from the time to come , delivered to your present tense .
You May Also Like
