Feasting the wolf

Feasting the Wolf

By Susan Price

A poignant story of best friends, set in the violent battles of the Viking world.

Ottar and Ketil are farm boys, who have listened to many exciting tales of brave and heroic warriors who form The Great Army. One day a Viking ship comes to their village, and the two friends decide to join the crew and make their dreams of battles and adventures come true.

Susan Price is a wonderful author - her knowledge and understanding of Viking times, and the myths and legends that were so interwoven with ordinary lives during that time, really gives a strong backbone to this story. Ottar and Ketil’s friendship is challenged in many ways, by both internal struggles as well as threats from the violent adventure they have chosen. Their journey together, and as individuals, is carefully written, evoking a real connection with these characters.

An excellent story - themed around courage and bravery, and the bond of friendship and family.

Beowulf

Beowulf

By Gareth Hinds

This graphic novel retelling of the classic Norse myth is absolutely amazing!

There’s no getting away from the fact that the story of Beowulf is a bloodthirsty, gore-filled, horrifying tale. Hinds’s artwork stays true to that fact. Bold in its extreme depiction of the violence of Grendel and Beowulf’s battle, the story of the battle is totally wordless – this entire section of the tale is told solely with pictures. Strong, glorious pictures, using a dark and minimalist palette.

For all the horror though, there is a real feel for the emotion of the characters. As Beowulf ages, and the colours he is painted with turn to muted shades of gray, his final battle with the dragon weighs heavy on him. His doubts about his ability to survive are revealed both in the text, and in the colour and imagery of the graphics.

A wonderful retelling, true to the original, so perfectly suited to the graphic novel format.

High Crag Linn

High Crag Linn

By Margaret McAllister

A brutally harsh story, set in fifteenth century England, challenging to read – but so worthwhile.

Hawk Jankin is determined to regain ownership of his family’s castle, lost to them many years ago. With a group of rough outlaws, he lays siege to the castle, and demands to wed Anna, which will regain him his right to the castle. Anna agrees, in the hope it will bring peace to her people’s lives. But an act of revenge by Hawk results in a terrible loss, and the story goes on to examine issues of guilt, remorse, regret and forgiveness.

The historical details are deftly interwoven into the story, giving a natural flow to the narrative. The cruelty and brutality of the times is confronted boldly and can be quite difficult to read, and the tension of the story makes it a real page-turner.

Blood

Blood

By Alan Durant

Brilliant, brilliant story! Absolutely loved it.

Robert’s parents make the front page of the newspapers – found shot dead in their suburban home. Grief turns to anger when Robert starts to feel the investigation into their murders is going too slowly. He takes on the task himself to find the murderer. His investigations reveal many disturbing family secrets, and Robert’s life and sanity are soon both under threat.

The structure of this story is so very clever, Robert’s first-person narrative a perfectly tuned voice of grief, anger, betrayal, fear and revenge. Durant treats his readers to an intelligent and challenging story that delves deep into the nature of grief, of family dynamics, and of the way the mind copes with trauma.

Thoroughly recommend this well-written, challenging and intriguing story.

Fearless

Fearless

By Tim Lott

Little Fearless is taken from her home, and sent to the City Community Faith School for Retraining, Opportunity and Hope. The school in no way lives up to its name – it is instead a dark, dismal prison, where the girls are worked hard doing the city’s laundry. Little Fearless is the bravest girl in the school, telling stories to the others in an effort to keep their hopes up. Angry about the injustice of the school, Little Fearless plans to escape – sure that once the people outside are made aware of the true conditions inside the school, the girls will be saved.

It’s a challenging story – a dystopian world, where children are betrayed so badly by the adults around them. It’s also quite a depressing tale – about the stripping away of identity and the loss of individualism, the power of sacrifice, and the importance of standing up for one’s beliefs.

Due to the heavy dependence on fairytale and fable elements, the structure of the story seems quite formulaic at times, and some sections are a bit over-written. Nonetheless, it’s a good read, with the tension lasting right till the very end.

Blood beast

Blood Beast

By Darren Shan

Book Five in The Demonata Series. Previous titles, in order:

Lord Loss
Demon Thief
Slawter
Bec

Brilliant series - lots of horror, demons, fights, death, and interesting characters.

Grubbs is back, haunted by his nightmares, and battling demons again. But this time, his greatest challenge is his internal struggle against the family curse. The full moon brings agonizing symptoms, and Grubbs must fight against his emerging werewolf.

Shan keeps the pace frantic, the horror scary, and the characters true to their uniqueness. Grubbs’s inner dialogues are touching and revealing, filled with his self-doubt and his fierce protectiveness for his friends and what’s left of his family. Shan’s writing is crisp and abrupt – characterized by his short sentences and brisk dialogue. It works perfectly for this story, and for the voice of his narrator, Grubbs.

It finishes on a doozy of a cliffhanger – can’t wait for the next one!

Eggs

Eggs

By Jerry Spinelli

David’s mum dies in a freak accident, and he is sent to stay with his grandmother. He acts out his grief in anger, and makes life very hard for his grandmother, punishing her for not being the mother he loves. Primrose’s mother is a fortune-teller who marches to the beat of a different drum. Her dad is nothing more than a framed picture. Primrose’s anger comes from her mum being ‘different’ and for not loving her as Primrose thinks a mother should.

These two angry children meet up, become angry at each other, themselves, the people around them, and finally forge between them a strong friendship where they each find within the other a little of the something that’s missing in their own lives.

While the plot is deep and the characters are complicated and themes of loss and recovery are confronting – the prose is inviting and Spinelli writes with confidence and clarity. A thought-provoking and challenging book.

Viking warrior

Viking Warrior

By Judson Roberts

A strong, violent, bloody story set in 9th century Denmark marks the first book in a new series titled The Strongbow Saga.

Young Halfdan, the main character and narrator, is a slave in his father’s house due to his illegitimacy. When his father is mortally wounded in battle, his mother makes a tragic sacrifice which frees Halfdan to be fully recognized by his half-brother and half-sister. Characters important to Halfdan, and his journey from slave to warrior, are richly drawn and are the key revealers of the minutiae of Viking life. Historical detail is so intimately interwoven into the story, making the time and place of the story believable and real.

The language of the story is beautifully done – Halfdan’s voice is a perfect mix of high fantasy, heroic sagas, Viking legends and enough contemporary to make for an ease of reading.

This is an incredibly violent tale though, set in cruel and violent times. Halfdan faces many trials and tragedies, some quite heartbreaking. The strength of his character is revealed in the way he copes and adapts and changes during his journey. This story is so much more than an historical adventure. So looking forward to the next in the series!

Keturah and Lord Death

Keturah and Lord Death

Author: Martine Leavitt

This dark fairytale is nicely crafted, and is filled with interesting characters.

Keturah follows a hart into the dark forest. After spending several days lost and at the mercy of the elements, she meets up with Lord Death, who is about to claim her. Using her exceptional storytelling skills, Keturah offers Lord Death a story to gain a reprieve.

There’s such an old-fashioned feel to this tale – the haunting atmosphere, the lovely language, and the story structure, all work well together to create the feeling of a traditional high romance.

I did have difficulty falling into the story, and had several false starts, but once in, I read straight through to the end - just had to know how Keturah fairs in her challenge to Lord Death’s claim.

An insightful and thought-provoking exploration of the themes of love and death.