Troll Fell

Rating:
Summary: Solid fantasy
Review: A Norse flavor is given to "Troll Fell," a solid and surprisingly imaginative fantasy starting off on a Cinderella note. Katherine Langrish's debut novel has a few dropped threads, but dips into traditional goblins and ghouls as its inspirations. And it's inspired indeed.

Peer's father has died, just after completing a new longship. Enter Baldur, his ogrish uncle, who takes all of Peer's money and drags him and his faithful dog away. Peer's new home is a miserable place, in a land surrounded by angry neighbors and mischief-making trolls. He's treated like a slave by his uncles Baldur and Grim, and his only solace is the Nis (a neglected house sprite) and a girl from the neighboring farm, Hilde.

But things take a nastier turn after Peer encounters the ghoulish Granny Green-teeth: She reveals that at a forthcoming double wedding for troll princes and princesses, the uncles are going to give him as a wedding present. What's worse, they also plan to kidnap Hilde and give HER as a gift too. Determined to save himself, Peer runs away from home -- only to end up right in the trolls' hands...

"Troll Fell" is a good example of what a fantasy should be -- not derivative, well-written, quick-faced and with enough quirks to keep it from being too grim. Langrish doesn't stoop to deus ex machinae, but keeps the plot simple and straightforward, while peppering it with plenty of northern ghoulies, ghosties and long-legged beasties.

Her writing is solid and descriptive, bringing to life everything from the bleak hills to the bizarre underground kingdom of the trolls. Langrish is particularly good at making the readers feel what the characters are feeling, such as Peer's almost crippling claustrophobia, or his horror at seeing faithful dog Loki thrown into a dogfight. A few threads -- such as Granny's threat to Peer -- are left unsatisfied, but a sequel might take care of those.

Peer and Hilde are a good hero and heroine, with their own flaws and squabbles and weaknesses. The supporting cast is equally good -- the scraggly, disgruntled Nis, the stupid lubbers, the grandmotherly yet homicidal pond-dweller Granny Greenteeth, feisty grandpa Eirek, and the greedy, scheming Baldur and Grim.

"Troll Fell" lives up to its promise as a suspenseful, well-written fantasy. Katherine Langrish does a good job, with plenty of promise for her future books.

Rating:
Summary: Solid fantasy
Review: A Norse flavor is given to "Troll Fell," a solid and surprisingly imaginative fantasy starting off on a Cinderella note. Katherine Langrish's debut novel has a few dropped threads, but dips into traditional goblins and ghouls as its inspirations. And it's inspired indeed.

Peer's father has died, just after completing a new longship. Enter Baldur, his ogrish uncle, who takes all of Peer's money and drags him and his faithful dog away. Peer's new home is a miserable place, in a land surrounded by angry neighbors and mischief-making trolls. He's treated like a slave by his uncles Baldur and Grim, and his only solace is the Nis (a neglected house sprite) and a girl from the neighboring farm, Hilde.

But things take a nastier turn after Peer encounters the ghoulish Granny Green-teeth: She reveals that at a forthcoming double wedding for troll princes and princesses, the uncles are going to give him as a wedding present. What's worse, they also plan to kidnap Hilde and give HER as a gift too. Determined to save himself, Peer runs away from home -- only to end up right in the trolls' hands...

"Troll Fell" is a good example of what a fantasy should be -- not derivative, well-written, quick-faced and with enough quirks to keep it from being too grim. Langrish doesn't stoop to deus ex machinae, but keeps the plot simple and straightforward, while peppering it with plenty of northern ghoulies, ghosties and long-legged beasties.

Her writing is solid and descriptive, bringing to life everything from the bleak hills to the bizarre underground kingdom of the trolls. Langrish is particularly good at making the readers feel what the characters are feeling, such as Peer's almost crippling claustrophobia, or his horror at seeing faithful dog Loki thrown into a dogfight. A few threads -- such as Granny's threat to Peer -- are left unsatisfied, but a sequel might take care of those.

Peer and Hilde are a good hero and heroine, with their own flaws and squabbles and weaknesses. The supporting cast is equally good -- the scraggly, disgruntled Nis, the stupid lubbers, the grandmotherly yet homicidal pond-dweller Granny Greenteeth, feisty grandpa Eirek, and the greedy, scheming Baldur and Grim.

"Troll Fell" lives up to its promise as a suspenseful, well-written fantasy. Katherine Langrish does a good job, with plenty of promise for her future books.

Rating:
Summary: too 'fairytaleish' older readers...
Review: I was really looking forward to this book but I was kind of disapointed with the ending. The beginning and middle parts are extremely well explained and clear, but I thought that the ending was a bit too 'easy' on the characters. Peer and Hilde don't go through much to recover Hilde's little brother and sister, Sigurd and Sigrid. Peer and Hilde are "just about to become servants of the trolls" when Peer takes a cup of a liquid that will turn whoever that drinks it into trolls and gives it to his uncles. They turn into trolls and everyone is, "Hurrah!!! Now the uncles can be the servants and Peer and Hilde can go away!!!" I TELL YOU!!! How fusturating is that??!! The plot is way too simple and some of the character were a bit overdescribed. The entire thing was, in my opinion, too 'fairytaleish'. Some younger readers might enjoy this book, but I think this book is unreccomendable for older readers that don't like things to be predictable.

Rating:
Summary: Great fantasy
Review: Peer Ulfsson stands at the funeral of his father, wondering what will happen to him when a big brutish man arrives claiming to be his Uncle Baldur Grimsson, the miller of Trollsvik. The twelve year old had no idea he had a relative, but Baldur with only a nasty word about his dead sibling grabs the lad to yank him back with him. The odious Baldur also takes any money Ulf left behind claiming a debt and even absconds with Peer's ring. Peer leaves with his uncle even while the funeral pyre still burns. When they reach Baldur's home, Peer meets his other uncle Grim, who lives up to his name.

Peer makes friends with the housekeeper Nis the gremlin and with Hilde, whose father is going on a sea voyage. Peer learns that his guardians intend to sell him and Hilde to the troll king who will use them as a wedding present as the trio knows that the finest gift in the land is young human slaves.

The Harry Potter crowd will enjoy this feature length fairy tale mindful of the relationship between the stepmother and Cinderella. The well-written story line hooks the audience who will wonder if the two children can find a way to trump the sneaky trolls and the nasty human adults. The trolls slyly use shadows to cause trouble while the uncles are an unpleasant pragmatic pair rivaling the cruelty of de Cruella. Still the tale belongs to two courageous children and a frightened goblin as they seek a happily ever ending.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Great fantasy
Review: Peer Ulfsson stands at the funeral of his father, wondering what will happen to him when a big brutish man arrives claiming to be his Uncle Baldur Grimsson, the miller of Trollsvik. The twelve year old had no idea he had a relative, but Baldur with only a nasty word about his dead sibling grabs the lad to yank him back with him. The odious Baldur also takes any money Ulf left behind claiming a debt and even absconds with Peer's ring. Peer leaves with his uncle even while the funeral pyre still burns. When they reach Baldur's home, Peer meets his other uncle Grim, who lives up to his name.

Peer makes friends with the housekeeper Nis the gremlin and with Hilde, whose father is going on a sea voyage. Peer learns that his guardians intend to sell him and Hilde to the troll king who will use them as a wedding present as the trio knows that the finest gift in the land is young human slaves.

The Harry Potter crowd will enjoy this feature length fairy tale mindful of the relationship between the stepmother and Cinderella. The well-written story line hooks the audience who will wonder if the two children can find a way to trump the sneaky trolls and the nasty human adults. The trolls slyly use shadows to cause trouble while the uncles are an unpleasant pragmatic pair rivaling the cruelty of de Cruella. Still the tale belongs to two courageous children and a frightened goblin as they seek a happily ever ending.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Adventure, Gold & Troublesome Trolls!
Review: This book was recommended to me by two different people. At first I wondered whether a book about trolls would be something I'd like. However, I was pleasantly surprised - and found I enjoyed it thoroughly. The fantastical creatures of Norse mythology are a refreshing change from the characters found in most contemporary fantasy. Troll Fell is set in a world where trolls are as common as mice - though considerably more dangerous!

The story begins with young Peer Ulfsson at his beloved father's funeral. Finding himself now the obligatory orphan required for most children's fiction, he goes to live with his two unpleasant uncles: Baldur and Grim. They live in an old watermill at the foot of Troll Fell - and soon put Peer to work, treating him like an unpaid slave. Fortunately, Peer has his faithful dog, Loki, with him - and soon makes friends with Hilde from a neighboring farm, whose father has just sailed off on a Viking ship. He also befriends a Nis - a mysterious little creature who cleans the mill, (badly), in return for a daily bowl of groute, (a sort of Norse porridge). Peer also makes the acquaintance of Granny Greenteeth who lives in the millpond, waiting to drag the unwary down to the bottom.

As if slaving for Grim and Baldur isn't bad enough, Peer soon discovers his uncles have more sinister plans for him; plans that involve making a nefarious deal with the trolls of Troll fell. I'll say no more - leaving you to enjoy this beautifully crafted tale for yourself. Suffice to say it all ends well, with a twist or two along the way. An excellent first novel - hopefully the first of many.


Rating:
Summary: a bit pallid but for Norse background, for younger readers
Review: Troll Fell is a decent young adult book whose Norse background gives a more fresh feel to an otherwise relatively mundane plot and set of characters. Younger readers will most likely enjoy it if not be inspired or captured by it; older readers won't find much to chew on.
The story follows young Peer Ulfsson who upon his father's death is grabbed up (literally) by a pair of wicked ogrish uncles for their own hidden reasons, the most transparent of which is to use him as free labor at their run-down mill, no longer frequented by the local villagefolk who have grown tired of being cheated by the uncles. Troll Fell is also the story of similarly aged Hilde, whose family, besides having been cheated by the uncles, has a long-running feud with them over a parcel of land under which lies the local troll kingdom (and its gold). Year's ago, Hilde's father managed to escape from the underground kingdom with his life and a great golden cup and Peer's uncles have lusted after both the cup and the untapped gold it represents ever since then. When Hilde's father leaves the family to go off Viking, the uncles' plots begin to accelerate and they leave no doubt that both Peer and Hilde will rue the day those plots come to fruition.
The story moves along pretty quickly if not with a lot of spark. Scenes and characters are solidly portrayed if not particularly original or inspired. The uncles are the "starve the lad and don't spare the rod" sort of evil stepparents one would expect. Hilde and Peer are the grit-your-teeth and forge ahead despite your fears young folks we've seen before.
What adds a bit more flavor to the book are its less-often seen Norse-derived creatures. Rather than the usual elves and horsefolk etc., we have trolls and the Niss (a household spirit) and Granny Greenteeth (a shapechanging underwater spirit), among others. The trolls are a bit flat but Granny and the Nis are both well-done and the whole Norse atmosphere gives the story a more unique feel to it. The other nice touch is the relationship between the two young characters and their dogs; scenes between them, in fact, might be the most emotional and best written of the whole story.
While some young adult literature is rich enough for older teen and adult enjoyment, I think Troll Fell falls a bit short of that. Younger readers will find some suspense, older ones I suspect will see things coming and perhaps even get frustrated that Peer and Hilde do not. And neither the character development nor the plot are really rich enough or compelling enough for older experience.
In the end, it's a well-tapped story which seems a bit less tired due to its setting. A pleasant read for younger readers if not much beyond that.