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fictionfan's review against another edition
5.0
Weirdly wonderful...
In 1978, a small boy and his mother are staying in a holiday cabin in the forests near Falun, in Sweden. All seems well until the mother accidentally kills a bat that was flying around her. She throws it into the undergrowth, but the next day, when she goes to the fridge, there is the dead bat lying crumpled on a shelf. Now some of the forest animals begin to behave strangely, sitting motionless staring at the house. The mother tells the boy to stay in but he wants to see them, so he runs out of the house into the forest - and is never seen again. His distraught mother claims that she saw him being taken by a giant...
In the present day, Susso visits an elderly woman who claims she has seen a strange little man watching her house and her grandson. Susso believes in trolls and is on a personal mission to prove that they still exist. Most of the reports she receives via her website are obviously false or hoaxes, but something about this woman convinces her to investigate further. Elsewhere, Seved is busily clearing up the havoc caused by the Old Ones who live in the barn – a sure sign they are getting restless...
This is one of the weirdest books I've read in a long time – weirdly wonderful, that is. The world it is set in is undeniably the Sweden of today, but in some isolated places the creatures of myth and folklore still exist. It's essential that the reader can accept this, because there's no ambiguity about it, but Spjut's matter-of-fact way of writing about them somehow makes the whole thing feel completely credible. But although their existence is established he leaves them beautifully undefined – the reader is never quite sure what exactly they are or whether they are fundamentally good or evil or perhaps, like humanity, a bit of both. They're not all the same, either in appearance or behaviour, and there seems to be a kind of hierarchy amongst them. Although most humans remain unaware of them, some are very closely involved with them. And every now and then, a child goes missing.
It's the writing that makes it work. Spjut builds up a chilling atmosphere, largely by never quite telling the reader exactly what's going on. Normally that would frustrate me wildly, but it works here because the reader is put in the same position of uncertainty as the humans. There's a folk-tale feel about the whole thing as if the fables of the old days have somehow strayed back into the real world. But despite that, fundamentally this is a crime novel with all the usual elements of an investigation into a missing child. As with so much Nordic fiction, the weather and landscape plays a huge role in creating an atmosphere of isolation – all those trees, and the snow, and the freezing cold.
There's a real air of horror running beneath the surface, though in fact there's not too much in the way of explicit gruesomeness – it's more the fear of not knowing what might happen. The beginning is decidedly creepy and sets up the tone for the rest of the book brilliantly. It takes a while to get to grips with who everyone is and how the various strands link, but gradually it all comes together. I admit there were bits in the middle that dragged slightly and felt a little repetitive at times, but the bulk of it kept me totally absorbed. And the last part is full of action building up to a really great ending that satisfies even though everything is far from being tied up neatly and tidily. So much is left unexplained, not in the way of careless loose ends, but more as if some things just are as they are and must be accepted.
If you can cope with the basic idea, then I do highly recommend this as something very different from the normal run of things. 4 stars for the writing, plus one for being one of the most original books I've read in a while – I do hope there's going to be a sequel...
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
In 1978, a small boy and his mother are staying in a holiday cabin in the forests near Falun, in Sweden. All seems well until the mother accidentally kills a bat that was flying around her. She throws it into the undergrowth, but the next day, when she goes to the fridge, there is the dead bat lying crumpled on a shelf. Now some of the forest animals begin to behave strangely, sitting motionless staring at the house. The mother tells the boy to stay in but he wants to see them, so he runs out of the house into the forest - and is never seen again. His distraught mother claims that she saw him being taken by a giant...
In the present day, Susso visits an elderly woman who claims she has seen a strange little man watching her house and her grandson. Susso believes in trolls and is on a personal mission to prove that they still exist. Most of the reports she receives via her website are obviously false or hoaxes, but something about this woman convinces her to investigate further. Elsewhere, Seved is busily clearing up the havoc caused by the Old Ones who live in the barn – a sure sign they are getting restless...
This is one of the weirdest books I've read in a long time – weirdly wonderful, that is. The world it is set in is undeniably the Sweden of today, but in some isolated places the creatures of myth and folklore still exist. It's essential that the reader can accept this, because there's no ambiguity about it, but Spjut's matter-of-fact way of writing about them somehow makes the whole thing feel completely credible. But although their existence is established he leaves them beautifully undefined – the reader is never quite sure what exactly they are or whether they are fundamentally good or evil or perhaps, like humanity, a bit of both. They're not all the same, either in appearance or behaviour, and there seems to be a kind of hierarchy amongst them. Although most humans remain unaware of them, some are very closely involved with them. And every now and then, a child goes missing.
It's the writing that makes it work. Spjut builds up a chilling atmosphere, largely by never quite telling the reader exactly what's going on. Normally that would frustrate me wildly, but it works here because the reader is put in the same position of uncertainty as the humans. There's a folk-tale feel about the whole thing as if the fables of the old days have somehow strayed back into the real world. But despite that, fundamentally this is a crime novel with all the usual elements of an investigation into a missing child. As with so much Nordic fiction, the weather and landscape plays a huge role in creating an atmosphere of isolation – all those trees, and the snow, and the freezing cold.
There's a real air of horror running beneath the surface, though in fact there's not too much in the way of explicit gruesomeness – it's more the fear of not knowing what might happen. The beginning is decidedly creepy and sets up the tone for the rest of the book brilliantly. It takes a while to get to grips with who everyone is and how the various strands link, but gradually it all comes together. I admit there were bits in the middle that dragged slightly and felt a little repetitive at times, but the bulk of it kept me totally absorbed. And the last part is full of action building up to a really great ending that satisfies even though everything is far from being tied up neatly and tidily. So much is left unexplained, not in the way of careless loose ends, but more as if some things just are as they are and must be accepted.
If you can cope with the basic idea, then I do highly recommend this as something very different from the normal run of things. 4 stars for the writing, plus one for being one of the most original books I've read in a while – I do hope there's going to be a sequel...
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
jordaher's review against another edition
4.0
Despite the length, it was such a quick read. Author did a great job at making everything come full circle with no plot holes despite so much going on.
Lost a star cause of there being so many POVs without any title indicating who was talking. It would take almost a full page before I realized who it was. Definitely recommend writing down character names and just brief plot points for them cause some people tended to blend together for me.
Lost a star cause of there being so many POVs without any title indicating who was talking. It would take almost a full page before I realized who it was. Definitely recommend writing down character names and just brief plot points for them cause some people tended to blend together for me.
lizlogan's review against another edition
4.0
Creepy enough to make you want to hold your children close and stay out of the woods. I noticed a lot of other people complained that the book felt too long, but I thought overall it was about right. I've never written anything by Swedish authors and since this is supposed to be an interesting style unto itself I paid a lot of attention. The only real difference I found was that the sentences were starker overall, but with one book to go on that could merely be a coincidence. Overall, I liked it. It was easy to read quickly and in bits with lots of creepiness to keep you going.
jaymejojos's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting subject and I really enjoyed learning about the stallo but I felt like it was really hard to follow. It was slow going for 3/4ths of the book and when it did get going it was hard to keep track of who was who. Might have to do with the fact that this is a translation.
ravenbellebooks's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
elentarri's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
This book desperately needed an editor - a heavy handed one with a fat, red pen. The story starts off incredibly slowly and is particularly tedious until just after the halfway mark. There is simply too much irrelevant, extra information and not enough relevant explanation of motive. Then the pace and action picks up in the last half and the author actually gets to the good bits... provided readers manage to stay awake that long.
Spjut made use of the semi-mythical creatures known as Stallo in Sami folklore. They are referred to as Trolls or shapeshifters throughout the novel. The story alternates between a group of people that are keeping something (someone?) in the barn and basement (we never find out why they are being kept there) and Susso, who is determined to find out more about the odd creature her father photographed when she was small, and then gets involved in a kidnapping investigation. We also never find outwhy the trolls want human children since they don't seem to do anything with them except watch them .
There is simply too much boring fluff before the reader gets to the good stuff, and then there are too many questions that are never answered. This is a pity since the shapeshifter concept was interesting.
Spjut made use of the semi-mythical creatures known as Stallo in Sami folklore. They are referred to as Trolls or shapeshifters throughout the novel. The story alternates between a group of people that are keeping something (someone?) in the barn and basement (we never find out why they are being kept there) and Susso, who is determined to find out more about the odd creature her father photographed when she was small, and then gets involved in a kidnapping investigation. We also never find out
There is simply too much boring fluff before the reader gets to the good stuff, and then there are too many questions that are never answered. This is a pity since the shapeshifter concept was interesting.
queerbillydeluxe's review against another edition
3.0
3.5...I realize that there is already a second book in this series, but that was a really, really unsatisfying ending. Nearly 600 pages, and I'm still without full information. Interesting concept, but a bit slow and jumpy in terms of plot.
mattburris's review against another edition
3.0
I bought this as a vacation book and that turned out to be about right. Just a light (fantastical) thriller. Definitely can tell the author has a journalism background by how it's written.
helenslibrary's review against another edition
5.0
Loved this one. Great mix of folk tale and suspense.
gatesbetch's review
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This book was recommended to me through this website and I'm glad that it did because it very much suited my interests and I don't know if I would've heard about this book by other means.