Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
Well, what a way to kick off #Norsevember. Children is a stunning book inside and out – I mean just look at that cover! I had seen this one mentioned here and there, and it was the cover that immediately caught my attention because it is beautiful, and as it turns out a perfect cover for this book.
As beautiful as the cover is though, the writing is even more so, across all aspects – setting, characterisation and especially dialogue, and can and will wring every emotion of you at one point or another. A masterclass in writing, with a narrative to match, and I was pulled in from the start and so immersed in the world and the characters, that it felt like waking from a vivid dream whenever I was able to put the book down which was always a fight.
This isn’t a book where you are given everything about the world and characters from the beginning, but the more you delve into Children, the more you discover, and the payoff is a narrative that refuses to be forgotten. It must be mentioned that in keeping with the Norse Mythology that inspires it, Children is a brutal book, and it doesn’t shy away from the darker elements, but that element is never overwhelming, and you feel the good just as vividly as the back, and it makes for a beautiful, emotionally powerful narrative that hits home on all levels.
Children were presented primarily through the POV of two descendants Maya and Magni who are living in the shadow of their legendary predecessors, and this was such a fascinating approach to Norse Mythology that immediately set this book apart. I was loosely familiar with the mythology behind this retelling, and Children took that and made it into something new and different in all the best ways. I love retellings, but it’s retellings like this, which takes what we think we know and strips that away, breathing fresh life into an old story. Magni and Maya were both beautifully written, and we got to experience so much of their world and personal stories, and it was written in such a way that everything was laid bare – good and bad – and you can’t help but be utterly riveted by their experiences and development, and it has been a while since I felt so invested in characters. And that extended to the secondary characters, even those that only had a brief, passing appearance, because they were all an essential part of the book.
I was blown away by Children, and it was one of those books that lingers in your mind and calls you back to it because of the sheer impact it has. I can’t recommend this book highly enough, especially for anyone with an interest in Norse Mythology, and who want to lose themselves into a book that will grab hold of you and refuse to let go even after you’ve read that last page. Now, I am off to grab a copy of Storytellers – Larssen’s previous standalone book, and I will be keeping my eye out for future books both in this series and in general because Children has elevated Bjorn Larssen to an auto-read for me.
https://beneathathousandskies.com/2020/10/07/blog-tour-book-review-children-the-ten-worlds-1-bjorn-larssen/
As beautiful as the cover is though, the writing is even more so, across all aspects – setting, characterisation and especially dialogue, and can and will wring every emotion of you at one point or another. A masterclass in writing, with a narrative to match, and I was pulled in from the start and so immersed in the world and the characters, that it felt like waking from a vivid dream whenever I was able to put the book down which was always a fight.
This isn’t a book where you are given everything about the world and characters from the beginning, but the more you delve into Children, the more you discover, and the payoff is a narrative that refuses to be forgotten. It must be mentioned that in keeping with the Norse Mythology that inspires it, Children is a brutal book, and it doesn’t shy away from the darker elements, but that element is never overwhelming, and you feel the good just as vividly as the back, and it makes for a beautiful, emotionally powerful narrative that hits home on all levels.
Children were presented primarily through the POV of two descendants Maya and Magni who are living in the shadow of their legendary predecessors, and this was such a fascinating approach to Norse Mythology that immediately set this book apart. I was loosely familiar with the mythology behind this retelling, and Children took that and made it into something new and different in all the best ways. I love retellings, but it’s retellings like this, which takes what we think we know and strips that away, breathing fresh life into an old story. Magni and Maya were both beautifully written, and we got to experience so much of their world and personal stories, and it was written in such a way that everything was laid bare – good and bad – and you can’t help but be utterly riveted by their experiences and development, and it has been a while since I felt so invested in characters. And that extended to the secondary characters, even those that only had a brief, passing appearance, because they were all an essential part of the book.
I was blown away by Children, and it was one of those books that lingers in your mind and calls you back to it because of the sheer impact it has. I can’t recommend this book highly enough, especially for anyone with an interest in Norse Mythology, and who want to lose themselves into a book that will grab hold of you and refuse to let go even after you’ve read that last page. Now, I am off to grab a copy of Storytellers – Larssen’s previous standalone book, and I will be keeping my eye out for future books both in this series and in general because Children has elevated Bjorn Larssen to an auto-read for me.
https://beneathathousandskies.com/2020/10/07/blog-tour-book-review-children-the-ten-worlds-1-bjorn-larssen/
The first thing that you notice about Bjorn Larssen's CHILDREN is the stunningly gorgeous cover. I mean, this is some dazzling work and it draws you in immediately to want to find out more about it. Then as you begin reading the book you realize that as gorgeous as the cover is, the prose is just as gorgeous, if not more so. I was immediately struck by both the depth of the characters and the flawless dialogue that made me laugh most of the time, and yes I admit, shed a tear on a few occasions as well. It's really difficult to get me to buy in that much to make me emotional while reading a story, since I'm a bit of a cynic by nature. But damn if Bjorn Larssen didn't make me care about every single character in this book, even the ones that only make a passing appearance.
But let's get to the heart of this book, which is the incredibly well-told story that makes you want to keep turning the pages, and turning, and turning. If you love Norse mythology and also historical fantasy, then you will love CHILDREN as this is one of the very best books I've ever read that deals with the Norse gods and legends. What makes this book a cut above the others is that it also turns the conventional wisdom of how we view these gods on its head quite a bit. Truly the best retellings do this in my opinion, take a well known tale but twist it in such a way that you could almost say they reinvent the same tired old story.
By relaying the story of CHILDREN through the eyes of two very different descendants Magni and Maya, Larssen has gifted the reader with a fresh take on the Norse mythology that we have come to know up to this point. Both living in the shadows of their legendary predecessors, and both extremely worse for the wear, we get to see through alternating chapter POVs how each deals with their own personal abuses and neglect. Be warned that none of it is sugarcoated in the least, and in a way this is another thing that makes this book great, its willingness to lay bare both the good and the bad and have us experience every thought and action right along with the characters on a personal level.
This book is about as raw and brutal a read as you can come by but it is also incredibly moving and never makes you feel like there's not something worth salvaging in the end. I was really blown away by CHILDREN and am here to say that if you don't read this book, you are seriously missing out on a rare talent right now by the name of Bjorn Larssen. He will not hold your hand and tell you everything that you need to know explicitly, but he will ask you to work a little for what is a phenomenal payoff if you just invest a little time and attention. The true testament to how this book moved me is that I couldn't get it out of my head for the entire day after finishing it. In fact I even went back and read the final chapter again because I wanted to experience it fully just one more time. I don't have much more to say other than get this book and read it if you appreciate a story that is told in such a way that you feel like you live it with every word, sentence, and page.
But let's get to the heart of this book, which is the incredibly well-told story that makes you want to keep turning the pages, and turning, and turning. If you love Norse mythology and also historical fantasy, then you will love CHILDREN as this is one of the very best books I've ever read that deals with the Norse gods and legends. What makes this book a cut above the others is that it also turns the conventional wisdom of how we view these gods on its head quite a bit. Truly the best retellings do this in my opinion, take a well known tale but twist it in such a way that you could almost say they reinvent the same tired old story.
By relaying the story of CHILDREN through the eyes of two very different descendants Magni and Maya, Larssen has gifted the reader with a fresh take on the Norse mythology that we have come to know up to this point. Both living in the shadows of their legendary predecessors, and both extremely worse for the wear, we get to see through alternating chapter POVs how each deals with their own personal abuses and neglect. Be warned that none of it is sugarcoated in the least, and in a way this is another thing that makes this book great, its willingness to lay bare both the good and the bad and have us experience every thought and action right along with the characters on a personal level.
This book is about as raw and brutal a read as you can come by but it is also incredibly moving and never makes you feel like there's not something worth salvaging in the end. I was really blown away by CHILDREN and am here to say that if you don't read this book, you are seriously missing out on a rare talent right now by the name of Bjorn Larssen. He will not hold your hand and tell you everything that you need to know explicitly, but he will ask you to work a little for what is a phenomenal payoff if you just invest a little time and attention. The true testament to how this book moved me is that I couldn't get it out of my head for the entire day after finishing it. In fact I even went back and read the final chapter again because I wanted to experience it fully just one more time. I don't have much more to say other than get this book and read it if you appreciate a story that is told in such a way that you feel like you live it with every word, sentence, and page.