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A review by tani
Norroway Book 1: The Black Bull of Norroway by Cat Seaton
4.0
When Sibylla and her sisters were children, they went to visit the witch, bringing offerings of eggs and food. Each girl in her turn asked who she would marry, and the witch cracked each egg and foretold the future. Sibylla's sisters had common enough answers, but Sibylla... According to the witch, Sibylla would marry a bull. Well, it has to be better than the goose boy, Sibylla reasoned, though she'd much rather go off and have adventures. No one really expected that prophecy to come true. After all, how does a girl marry a bull? But one day, when Sibylla's reached adulthood and her sisters are married and in homes of their own, the black bull of Norroway comes to their little valley, looking for his bride...
I think I put this on my to-read list because I loved the art of Afar so much, and I was looking for other works drawn by Kit Seaton. This certainly fulfilled that longing! I really enjoy Kit Seaton's art, it seems. Her characters are so expressive. There's none of the sense of disconnect that I occasionally get from other comic art. Her colors are also lovely and bright, and every time I read something that she's drawn, I get the urge to buy a physical copy, just so I can look at the art.
In terms of story, this was also very enjoyable. I like fairy tale retellings, especially ones that draw from a variety of sources and mash them together, as this one does. The basis of the story is a Beauty and the Beast variant, but there are elements of a number of other fairy tales woven throughout the story. The action moves along pretty quickly as well, introducing the world and its issues at a decent clip. It was mostly lacking the disjointed feel that some comics take on, although the ending did feel a bit unmoored for a minute, until I found my footing.
My only real complaint is that I felt a little baffled about the choice that Sibylla initially makes to go with the bull. Given Sibylla's stubborn and impulsive character, I felt like she really would have put up more resistance to the whole thing, so her relatively easy acquiescence felt forced to me. I think I would have appreciated a touch more exploration of that whole choice for her, though I imagine space limitations may have made that difficult.
Either way, I am eagerly looking forward to getting the chance to read the second installment in this series!
I think I put this on my to-read list because I loved the art of Afar so much, and I was looking for other works drawn by Kit Seaton. This certainly fulfilled that longing! I really enjoy Kit Seaton's art, it seems. Her characters are so expressive. There's none of the sense of disconnect that I occasionally get from other comic art. Her colors are also lovely and bright, and every time I read something that she's drawn, I get the urge to buy a physical copy, just so I can look at the art.
In terms of story, this was also very enjoyable. I like fairy tale retellings, especially ones that draw from a variety of sources and mash them together, as this one does. The basis of the story is a Beauty and the Beast variant, but there are elements of a number of other fairy tales woven throughout the story. The action moves along pretty quickly as well, introducing the world and its issues at a decent clip. It was mostly lacking the disjointed feel that some comics take on, although the ending did feel a bit unmoored for a minute, until I found my footing.
My only real complaint is that I felt a little baffled about the choice that Sibylla initially makes to go with the bull. Given Sibylla's stubborn and impulsive character, I felt like she really would have put up more resistance to the whole thing, so her relatively easy acquiescence felt forced to me. I think I would have appreciated a touch more exploration of that whole choice for her, though I imagine space limitations may have made that difficult.
Either way, I am eagerly looking forward to getting the chance to read the second installment in this series!