Scan barcode
A review by kblincoln
The Strange Maid by Tessa Gratton
4.0
We return to the United States of Asgard in this second book about Signy, a girl chosen in childhood by Odin all father to be valkyerie of his new world tree, but who was presented with a riddle that put her off her path.
We encounter Signy as she gets a partial answer to the riddle that upended her life: that the stone heart she seeks is that of a troll mother.
The poet, Ned Unferth, who brings her this news is a riddle. He is scarred, brimming with poetry and secrets, and intent on bringing her into the heart of abandoned Montreal: mountain troll territory.
The second half of the book finds Signy encountering Soren (the berserker main character from the first book) and the Mad Eagle Beserkers (who all deserve their own book) and going on a further troll hunt.
The world of Asgard, the constant rune and poetry writing/quoteing characters and all that from the first book that I liked so much were still present, but dragged a bit here on Signy's journey. She spends a lot of time hanging out and waiting and so the book felt too until the final third.
It was awesome seeing the characters from the first book playing a big role. When the layers of prophecy and dreams and riddles are all pulled back...there is an awesome symmetry and story at the heart revealed that is worth the wait.
I'll be buying the third book to find out what happens to Soren and Astrid :)
We encounter Signy as she gets a partial answer to the riddle that upended her life: that the stone heart she seeks is that of a troll mother.
The poet, Ned Unferth, who brings her this news is a riddle. He is scarred, brimming with poetry and secrets, and intent on bringing her into the heart of abandoned Montreal: mountain troll territory.
The second half of the book finds Signy encountering Soren (the berserker main character from the first book) and the Mad Eagle Beserkers (who all deserve their own book) and going on a further troll hunt.
The world of Asgard, the constant rune and poetry writing/quoteing characters and all that from the first book that I liked so much were still present, but dragged a bit here on Signy's journey. She spends a lot of time hanging out and waiting and so the book felt too until the final third.
It was awesome seeing the characters from the first book playing a big role. When the layers of prophecy and dreams and riddles are all pulled back...there is an awesome symmetry and story at the heart revealed that is worth the wait.
I'll be buying the third book to find out what happens to Soren and Astrid :)