SNOW-WALKER

Richly atmospheric Nordic fantasy aswirl with snow and magic. Many years ago, a pale sorceress walked out of the North and gripped the Jarlshold (ruling house of the realm) in her evil grasp. When her son was born, she hid him away. A girl named Jessa meets him and finds out the secret: Kari is just like his mother, a Snow-walker with phenomenal power. Jessa and a bard named Skapti join Kari and his fiercely devoted caretaker Brochael in defeating Gudrun over the course of this tale, divided into three sections because it was originally published in three separate volumes. A final journey into the frozen spirit world beyond the North tests Kari’s powers and his strength to resist Gudrun’s call to become a soul thief like her. Chapter-head quotations come from Norse poems and Beowulf. Delicately written yet unquestionably solid, this supremely satisfying one-volume trilogy combines snow and ice with loyalty, love, trust, and adventure. (Fantasy. 10-15)