A lyric course in Norse mythology packed with heart and wit.
A romantic fantasy sees a woman become enthralled to the Norse gods.
Euthalia, a young woman soon to be married, journeys with her father’s trading expedition. While traveling, Chief Tikhomir wants to wed his daughter to a rich member of the Byzantine Empire. When large vessels shaped like serpents approach downriver, he hopes the Northmen aboard plan to negotiate rather than plunder. Tikhomir offers Euthalia to the man with the “dragon voice,” avoiding senseless fighting. She leaves with the Northmen, patient for a chance to escape but also surprised by how well they feed, clothe, and bathe her. Eventually, they reach a Northland village, and she learns that she’s to be sacrificed—that is, married—to the man with the dragon voice. Doing so both mystifies and ennobles her existence, because the man is actually Vidar, a son of the god Odin, ruler of Asgard. Vidar keeps her in an empty replica of the Northland village, visiting her dwelling only at night, when no light may reveal his face. Euthalia otherwise becomes known as a teller of Greek tales to the Asgardians, whom she meets in Odin’s hall. Among them is the trickster Loki, who plays Euthalia against his fellow gods to deadly effect. In this expressive banquet of love, legends, and exploits, VanArendonk Baugh (Social, Civil, and Savvy, 2017, etc.) channels the charm and grandeur of the Norse pantheon effortlessly. Splendid dialogue breathes life into the likes of the poet Bragi, who says, “All stories are songs....Only some have music.” The stars of Norse myth appear as the mystery of Vidar unfolds, including Thor, Freyja, Baldr, as well as the inhuman children of Loki, Fenrir, and Jörmungandr. As the world-ending Ragnarok approaches, Euthalia wonders whether the gods have been struck with “admirable self-possession or futile madness.” She later discovers that “there is small magic in the daily choices of every living thing.” Overall, a tale for everyone—especially those who love a mix of superheroes, romance, and monstrous action.
A lyric course in Norse mythology packed with heart and wit.Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-63165-004-8
Page Count: 302
Publisher: Æclipse Press
Review Posted Online: March 31, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
Sisters in and out of love.
Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-345-45073-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
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SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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