It's not exactly clear from the cover -- nor by any wording in the book-- but Snow-Walker is a tight-knit collection of three novella length tales.
The paperback I read is 623 pages long, but for those who are sticklers for more accuracy, here's the page counts from the separately published books:
The Snow-walker's Son -- 179 pages
The Empty Hand -- 192 pages
The Soul Thieves -- 246 pages
But enough of the book's trivia.
This collection holds a very nice story arc set in a medieval, Nordic-styled world with jarls and kinship groups and references to Fenrir and Thor. There's active magic in this world and a variety of people who are sensitive to it, but none so powerful as the Snow-walkers, an ice-pale race that usually stay cloistered to the far north in a land where the sun never shines. These pale peoples are as powerful as demi-gods and therein begins the trouble. For the Jarl at the center of this story has taken a Snow-walker for his wife, and she has turned his mind against his followers, so that he has seized their lands and murdered any who might contest his rule.
Our vantage point on this growing disaster is from the viewpoint of two youngsters: Jessa Horolfsdaughter and her cousin, Thorkil Harraldsson. They are what remains of their once powerful families. Called before the Jarl and his wife, it is assumed they will be killed as well, but instead, because they are so young, they are doomed to exile. You would think that would be welcome news to the young teenagers, but it's not. For they are being sent to a mysterious Hall in the north where in all honestly it's expected that they will die either from the frigid cold, or from the monster that lives there.
Talking Points:::
- Like in her more recent Oracle series, Catherine Fisher proves herself to be an able writer and world-builder who can meld magic seamlessly into her conjured environments. In this case, the world is reminiscent of the Viking realms complete with mentions of the Nordic gods and mythology.
- The series begins with a heightened sense of danger and a huge amount of mystery swirling about the monster. Most of that mystery gets resolved in the first story, but in it's place comes more danger in the form of magic and politics. I won't say more about Jessa's and Thorkil's adventures except that Fisher pushes her story ahead relentlessly. And that I enjoyed the characters.
- If you are in the mood for a fast paced fantasy adventure this might be a good choice.
Pam T
Somewhere in the X-burbs
Snow-Walker
- Paperback: 640 pages
- Publisher: Greenwillow Books (September 20, 2005)
- ISBN-10: 0060724765
- Look Inside available
-- amazon
Technical Stuff
Word Count: 125,211
Reading Level: 4.3
Interest Level: Middle-grades and YA
AR quiz: 111476
Lexile: 600L
Related Posts:
Snow-Walker reviewed by Shan
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