TROLL BLOOD

Readers of the Trollsvik saga will realize from the first chapter (in which two Mi’kmaq Indians watch a Viking crew murder a man) that all will not go well when Peer and Hilde go a-Viking with Gunnar and his violent, quarrelsome son, Harald. The plot, lent tension by the revelation of secrets about Gunnar’s past, will rivet readers’ attention, and the exciting climax is satisfying, if a little pat. This final book in the series is as dark as the others and also considerably bloodier. Langrish’s technique here involves a judicious manipulation of historical fact and folklore. Although this works well when describing Viking culture, her use of this stylistic method with Native Americans and their folklore, although quite effective as a fictional technique, may raise questions of cultural appropriation. (The list of sources for both Norse and Native American information is extensive, but many are quite old.) Buy this quick and exciting novel for the fans—then recommend Nancy Farmer’s Sea of Trolls (2004) and Joanne Harris’s Runemarks (2008). (Fantasy. 10-13)