About this title: Berserkers kidnap 11-year-old Jack and his sister Lucy from their small island in A.D. 793, and they're enslaved by Viking chieftain Olaf One-Brow. A harrowing ocean voyage takes them to Ivar the Boneless, a fierce king dressed in a cape stitched together from the beards of men he's killed, and Queen Frith, Ivar's shape-shifting half-troll wife. Frith's beauty is destroyed when Jack sings to her: "Her features rippled and twisted like the beasts carved on the walls." Frith threatens to kill Lucy if Jack doesn't restore her appearance, so he must seek out a magic well in the trolls' stronghold ...
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Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Fine. Almost in new condition. Book shows only very slight signs of use. Cover and binding are undamaged and pages show minimal use. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books
ISBN-13:9780689867446ISBN:0689867441
Description: Good. Purchasing this book supports the King County Library System Foundation. Thriftbooks and KCLSF have partnered to help raise additional funds for the library system. Ex-Library book-will contain library markings. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books
ISBN-13:9780689867446ISBN:0689867441
Description: Good. Purchasing this book supports the King County Library System Foundation. Thriftbooks and KCLSF have partnered to help raise additional funds for the library system. Ex-Library book-will contain library markings. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Acceptable. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Atheneum
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780689867460ISBN:0689867468
Description: Acceptable. Well used. Still readable but not for the collector. All orders processed within 2 business days. Ships from Foxboro MA. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Atheneum
Date Published: 2006-05-23
ISBN-13:9780689867460ISBN:0689867468
Description: Fair. 2-inch tear in front cover at edge of spine. A little spotting on edge; a little doodling on first few pages. Book is a bit bent. Still a good readable copy. NOT an ex-library book. Military (APO/FPO) orders are welcomed-Thank you for your service. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
ISBN-13:9780689867446ISBN:0689867441
Description: Fair. 0689867441 ACCEPTABLE CONDITION-COVER IS VERY WORN-BOOK IS STILL IN USABLE CONDITION-EXPERIENCE AMAZING CUSTOMER SERVICE-WE SHIP DAILY. read more
"I absolutely love this book. Partly because I love learning about the history and mythology upon which it is based. And the bits of Norse language. What I really like is seeing the transformations in the characters, especially Thorgill. When she attempts to sacrifice her life, her offering is rejected because she must sacrifice something valuable, and she does not value her life. Instead, she receives the amulet of protection, and sacrifices her wish to die. From then on, she is able to see and appreciate many beauties in the world that had been annoyances or were ignored and unseen before. This helped me to look at the world with new vision also."
"This is a fast-moving and intelligent novel for children. Jack and his sister Lucy get kidnapped by Vikings during the historic raid on Lindisfarne in 793. Arriving in Norway, Jack finds that he has to undertake a quest to find Mimir's Well in order to save his sister from the half-troll queen, Frith.
One negative aspect of this novel is the rather spare style, which doesn't enable you to really get into the story well. Things happen blindingly fast. It isn't difficult to follow--I just like to absorb myself a little more thoroughly, that's all. And Farmer keeps dropping modernisms into her prose: "Just say no to pillaging," for example. This one's very witty, of course, but they mount up, and are a bit distracting.
But there are many more positive aspects. There's a lot of very accurate Scandinavian mythology in the book--the tales of Odin, Loki, Mimir's Well, etc., are all accurately portrayed. And that's hardly surprising, since the bibliography Farmer provides at the end is enough for a graduate course!
Also, the characters are very appealing. Jack is a likable hero. (I'm not sure that Jack is a historically-accurate name, but that's nitpicking.) Thorgil, the boy who turns out to be a girl berserker, is also strangely appealing. But towering over them both is Olaf One-Brow, the Viking leader who remains a powerful presence and extremely likable, even while he's uncompromisingly violent in nature.
And that's yet another strength of the book. There's no simple answer to the problems Farmer sets up. The characters at the end don't just agree to stop fighting one another. The Jotuns (trolls) become very appealing in the middle section of the book, but they don't agree to stop eating people when Jack leaves their kingdoms. And it's very clear at the end of the book that the Vikings are going to continue raiding England, as they did historically for another two hundred years. Olaf One-Brow retains his violent tendencies, even in his most attractive moments.
A rich and complex book, very entertaining, and well worth spending the time on."
Set in the time of the Anglo-Saxons, this story captures the time of 70 A.D. and captures the essence of epics such as Beowulf as well as the nursery rhyme Jack and Jill. The Sea of Trolls is about a young boy named Jack who is the Bard's apprentice. Soon after he begins his apprenticeship, his village is attacked and he and his sister are kidnapped. Through many adventures, Jack learns to use his power, without the aid of his mentor, Dragon Tongue. Jack's abilities allow him to not only save his sister from the evil half-troll Freya, but help him to develop lasting friendships that he will never forget."
"Farmer is a classic storyteller. She crafts all her characters as rich, complicated people (or trolls or some other fantasy creatures), with strong and mixed-up desires. Her prose is effortless, consistent, appropriate to the fantasy genre. (which is the problem I have with all the Percy Jackson books, the author's too-modern dialogue and writing). The world she creates is one that I was sad to leave when the book was over. Jack, a farmer's son, has recently become the apprentice to the local Bard, just in time for his village to be attacked by beserkers. He and his little sister, the insufferable Lucy, are kidnapped by the Viking Olaf One-Brow and taken away on his ship as prisoners. Along the way, Jack wins over Olaf with his developing magical powers, and becomes his personal bard. The journey takes them back to the court of King Ivar the boneless and his half-troll Queen Frith. The adventures continue as Jack experiences troll-bears, dragons, magic spiders, and many more new creatures and strange new lands. The action is non-stop, yet Farmer keeps our focus on Jack's developing confidence in his new abilities. She also creates a surprisingly modern version of religious pluralism, where the different approaches are seen as part of a larger source of good, the Life Force. But the best part of this book, and all of Farmer's books, are that every character, even the smaller roles, even the evil or violent ones, are given a spark of humanness that makes a great story live inside your head."
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