The Sea of Trolls

The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

CATEGORY: REQUIRED AUTHOR, FANTASY

The Sea of Trolls is much different from Nancy Farmer's more well known fantasy novel, House of the Scorpion. While both are fantasy, Farmer shows her ability to write from a wide range of sources. The Sea of Trolls follows the adventures of a young saxon boy, Jack, who is kidnapped by vikings, or the Beserkers, who have the ability to descend into a wolf-like madness. Jack saves the thrall lives of himself and sister by proving that he has the abilities of a bard, magic. Once he finally reaches his Viking captors home, he causes problems my accidentally magicking the half-troll queen's hair to fall off. Jack, and his frenemy, Thorgil, must travel to Jotunheim, the land of the trolls, battle dragons, and talk to crows, in order to reach a well that supposedly has the power to grant Jack the magic he needs to fix the half-troll viking queen's hair and save his little sister Lucy.

I was surprised at how easily Farmer was able to write believable fantasy from multiple cultures. House of the Scorpion is set in a futuristic Mexico while The Sea of Trolls cleverly employs old English and Viking lore to tell a story that seems much more like the typical fantasy adventure. And although it may appear to be typical fantasy literature, Farmer does a good job of reinventing the quest story. Her characters while battling dragons and giant spiders, also struggle with gender equality, insanity, serious viking anger issues and contrasting religions and cultures. Farmer does an excellent job of portraying good and evil as a grey area, her characters are people and not heroes and villains. I would say that the novel is epic fantasy for a younger audience.

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