The Islands of the Blessed (Sea of Trolls Trilogy Book 3)

In this much-anticipated conclusion to the Sea of Trolls trilogy, Notland is no place to seek one's true calling. Or is it?

foolish Boy , Whispers The Cobwebby Voice Of The Hogboon. You Force Me To Slay You. But Jack And Thorgil Between Them Possess The Rune Of Protection, And They Overpower The ...

publishers Weekly

this Final Chapter Of The Trilogy Begun In The Sea Of Trolls Gathers Steam Slowly, But Has The Same Enchanting Quirkiness Of Its Predecessors. Jack, The Apprentice Bard, Is Now 14 And Living With Thorgil, The Surly Shield Maiden, And Their Mentor, The Bard, In His Native Village After The Scarring Experiences Of Their Previous Adventure. When A Draugr, The Undead Spirit Of A Wronged Mermaid, Is Roused By The Village Priest’s Mystical Bell, Her Need For Justice Sends Jack And His Friends Beyond Saxon Lands To Notland, The Kingdom Of The Fin Folk, As They Seek A Way To Lay The Draugr To Rest. Farmer’s Prose Flows Easily And The Nuggets Of Action Are As Lively And Unexpected As Ever. But Jack Is Confronting A Knottier Lesson Than Before: The Mystery Of How Joy And Sorrow Intertwine. While The Meditative Pace This Story’s Complexity Calls For Replaces The Narrative Drive Of The Earlier Books, It Brings Other Pleasures And Creates A Satisfying Close For The Series—if Indeed This Is The End. Ages 10–14. (oct.)

It begins with a vicious tornado. (Odin on a Wild Hunt, as the young berserker Thorgil sees it.) The fields of Jack s home village are devastated, the winter ahead looks bleak, and a monster a draugr has invaded the forest outside of town. Soon, Jack, Thorgil, and the Bard are off to right the wrong of a death caused by Father Severus. Their destination is Notland, realm of the fin folk, though they will face plenty of challenges and enemies before get they get there. Impeccably researched and blending the lore of Christian, Pagan, and Norse traditions, this expertly woven tale is beguilingly suspenseful and, ultimately, a testament to love. Two years after their adventures in The Land of the Silver Apples, the apprentice bard Jack and his Viking companion Thorgil confront the malevolent spirit of a vengeful mermaid and begin a quest that casts them among the fin folk of Notland (present-day Orkney Islands).