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tregina's review against another edition
4.0
I can't remember who recommended this book to me, or why, but I'm glad they did. It's a delightful and charming mix of Norse (and other) mythology, fairy tale, and the infallable logic of children. I'd like to think, if I'd read this when I was younger, that it might've been one of my favourites (though there are certainly a few things I would not have understood until I was older). After all, what little girl wouldn't have wanted to be raised by dragons and then see the world?
“Perhaps she did not die,” said Halla, “perhaps her nurse turned into a bear and carried her away into the forest. Perhaps she was brought up by bears and dragons. Perhaps it was better for her in the end than being a king’s child.”
“That was never the story,” said Modolf.
“Forget the story,” said Halla.
smfaulkner's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
savaging's review against another edition
4.0
Unexpectedly charming. I dislike most books that seem to be aimed toward children. But the breezy-bold sentence structure won me over. Also: Mitchison pays close attention to other species.
The author wrote 90 books in her century of life. Some of these were aimed at fighting fascism. Some were arguing for reproductive rights (and got blocked or censored). And some, like this one, are about dragons and unicorns.
The author wrote 90 books in her century of life. Some of these were aimed at fighting fascism. Some were arguing for reproductive rights (and got blocked or censored). And some, like this one, are about dragons and unicorns.
lizshayne's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
It's so hard to rate or talk about a book that you read because it is formative and everyone tells you to read it because of how it shaped them. Those are the kinds of books you need to just trip over and find yourself in rather than set out to read to find out what all the fuss is about.
I liked it and it was so careful and interesting and doing so many things in such a short space of time and ALSO I strongly suspect that if I had not been waiting for it to be careful and interesting and do things I would have loved it.
Still - the story itself and the way Halla slips in and out of dream-time and myth-time and history and plays all of those things together to weave a story about what it means to be human on the outside is so fascinating.
Also it has an A Wrinkle in Time feel to it in the way it approaches the girl's bildungsroman AND in the way that it's not Christian but it's not...not Christian.
I liked it and it was so careful and interesting and doing so many things in such a short space of time and ALSO I strongly suspect that if I had not been waiting for it to be careful and interesting and do things I would have loved it.
Still - the story itself and the way Halla slips in and out of dream-time and myth-time and history and plays all of those things together to weave a story about what it means to be human on the outside is so fascinating.
Also it has an A Wrinkle in Time feel to it in the way it approaches the girl's bildungsroman AND in the way that it's not Christian but it's not...not Christian.
sam_vimes_75's review against another edition
3.0
This starts off as a pleasant and charming fairy tale, but bogs down and becomes much more solemn in the second half.
zoefruitcake's review against another edition
4.0
I was reading This is how you lose the time war and this book was mentioned. I turned out to like this much more that the book it was mentioned in! it is a very quick read