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A review by nick_borrelli
Children by Bjørn Larssen
5.0
The first thing that you notice about Bjorn Larssen's CHILDREN is the stunningly gorgeous cover. I mean, this is some dazzling work and it draws you in immediately to want to find out more about it. Then as you begin reading the book you realize that as gorgeous as the cover is, the prose is just as gorgeous, if not more so. I was immediately struck by both the depth of the characters and the flawless dialogue that made me laugh most of the time, and yes I admit, shed a tear on a few occasions as well. It's really difficult to get me to buy in that much to make me emotional while reading a story, since I'm a bit of a cynic by nature. But damn if Bjorn Larssen didn't make me care about every single character in this book, even the ones that only make a passing appearance.
But let's get to the heart of this book, which is the incredibly well-told story that makes you want to keep turning the pages, and turning, and turning. If you love Norse mythology and also historical fantasy, then you will love CHILDREN as this is one of the very best books I've ever read that deals with the Norse gods and legends. What makes this book a cut above the others is that it also turns the conventional wisdom of how we view these gods on its head quite a bit. Truly the best retellings do this in my opinion, take a well known tale but twist it in such a way that you could almost say they reinvent the same tired old story.
By relaying the story of CHILDREN through the eyes of two very different descendants Magni and Maya, Larssen has gifted the reader with a fresh take on the Norse mythology that we have come to know up to this point. Both living in the shadows of their legendary predecessors, and both extremely worse for the wear, we get to see through alternating chapter POVs how each deals with their own personal abuses and neglect. Be warned that none of it is sugarcoated in the least, and in a way this is another thing that makes this book great, its willingness to lay bare both the good and the bad and have us experience every thought and action right along with the characters on a personal level.
This book is about as raw and brutal a read as you can come by but it is also incredibly moving and never makes you feel like there's not something worth salvaging in the end. I was really blown away by CHILDREN and am here to say that if you don't read this book, you are seriously missing out on a rare talent right now by the name of Bjorn Larssen. He will not hold your hand and tell you everything that you need to know explicitly, but he will ask you to work a little for what is a phenomenal payoff if you just invest a little time and attention. The true testament to how this book moved me is that I couldn't get it out of my head for the entire day after finishing it. In fact I even went back and read the final chapter again because I wanted to experience it fully just one more time. I don't have much more to say other than get this book and read it if you appreciate a story that is told in such a way that you feel like you live it with every word, sentence, and page.
But let's get to the heart of this book, which is the incredibly well-told story that makes you want to keep turning the pages, and turning, and turning. If you love Norse mythology and also historical fantasy, then you will love CHILDREN as this is one of the very best books I've ever read that deals with the Norse gods and legends. What makes this book a cut above the others is that it also turns the conventional wisdom of how we view these gods on its head quite a bit. Truly the best retellings do this in my opinion, take a well known tale but twist it in such a way that you could almost say they reinvent the same tired old story.
By relaying the story of CHILDREN through the eyes of two very different descendants Magni and Maya, Larssen has gifted the reader with a fresh take on the Norse mythology that we have come to know up to this point. Both living in the shadows of their legendary predecessors, and both extremely worse for the wear, we get to see through alternating chapter POVs how each deals with their own personal abuses and neglect. Be warned that none of it is sugarcoated in the least, and in a way this is another thing that makes this book great, its willingness to lay bare both the good and the bad and have us experience every thought and action right along with the characters on a personal level.
This book is about as raw and brutal a read as you can come by but it is also incredibly moving and never makes you feel like there's not something worth salvaging in the end. I was really blown away by CHILDREN and am here to say that if you don't read this book, you are seriously missing out on a rare talent right now by the name of Bjorn Larssen. He will not hold your hand and tell you everything that you need to know explicitly, but he will ask you to work a little for what is a phenomenal payoff if you just invest a little time and attention. The true testament to how this book moved me is that I couldn't get it out of my head for the entire day after finishing it. In fact I even went back and read the final chapter again because I wanted to experience it fully just one more time. I don't have much more to say other than get this book and read it if you appreciate a story that is told in such a way that you feel like you live it with every word, sentence, and page.