Customer Reviews

The Islands of the Blessed (Sea of Trolls Trilogy)

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Jack, an apprentice bard, and his friend Thorgil, a shield maiden, have survived many adventures together. They have traveled the Hollow Road deep underground. They have visited Jotunheim, land of the trolls. They have even seen Yggdrasil, the world tree. But right now, life seems unbearably quiet in Jack's Saxon village. That is, until the ringing of a magic bell draws unwanted guests. Now, Jack and Thorgil must venture out again to quell restless spirits and right a wrong done long ago by their friend, Father Severus.

THE ISLANDS OF THE BLESSED is the third installment in Nancy Farmer's The Sea of Trolls trilogy. Set after the Viking raid of the island monastery of Lindisfarne in 793, her series explores the collision of Christian, Pagan and Norse cosmologies against a background of magic and mythological creatures. The final book also confronts some of the uglier aspects of these belief systems, whether it is the severe penitence Father Severus demands of his fellow Christians or the ceaseless battle that is part of Valhalla, the Northman paradise. As servants of the life force, Jack and Thorgil must put aside their pasts and prejudices to heal the wounds that have been committed in the names of various different deities.

THE ISLANDS OF THE BLESSED continues Nancy Farmer's strong tradition of research. Some of the most fantastical elements of the story come from genuine historical beliefs and superstitions. Her descriptions of Notland, land of the fin folk, are very much based on lore and legend from the time. The same is true of her account of "the flying venom," a name for various plagues that afflicted the medieval world. Farmer's affection for this history, particularly the lore that accompanies Celtic Christianity, is very much present in this book, as is a parallel sense of continued conflict in our own world.

In THE SEA OF TROLLS, Farmer drew comparisons between terrorism and the Northman raids. However, her books have never simplified this conflict into something as basic as good versus evil. The brutality of the Northmen and their berserkers is matched by their loyalty, bravery and courage. This conflict is ever present in the character of Thorgil, who is torn between her bloody Northern past and a present that demands she apprentice along with Jack as a healer. A glimpse of Valhalla and the Valkyries who do little more than serve the male warriors has her thinking twice about whether she still desires a battle death.

Likewise, Jack has many friends among the Northmen, and Farmer's bawdy (if occasionally disgusting) descriptions of their bragging and burping contests suggest a lust for life that cannot be summed up purely as a love of killing. Still, when Jack gets caught up in Odin's Wild Hunt, he confronts the god saying, "I serve the life force, I do not believe in a world of endless killing...Your world is only one leaf on the Great Tree...It is already falling from the branch."

It is very easy to see these three books as exploring different aspects of the colliding worldviews. THE SEA OF TROLLS examines the way various different cultures lived and behaved according to their beliefs and codes of behavior. THE LAND OF THE SILVER APPLES is largely an underworld adventure, addressing the different traditions of descent and putting the travelers in contact with the Elves and other mysterious beings living underground. THE ISLANDS OF THE BLESSED contains differing ideas about Paradise, from the Christian heaven to Valhalla to the Islands of the Blessed themselves. Usually conceived as a kind of paradise where the heroes go to live and learn with the gods, Farmer presents the Islands of the Blessed as a sunny and apple-laden afterworld with a kind of bard school next door.

THE ISLANDS OF THE BLESSED contains the adventure, humor and thought-provoking juxtapositions of THE SEA OF TROLLS and THE LAND OF THE SILVER APPLES. It is fun to read, with lots of great stories and spooky adventures nested inside the larger narrative. However, it works best when read with the other titles and will be most enjoyed by readers who are already familiar with the first two books in the series.

--- Reviewed by Sarah A. Wood

This third book of this Nancy Farmer focuses more on the society and relationships and less on adventure. It is a nice close of the series, but not a grand finale. I would recommend it for completeness and zeitgeist, but do not expect a story as engaging as the first book.

We have listened to and read all three of these books and are in complete disbelief that there will only be three. Farmer has created an amazing world full of complicated and thoughtful characters. Please, more!

Jack, an apprentice bard, and his friend Thorgil, a shield maiden, have survived many adventures together. They have traveled the Hollow Road deep underground. They have visited Jotunheim, land of the trolls. They have even seen Yggdrasil, the world tree. But right now, life seems unbearably quiet in Jack's Saxon village. That is, until the ringing of a magic bell draws unwanted guests. Now, Jack and Thorgil must venture out again to quell restless spirits and right a wrong done long ago by their friend, Father Severus.

THE ISLANDS OF THE BLESSED is the third installment in Nancy Farmer's The Sea of Trolls trilogy. Set after the Viking raid of the island monastery of Lindisfarne in 793, her series explores the collision of Christian, Pagan and Norse cosmologies against a background of magic and mythological creatures. The final book also confronts some of the uglier aspects of these belief systems, whether it is the severe penitence Father Severus demands of his fellow Christians or the ceaseless battle that is part of Valhalla, the Northman paradise. As servants of the life force, Jack and Thorgil must put aside their pasts and prejudices to heal the wounds that have been committed in the names of various different deities.

THE ISLANDS OF THE BLESSED continues Nancy Farmer's strong tradition of research. Some of the most fantastical elements of the story come from genuine historical beliefs and superstitions. Her descriptions of Notland, land of the fin folk, are very much based on lore and legend from the time. The same is true of her account of "the flying venom," a name for various plagues that afflicted the medieval world. Farmer's affection for this history, particularly the lore that accompanies Celtic Christianity, is very much present in this book, as is a parallel sense of continued conflict in our own world.

In THE SEA OF TROLLS, Farmer drew comparisons between terrorism and the Northman raids. However, her books have never simplified this conflict into something as basic as good versus evil. The brutality of the Northmen and their berserkers is matched by their loyalty, bravery and courage. This conflict is ever present in the character of Thorgil, who is torn between her bloody Northern past and a present that demands she apprentice along with Jack as a healer. A glimpse of Valhalla and the Valkyries who do little more than serve the male warriors has her thinking twice about whether she still desires a battle death.

Likewise, Jack has many friends among the Northmen, and Farmer's bawdy (if occasionally disgusting) descriptions of their bragging and burping contests suggest a lust for life that cannot be summed up purely as a love of killing. Still, when Jack gets caught up in Odin's Wild Hunt, he confronts the god saying, "I serve the life force, I do not believe in a world of endless killing...Your world is only one leaf on the Great Tree...It is already falling from the branch."

It is very easy to see these three books as exploring different aspects of the colliding worldviews. THE SEA OF TROLLS examines the way various different cultures lived and behaved according to their beliefs and codes of behavior. THE LAND OF THE SILVER APPLES is largely an underworld adventure, addressing the different traditions of descent and putting the travelers in contact with the Elves and other mysterious beings living underground. THE ISLANDS OF THE BLESSED contains differing ideas about Paradise, from the Christian heaven to Valhalla to the Islands of the Blessed themselves. Usually conceived as a kind of paradise where the heroes go to live and learn with the gods, Farmer presents the Islands of the Blessed as a sunny and apple-laden afterworld with a kind of bard school next door.

THE ISLANDS OF THE BLESSED contains the adventure, humor and thought-provoking juxtapositions of THE SEA OF TROLLS and THE LAND OF THE SILVER APPLES. It is fun to read, with lots of great stories and spooky adventures nested inside the larger narrative. However, it works best when read with the other titles and will be most enjoyed by readers who are already familiar with the first two books in the series.

--- Reviewed by Sarah A. Wood

This is supposedly the last book to the Sea of Trolls series, but finishing this book will make you wish it wasn't. Nancy Farmer has said that a continuation is a possibility, but if it does happen, it would only be after she finishes the sequel to The House of the Scorpion. I wish she would hurry! Without giving away too much, the ending is fairly satisfactory, but there's still much more that Jack and Thorgil can go on to do. This is definitely a must-read if you've read the earlier books or any of Nancy Farmer's books. My favorite aspect of the book is how much character development there is between Jack and Thorgil. I really would like Nancy Farmer to continue just so I can stick around to read more about these two protagonists. Some people have said that this book wasn't as good as the previous ones because it has less action. That's partly true. It is true that The Islands of the Blessed has less action, but for me personally, I love the development and the "lessons" that this book has more of. I really hope that Nancy Farmer doesn't cut us off right here.

Nancy Farmer finishes off a teriffic series (Sea of Trolls; Land of the Silver Apples) with an outstanding tale. Part ghost, part adventure, part coming of age story. She has won Newberrys before, I wonder if this work will garner that attention as well.

As far as the series goes, each novel has been really very good. And each has been very different from the others, and unique from other stories. Islands of the Blessed works very well as a ghost story, or several ghost stories. It's truly one of a kind.

I am enjoying this book a little bit more than "The Land Of Silver Apples".
I like the character "Dragontongue, the Bard" and he was not as much a factor in the previous book.
Also the maturation and changes in Thorgil have made her a more interesting character in this book.

In this third and final installment of the series, Jack and Thorgil join the Bard for one last adventure--this time to put a mermaid's spirit to rest. While the story certainly had its moments, in the end it was disappointing as a conclusion to the series.

I noticed a slower pace and wandering plot in the second book, but it became much more pronounced in this one. I remember looking down at one point and realizing I'd read 25% of the book, but still had no idea what the main conflict of the plot was going to be. This continued throughout the book, as several themes and plot arcs were introduced, given significant space in the text... but then lacked real significance for the overall plot (such as the Tanners or the princess/bride incident). The ending was abrupt, with no closure to much of the tension in the series (Thorgil and Jack's relationship, Brutus as king/redemption for Brutus, etc.). I was glad it didn't go the everyone-dies direction, but most of my satisfaction was in that it wasn't as bad as it could have been, not that it was good.

The religious aspect of the book was ultimately disappointing to me. I appreciated in the Sea of Trolls that Christianity was allowed to stand with the rest, and that even the Bard put in a good word now and then. But by the end of the novel, Christianity/the Christian characters had gotten their wrists slapped more than anyone else. Perhaps the most frustrating moment to me was when Jack calls on the life force at the end of all things, so to speak, he does so almost directly quoting St. Patrick's prayer (I Arise Today)--but without any of the Christian elements. This is such a minor thing, and insignificant in the scope of the plot, but it really got under my skin. Christianity played such a significant role in this time period--not just as a religion, but as a preservation of culture and literature. But by the end, Brother Aidan was the only Christian character who was in any way mature. Though I adored him, his goodness was greatly overshadowed by the simplicity and/or cruelty of other "Christian" characters. Such representation was frustrating by the end.

I would still recommend the series, but I feel like the sequels disappoint after such a great beginning.

I love Nancy Farmer's stories. I love how different and strange her stories are,and I particularly like her look into the Saxons and Norsemen in this series. I've loved everyone of the books in this series, including this story, until the end. Truthfully I was disappointed at the end of this story. The other stories felt like they had a good strong ending, but this story was just kind of vague, and left room for more. I feel like it was ended in a rush with the promise of more, but the knowledge that this story was the end, and I was never going to get to read more. I would love it if Nancy Farmer would write one more sequel, but I could tell that this ending was the only ending I was going to get because the the children were starting to grow up. I enjoyed the books while they lasted, and I enjoyed parts of the end, but like I said previously, I was just slightly disappointed at the end.

Enjoyed the series. For some reason I liked the this book the least of the three but all are well written and interesting. I like anything combining mythology, history and religion and Farmer does that very well. Also, it's interesting to read a book where the conflict (or tolerance) of various religions and cultures is depicted so clearly. I like that Farmer never wrapped things up neatly--Jack never becomes intolerant of magic or of christianity. The two can co-exist. Good message for a world ravished by millions who don't believe that.