Customer Reviews

The Land of the Silver Apples (Richard Jackson Books (Atheneum Paperback))

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love this woman. I love every single thing she's written, albeit some more than others, so I am admittedly very biased when it comes to her works.

The book takes place after The Sea of Trolls when, among other things, Jack's sister Lucy is taken by elves and he has to travel underground to their lands to get her back.

The Land of the Silver Apples is such a good middle book. The story moves along at a great pace, and not once did I want to put it down. She has a delicate touch with the religious issues inherent in writing in this time period (Christian vs. Druidic vs. Nordic), and writes each in such a way that none of them are put down. It's quite lovely to not have to put up with an author hammering their beliefs down my throat.

I also adored her take on elves. I've never seen anything like it. Very refreshing and original, things quite lacking in the general portrayal of elves.

All her vivid, distinct characters are what really what give this book it's umph, though. Jack has matured, though he still has a lot of growing up to do, and seeing the great variety of characters through is alternately wise, sympathetic, jealous, and juvenile-ly hateful perspectives is just wonderful. A great amount of the cast from the Sea of Trolls returns, and the new additions to the cast are fully-fleshed and original.

The only disappointment I had was that there wasn't a greater role for the Picts. Or, rather, the Pictish Beast. ...it just seemed odd that one of the chapter headers was a Pictish Beast, it's mentioned once in a chapter, it's in the glossary, but... there's nothing else on it. Well, I guess it's such an indistinct beastie that I can say I wouldn't have wanted to tackle it myself.

All in all, another amazing book from an amazing author. I'm waiting on the edge of my seat for the next book!

Thoroughly enjoyed this book and didn't want it to end. The characters were very lifelike and had me thinking about them long after I put the book down. I did not like this quite as much as The Sea of Trolls but that is because of the wonderful Vikings. I loved the Vikings and the honesty with which they were written.

I am an adult and I read these books at the recommendation of my 12 year old son. I think girls would enjoy it too with the strong female characters.

A beautifully written novel with a unique combination of high adventure, 8th century history, and fantasy that children will love. Note that it carries an unusual message for a children's book, embedded in its plot and summarized on page 476: "Christianity is only one leaf" among "many branches on the Great Tree" of life.

Jack is an apprentice bard who is recently returned to his village after his adventures as a Viking captive. His village, having endured a difficult year, has decided to participate in a need-fire ceremony. All the fires in the village are extinguished and then restarted with new flame kindled from two logs rubbed against each other. This is done so that the misfortunes of the past do not linger into the new year.

The ceremony goes awry when Jack's sister Lucy introduces a metal necklace into the ritual. Metal, the village's Bard warns, cannot be used in these kinds of ceremonies because one can never tell where it's been. If metal has been used as a weapon or for some other evil purpose, it perverts the life force. Believing Lucy has been possessed by an evil spirit, a group of villagers takes her to the nearby Saint Fillian's well, which is believed to cure people of possession.

What they find there shocks and horrifies Jack, who inadvertently offends the spirit of the place. He accidentally causes an earthquake and all the water in the surrounding area to disappear. It is finally decided that Jack and the other young companions --- Lucy; Pega, a freed slave so ugly people believe she is cursed; and Brutus, a charismatic descendent of Lancelot -- should travel the Hollow Road to the realm of the elves and request the water's return.

Children, the Bard explains, are young enough to resist the lure of elves. "'It's a curious thing, but this is one area where children are stronger than adults,'" he says. '"They aren't as easily taken in by illusions, and elves above all else, are masters of illusion.'"

THE LAND OF THE SILVER APPLES is not the first book to set children on a perilous journey underground. The companions entertain themselves, Tolkien-style, with riddles, stories and songs. Like the children in C.S. Lewis's subterranean adventure THE SILVER CHAIR, they must bolster their memories of the world above ground to survive in a place without sun. Their descent into darkness brings them into the realm of all manner of magical creatures. In addition to the elves, there are the knuckers, kelpies, hobgoblins and the mysterious yarthkins. They also encounter several other humans along the Hollow Road, including the severe yet pious Father Severus, and Thorgil, the shield maiden from THE SEA OF TROLLS who is separated from the rest of her raiding party.

The success of Harry Potter has created a renaissance in children's fantasy. Faerie has been an especially popular theme often featuring stories about romances between worlds. Farmer sticks with the medieval construct of elves as fallen angels, not damned to hell, but without souls. As the beings who would not choose sides in Lucifer's war with Heaven, they must earn their souls to get another chance at paradise. Their immortality and lack of compassion make them cruel and fickle beings. They are vain, easily bored and difficult to please.

Farmer uses the conflict with the elves to explore different cosmologies. Jack comes from a druidic-pagan tradition and is dedicated to the life force. Thorgil is the sole representative of the Norse viewpoint in this book, with its emphasis on bravery and infamy. They are joined by Father Severus, a severe but well-meaning monk, who is a devout Christian. Much of the humor here comes from the different characters responding to situations according to their faith. It is also notable that they must use the strengths of all their different faiths to work together and overcome challenges. Jack's approach is primarily intuitive, Thorgil's unflinchingly courageous, and Father Severus introduces an element of discipline that the children need to complete their mission.

THE LAND OF THE SILVER APPLES is less humorous and more fanciful than its predecessor. It easily can be read as a stand-alone title, but readers of the first book will miss Olaf One-Brow, the fierce and vigorous Northman from THE SEA OF TROLLS. What transpires underground involves several great sacrifices. While the companions escape relatively unscathed, it is certain that a great shift in their world is taking place, one that will be revealed in the final book in the series, THE ISLANDS OF THE BLESSED, expected out in 2009.

Nancy Farmer is a phenomenal author for young people. Her work has an ambitious reach far beyond what many adults would expect children to grasp. While she can be read and appreciated by fans of traditional fantasy, her work has a breadth and depth that goes far beyond most invented worlds into the history of human belief. Like her previous book in the series, Farmer put extensive research into THE LAND OF THE SILVER APPLES and includes a bibliography at the end of the book. Her work focuses on an interfaith or intercultural approach to conflict. It features many layers of ambiguous powers working together to attain the most harmonious results. At a time when the newspapers contain many religious and ethnic conflicts, work like Farmer's is essential to understanding our histories, imagining new realities and engaging with the inner workings of the human heart.

The lady held out her arms, and Lucy ran. Jack tried to catch her and so did Father, but he was too injured to stand. The elf lady swept Lucy up and, with a triumphant cry, leaped into the waters. The last of the stream slithered over the edge like the tail of a snake and disappeared.
Jack is a 13 year old boy, who is getting trained by the Bard. He has done miraculous things in his young life, and has been on great adventures. When Jack performs an earthquake out of rage, Lucy who is Jack's sister gets taken by the Lady of the Lake. Lucy is stolen from Jack for the second time in his life. Jack once again has a mission to save his little sister and to get water back to King Yffi's kingdom. The blame was on Jack when all the water has been taken by the Lady of the Lake, and King Yffi sent Jack down the trail to Elfland, to somehow get the water back from her. He never knew that he would encounter many more adventures involving elves, hobgoblins, kelpies and more. Will Jack save his sister, even with the surprising information he received about her? And will he be able to restore the water to King Yffi's Kingdom?
The title is another name for Elfland, which is where Jack is for a while in this book. He also is in the Hobgoblin's home and King Yffi's kingdom. Jack is always on the move or trying to escape in this book, so he's in a lot of places traveling to fulfill his missions. The time was a while ago, in about 790 AD. It is written in a debate about Christianity. Jack's family is all Christian, but the Bard doesn't believe in it. Jack is still trying to figure out where he lays as far as religion. The pacing is at a steady pace throughout the book.
Nancy Farmer is a great author. I loved all of her books, and think that she has great writing technique. She's good at details of how people look, and how people feel. I wasn't sure if the sequel to The Sea of Trolls would be as good as the original book, but I was surprised. She wrote a great book, and I would recommend this book to people who like Nancy Farmer's writing and to people who have read The Sea of Trolls.

I liked this one quite a bit better than "Sea of Trolls".

Of course you don't know but I thought the first book in this series was one that certainly some people would thoroughly enjoy while others, like myself, would find it 'meh'. The problems had nothing to do with writing so much as the plotting and lack of satisfactory character development in the main character Jack. (The secondary characters were much more interesting.)

In this second volume, we get to ...more I liked this one quite a bit better than "Sea of Trolls".

Of course you don't know but I thought the first book in this series was one that certainly some people would thoroughly enjoy while others, like myself, would find it 'meh'. The problems had nothing to do with writing so much as the plotting and lack of satisfactory character development in the main character Jack. (The secondary characters were much more interesting.)

In this second volume, we get to see Jack develop a bit, plus there are a pair of very nice plot twists involving his family. Overall though I was astonished to find that I had the same darn reaction to this book as the first. About a 75 pages from the end, the reader-part of my brain felt like the book should end, and yet it didn't. It made everything that came afterwards almost annoying and like a protracted dénouement that isn't all that cathartic. I don't know that I've ever experienced anything like this before. Quite puzzling.

Sooo, if you also thought the first book was mediocre, know that this reader liked this one better. If you loved the first book, know that this one sticks to the mythology less well.

Pam T~
mom/blogger
booksforkids-reviews

In this worthy follow-up to the brilliant "The Sea of Trolls," 13-year-old Jack has returned home from his perilous adventures as a captive of the Northmen, and continued his apprenticeship with the wise bard Dragon Tongue. His little sister, Lucy, who was also a prisoner of the Vikings, has returned too, and she's as spoiled and annoying as ever. When she's kidnapped by the Lady of the Lake, Jack must undertake a dangerous underground journey to rescue her. Of course, many complications ensue.

With the exception of the ex-berserker Thorgil Olaf's Daughter, there are no Northmen in this book, but there are plenty of other memorable characters, such as Pega, a freed slave girl who is badly scarred but has a lovely voice; the hobgoblin king, Bugaboo, and his loyal opposition and second-in-command, Nemesis; a bunch of lazy, unruly, gluttonous monks who conduct a thriving business in supposedly exorcising demons; Brutus, a slave of the monks who is a descendant of Lancelot; elves, who in this tale are half-fallen angels; and a half-elf/half-human named Ethne. And there are various magical creatures, such as kelpies, knuckers and yarthkins, and old gods, such as the Forest Lord, or Green Man, and the Man in the Moon.

I liked the way the author brought together different religious and mythological traditions: Celtic paganism, with its druids and its dedication to the life force; Christianity, best represented by the devout, well-meaning Father Severus; and the Norse viewpoint, which emphasizes fatalism, courage and fame. And there's even a bit of Arthurian legend here, with the Lady of the Lake, Lancelot's descendant Brutus, and the Merlin-like Dragon Tongue. Nancy Farmer is a master storyteller, and I'm eagerly awaiting the third installment of this trilogy, "The Islands of the Blessed."

A great sequel to the Sea of Trolls! The size might intimidate some kids, but the adventures that Jack has as a bard-in-training makes it hard to put down and of course they'll sympathize with Jack as he struggles with envy, self-control, anger, and disappointment. Tolkien is the only other author I know who took such pains to explain mystical creatures and legends, but at such a level with density of information that children could never follow. Farmer does an excellent job of presenting different creatures of middle earth and elf land to medieval England. I highly recommend this book!

It was amazing--it has become my favorite book and I cant wait for the next one to come out :D

"And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done
The silver apples of the moon,
And the golden apples of the sun."
Nancy Farmer writes this poem on the first page of her book entitled The Land of the Silver Apples. This poem quickly sets the tone of the book and gives clues as to what this story is truly about.

The Land of the Silver Apples is a third-person fantasy book that shares with the reader the adventures of Jack, an apprentice bard from a Saxon village. Throughout the story, Jack and his companions encounter monsters, travel to unknown lands, and make new friends with the most unlikely of creatures. Jack and another character, the Bard, developed a strong friendship during the first book of the series, The Sea of Trolls, when Jack was chosen as the Bard's apprentice. This friendship is pushed to its limits when Jack accidentally causes a massive earthquake using magic, which is just one of many challenging predicaments they face in this exciting tale.

Overall, this is a very engaging mythological book that emphasizes the importance of comradery and the devastation of betrayal. I liked this book because of the very fast-paced style of Nancy Farmer, and I would recommend this book to teens ages 12-16 who like to read imaginative fiction. The Land of the Silver Apples is a great read for any fantasy enthusiast!