Troll Mill [Import] [Paperback]

Katherine Langrish (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Harper Collins (2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0007208995
• ISBN-13: 978-0007208999
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Katherine Langrish grew up in Yorkshire, England and has been writing stories for as long as she can remember. She graduated from London University with a degree in English, and worked in an assortment of odd jobs including waitressing, teaching riding, and several years as Information Officer for Lloyd's Register of Ships in London. This last was an entertaining post dealing with an assortment of the ship-crazed public, including a man who claimed he could see shipwrecks with his 'magic eye.'

Married with two daughters, Katherine moved to France with her family and became involved in a storytelling group providing weekly stories, drama and activities for children. And the storytelling continued when the family relocated again, this time to the small town of Corning in New York State.

Returning to England in 1999, Katherine began writing 'Troll Fell', a folklore-based fantasy novel for children set in the Viking age. It was sold at auction to HarperCollins for a six-figure sum and was followed by the sequels, 'Troll Mill' and 'Troll Blood'. The books follow the fortunes of young Peer Ulfsson and his friend Hilde in a richly-imagined Scandinavian world. Katherine says, 'I don't do heroes with swords, rings and other magical gadgets, so my characters have to work out their problems by their own efforts.' The final book in the series takes the pair across the Atlantic in a Viking ship to the coasts of 'Vinland' (Nova Scotia). As part of her research she spent time learning to sail a replica Viking ship on Roskilde fjord, Denmark. Katherine approaches her fantasies as 'history with the beliefs put back in' - incorporating the beliefs of people of the past who took for granted the existence of trolls, ghosts, and other spirits.

Her fourth book for HarperCollins is a medieval fantasy called 'The Shadow Hunt' (UK title 'Dark Angels') which has been chosen as a Junior Library Guild Choice (Spring 2010), selected by Kirkus as one of the 2010 Best Books for Children, and nominated for the ALA's Best Fiction for Young Adults 2011.

The three Troll titles will be republished in one volume in March 2011 under the title 'West of the Moon'. Katherine is currently working on a new dystopian fantasy. You can visit her website at www.katherinelangrish.com - and you can catch up with her at her weekly blog 'Seven Miles of Steel Thistles' (voted 4th of the United Kingdom's YA fantasy blogs) at www.steelthistles.blogspot.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Grind your bones, February 18, 2006

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Troll Mill (Hardcover)

Katherine Langrish returns to the world of trolls and Nordic legends in "Troll Mill," the sequel to her excellent debut. And if anything, Langrish does an even better job -- plenty of action laced with humour, solid writing, and some romantic tension between the leads.

Peer is shocked when a fisherman's wife (who's rumored to be a seal-woman) dumps her newborn in his arms and leaps into the sea. Not sure what to do, he brings the baby to Hilde's family, but even as the fishermen hunt for the missing woman, Peer and Hilde realize that nasty creatures are after baby Ran -- including the lubbers and evil Granny Green Teeth.

While this is going on, Peer decides to clean out and repair the old mill, in the hopes that he can impress Hilde with it. But they soon discover that Peer's evil uncle Baldur (now a troll) has been using the mill to grind bones for bread. And even worse, two babies have been stolen from Hilde's house -- Hilde's baby brother, and seal-baby Ran.

Usually sequels are less interesting than the book before them. But Langrish actually makes "Troll Mill" better than "Troll Fell" -- it's more polished, better paced, and her writing has matured with the characters. In short, this book is everything a good fantasy story should be.

The plot unfolds very gradually, and Langrish's writing is solid and descriptive. There's even a bit of horror -- the lubbers and ghastly Granny -- romantic sparring, and some tragedy. There's even a bit of moral indecision when Peer tries to understand how an otherwise good man could kidnap the seal woman.

But Langrish doesn't forget the humor, such as a precocious troll baby tormenting the twins with gross songs and stories, or Gudrun giving the troll princess some parenting tips. Those little moments keep an otherwise grim plot from getting too heavy and/or dull.

We also get to know Hilde's family a little better, especially her mother. But Peer is still the hero, and he's struggling to overcome his abusive childhood, even as he tries to impress the girl of his dreams. Hilde is a bit more stubborn, since she obviously doesn't realize how much Peer means to her.

"Troll Mill" takes all the good things about Katherine Langrish's debut, and makes them even better. A charming, chilling sequel.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars terrific character driven fantasy, February 18, 2006

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Troll Mill (Hardcover)

Fifteen-year-old Peer Ulfsson still feels like an outsider perhaps because of his past when his evil uncles tried to sell children to the trolls (see TROLL FELL). Peer lives with the family of his only friend Hilde, but though they nurture him, he feels that he does not belong. Besides which he finds it increasingly difficult to hide his deeper regard for Hilde. He begins to wonder if he is in love.

Bjorn's wife Kersten dumps her infant into Peer's arms before jumping into the nearby stormy sea. The locals insist that Kersten simply returned to her natural habitat as she was obviously a seal-woman, but Peer has doubts that this is true. At the same time, the millpond witch Granny Green-teeth demands possession of the so-called "seal baby" though Peer fears what she would do to the female infant. He also wonders who is running the abandoned mill that his uncles operated before they became trolls and whether that malevolent species is planning a new assault. Peer believes he must keep the child safe, uncover the secret to the mill, learn if the trolls are on the march and persuade Hilde to be his girl. Three of the four seem relatively easy to the teen.

This terrific character driven fantasy sequel stars a troubled teen struggling with his heritage in light of the nefarious activities of his former guardians, his uncles whom Peer had to stop. He also has an apparent unrequited crush on Hilde to add to his internal confusion. The story line is action-packed as the hero hardily investigates the secrets of the old mill and the goings-on of the trolls. Along the way, middle school readers accompany Peer as he meets up with the witch, selkies and trolls, all who seem authentic.

Harriet Klausner

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and entertaining, February 8, 2012

By 

C reads too much (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Troll Mill (Hardcover)

The concept of trolls drew me into this one. It is a YA book, and is written for YA, but it was entertaining enough to keep me interested. The characters are interesting; I felt so bad of Peer the whole book. The good guys were good and the bad guys were def bad, it was very black and white, but again, this is meant for middle schoolers so it was fitting. The descriptions of the landscapes were very well done and made me want to build a little hut with a grass roof! :( I liked the ending and I loved the mythology in the book. I'm excited to see there are more in this series!