Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Giants of the Frost, May 8, 2006
For centuries, Vidar has cherished the memory of Halla, a young, mortal woman he loved but destiny denied him, partly because she was a woman of Midguard, and he was Aesir, a son of Odin and fated to save his father's life. Now, it appears he will have a second chance when Victoria Scott steps onto a lonely island in the Sea of Norway. She is Halla reborn, and Vidar still loves her, though he knows how impossible it all is; Odin will never let him go, and the love he bears Victoria places her in danger. Victoria is more determined in this life, however, and will give him the courage to defy his father and fate. Whether or not he succeeds is another matter.
*** Although transitions between scenes are a bit rough, nonetheless, this is a haunting, yet fast paced, novel. The action seesaws between the mystic world and modern, and the point of view changes often, but if you stick to the end, you'll be rewarded with a story that feels both old and new. Fans of Charles de Lint, particularly his book Moonheart, will enjoy this. ***
Amanda Killgore
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fabulous, spellbinding mystic novel of love and fate, January 11, 2006
„Giants of the Frost" is one of the most imaginative, atmospheric, mystic, absorbing and enchanting novels of the Australian gothic literature queen Kim Wilkins and was nominated for two Aurealis awards 2004 in the categories fantasy and horror. The story is set in a meteorologic station on an isolated chilly island in the Norwegian sea, where the sceptic mathematician and geophysicist Victoria Scott accepts a job as a trainee in order to flee from a broken engagement and her esoteric mother. This place, however, soon turns out to be haunted by strange creatures and supernatural weather phenomenons, and to act as a gate between our world, Midgard, and the mythic world of the old nordic gods, Asgard, where the warrior Vidar lives. He is willingly exiled from his cruel family clan, together with his bondmaid Aud, and waits for the reincarnation of his beloved, a young Midgard woman who was slaughtered a thousand years past. Now the time has come. However, Vidar fears a possible interference of his seductive, shifty and incalculable cousin Loki who tries to ensnare Aud. While Victoria is unnerved from the harassment by her boss, lack of sleep and cryptic messages from her mother's psychic, and progressively troubled by visions and nightmares, the fates spun by the three Norns living under the roots of the World Tree cross. But you should read on by yourself. Once you start you are trapped and cannot stop anymore. It is alway a hard time to wait for the next Kim Wilkins novel as soon as you have finished the latest one, yearning for more. As far as I understand "Giants of the Frost" is in fact a part of the doctoral thesis of Kim Wilkins who teaches creative writing at an Australian university. An academic article written by herself about this book has been published at the following site: http://www.gu.edu.au/school/art/text/. To learn more about this kind and charming author you can visit her at her forum at http://www.kimwilkins.com. Further gothic novels of Kim Wilkins that I would especially recommend are for instance "Angel of Ruin (Fallen Angel)", "The Ressurrectionists", "Infernal" and "Grimoire".
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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A masterpiece, January 16, 2006
Once I started the first page of this haunting romantic fantasy, I couldn't put it down until the very last page. Kim Wilkins has brought to life the worlds of Midgard and Asgard. Midgard is the world as we know it whereas Asgard is where Nordic gods such as Odin reside. In Midgard, Victoria Scott has escaped from her two failed engagements and her psychic-consulting mother to Othinsey, an isolated island in the Sea of Norway, to continue her work in meteorology research. Othinsey is the stepping stone between the two worlds and, as such, several inhabitants from Asgard have been exiled there by Odin. Those at the meteorological station have rumored that Othinsey is haunted due to whispers heard during the night as well as sightings of a hag who'll steal your breath, the draugr, and a wight (a twig man). Victoria is a skeptic until she too sees both the hag and the wight Skripi, but due to her chronic insomnia, she tries to excuse the sightings as hallucinations. Unfortunately, events have been set in motion that leave Victoria alone on Othinsey. Meanwhile in Asgard, Vidar, Odin's son, becomes aware of Victoria and decides to see her again. Victoria is the reincarnation of his love, Halla, who was killed by Odin. Odin feared that Vidar would leave Asgard as Vidar is prophesied to save Odin from the end of the world, known as Ragnarok. Vidar, in his grief over Halla, had gone to see Hel in Niflheim who granted the reincarnation of Halla but allowed that it would be many, many years before her return. In addition, Vidar cannot reveal her past until Victoria has fallen in love with him again. I will not spoil this wonderful mythology based romantic fantasy by revealing more of the plot as it is the intricately interwoven details that make this such a masterpiece. Suffice to say that Loki makes an appearance and with Loki there is always mischief. Overall, this hauntingly beautiful tale is well worth reading.
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