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Islands of the Blessed. by Nancy Farmer (Sea of Trolls #3)
by
Nancy Farmer
In this much-anticipated conclusion to the Sea of Trolls trilogy, Notland is no place to seek one's true calling. Or is it?
Paperback
Published
by Simon & Schuster Children's
(first published October 20th 2006)
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Basic plot: Jack, Thorgil, and the Bard are another adventure. This time they seek a way to quiet a mermaid's ghost before she takes a murderous revenge for her unjust death.
Finished the third part of the Jack saga. Having read The Land of the Silver Apples I knew that there was going to be a third book. There had been too many loose ends in Silver Apples.
The reason for the one star review is because this final chapter of the story is not the story I wanted to read....more
Finished the third part of the Jack saga. Having read The Land of the Silver Apples I knew that there was going to be a third book. There had been too many loose ends in Silver Apples.
The reason for the one star review is because this final chapter of the story is not the story I wanted to read....more
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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 conflic...more
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 conflic...more
This is the third (and, I think, final) installation in the Sea of Trolls series. Although I loved the setting, Britain in about 700-800, and focus on the interweaving of the old Druidic religion, Christianity and Norse/Viking religion and the characters which were well drawn, unique and interesting, the end of the book was unsatisfying. The book as a whole was well written and I would recommend it, after reading Sea of Trolls and Land of the Silver Apples. My criticism of this book is the same ...more
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The last book in the trilogy is a very good conclusion to the adventure that began with the Nordic invasion of England
and capture of a brother and sister , circa 800 AD. Nancy Farmer mixes history, fictional young characters and magic in an exciting and convincing way. I especially credit her for revealing the
transition from the Saxons and Picts traditional religions to Christianity and reminding the reader that
the overlap continues to the present day in some of our holiday p...more
and capture of a brother and sister , circa 800 AD. Nancy Farmer mixes history, fictional young characters and magic in an exciting and convincing way. I especially credit her for revealing the
transition from the Saxons and Picts traditional religions to Christianity and reminding the reader that
the overlap continues to the present day in some of our holiday p...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
The pacing isn't fast, but it is just right. The actions aren't created to merely thrill the readers, but they are thrilling and serve as bench marks of the characters' growth -- everything moves their understanding of the world along. I so appreciate Farmer's ability to create highly imaginative and imaginable (for a not very visual reader) landscapes. It is wonderful to encounter fresh new details of your staple fantasy elements, such as the power of the bell Fair Lamenting and how it is tr...more
NANCY FARMER CATEGORY, FANTASY CATEGORY
The Islands of the Blessed is the last installment of Farmer's Trolls Trilogy. Jack is now fourteen, Thorgil is stuck living in his village, and his new friend Pega is happy living with the Bard. When a tornado (Odin's hunt) rips through his village and a vengeful undead spirit responds to the toll of an ancient bellk, Jack, Thorgil, and the Bard set out on another fabulous adventure. This time their journey takes them into the fantastical land of the...more
The Islands of the Blessed is the last installment of Farmer's Trolls Trilogy. Jack is now fourteen, Thorgil is stuck living in his village, and his new friend Pega is happy living with the Bard. When a tornado (Odin's hunt) rips through his village and a vengeful undead spirit responds to the toll of an ancient bellk, Jack, Thorgil, and the Bard set out on another fabulous adventure. This time their journey takes them into the fantastical land of the...more
The Island of the Blessed was a less than adequate conclusion to the Sea of Trolls and The Land of the Silver Apples. The book is set with the same characters from the first book, however it strays from the underlying plot of the story. The first two book were about Jack training to be a bard and going on an adventure with Thorgil and other northmen. Yet, the final book strays from this path and enters into various side quests where Jack and Throgil set out to free a wayward spirit who has ravag...more
Summary: Jack, the main character, is a bard's apprentice, learning the old magic and responsibilities associated with the role. When Brother Aiden rings a holy bell, he accidently summons a rogue spirit, and the responsibility falls onto Jack and his master to put a stop to it. However, they have to go to the mermaid homeworld to do so, and the fin folk(mermaids/mermen/finwives/finmen) aren't to be trusted. Jack spends half the book travelling with the familiar Norsemen, and his calmer, but sti...more
Satisying adventurous conclusion to the trilogy. Reminded again how wonderfully Nancy Farmer writes making disparate worlds come alive. Norse, Druid and Saxon elements come together with the personal journeys of Jack and Thorgil. Lots of adventure and good vs evil confrontations combined with humor throughout makes for a wonderful yarn. Kirkus seems to sum it up "It's a wondrous tale of hobgoblins, mermaids and sea hags, Saxons and Northmen, old gods and young bards, thoroughly steeping rea...more
"The Islands of the blessed" is the third book in the trilogy.It's about a boy named Jack who's a apprentice bard, his mentor, a bard called Dragon Tongue, and a girl called Thorgil. After a tornado destroys most of the food in his village and a undead spirit kills some of the livestock in search of revenge Jack, the bard and Thorgil travel to a nearby town in search of a cure for the undead spirit and food for the villagers.Their journey will lead them to many places, some deadly som...more
The Island of the Blessed is the third book of the trilogy, The Sea of Trolls. Nancy Farmer continues to use Norse Mythology through out the story, with references to the gods such as Odin, Thor, and many others. She combined mythology with adventure and humor, making it a fun and interesting book to read. I enjoyed reading this book, but the end gave a feeling of a continuation to the story, even though this book ended the series. It left me wanting more, which made me upset, because it was the...more
If you like fantasy books and haven't read Sea of Trolls--the first volume in this series--then do yourself a favor and go read that, now.
I said now.
Okay, the second book wasn't very good, but the third is a little better. The best thing about both is the intersection of Viking beliefs, magic/Bardic traditions (think druids), and the new kid on the block, Christianity. Despite the fact you are reading a fantasy novel, there's enough real here for one to learn something ab...more
I said now.
Okay, the second book wasn't very good, but the third is a little better. The best thing about both is the intersection of Viking beliefs, magic/Bardic traditions (think druids), and the new kid on the block, Christianity. Despite the fact you are reading a fantasy novel, there's enough real here for one to learn something ab...more
I really enjoyed this book. Like the other two in the series, I was kept riveted. It took me a while to read because of my busy life... it was read almost completely between classes, but it very near killed me there at the end. I love Jack... I love Thorgil... and I love the Bard. However, I started to feel that perhaps this book was a little... elementary for me. I felt like some depth was lost in the plot. I very nearly got annoyed with the way the characters had this checklist, and the ...more
Natalie
rated it
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
nancy farmer fans, readers who aren't ready for LTR
sea of trolls this was not, but it's a tough act to follow. Some other reviewers have commented that this volume wasn't up to the higher standard of sea of trolls and I agree that islands of the blessed doesn't quite measure up. I found many of the settings, scenes, plot turns, and characters interesting, but the overall story and its progression didn't grab me the way sea of trolls did. Our copy of that book is dogeared from lending and read-ins. I can't imagine this story becoming an equ...more
Nancy Farmer does it again. Island of the Blessed does not disappoint, it is filled with action, adventure, and a rip-roaring pace. This book is the conclusion to the Sea of Trolls trilogy. Jack and the Bard are back and Jack has been gaining more experience telling stories and using magic. A draugr, a village devastated by a tornado, and a hogboon are some of the trials Jack must overcome in this volume. Thorgil, the Northland berserker, his sometimes exasperating companion in adventure, accomp...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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I enjoyed the combination and interaction of the Norse, Druid, Saxon and Christian elements and the subtle plea for tolerance of other religions. I enjoyed the characters of Jack, Thorgil, and the Bard. The ending as others have said seemed quite abrupt and rushed. The Norse Gods were a riot and even if it made Thorgil terribly unhappy, I rather enjoyed the feminist note there. It probably wasn't likely historically but I am glad Thorgil decided she didn't want the role she would get in Valhalla...more
This book was good, the first book in the series was great. There was not enough development in the characters for my tastes. Too much responsibility was given to two young children that acted like children. The final line of the book was just bad, there was no need to go there. Thorgil had not been called Jill by him through the whole book so why start then. The adventure was interesting and kids who loved the first book should enjoy this one.
When Farmer published Land of the Silver Apples I was apprehensive that she was turning Sea of Trolls into a series; but I found myself cheering when I say The Islands of the Blessed, so go figure.
It's good. Not quite as good as Trolls, which was soul-satisfying. But a nice piece of building on what went before, with a continuing exploration of belief systems and the points of view they engender. And. . .yup. There's clearly gonna be another in the series. I think I can deal wit...more
It's good. Not quite as good as Trolls, which was soul-satisfying. But a nice piece of building on what went before, with a continuing exploration of belief systems and the points of view they engender. And. . .yup. There's clearly gonna be another in the series. I think I can deal wit...more
I enjoyed it, but I didn't fall in love with it.
The plot is just what you'd expect after the first two novels. Jack and Thorgil resume their adventures with the Northmen and tie up conflicts left from "Land of the Silver Apples." Meanwhile, a new plot arises of a mermaid's angry spirit who is wreaking havoc on Jack's village. With the Bard's help, the two have to take on a creature far more powerful than themselves.
The plot was fast-paced enough to be interestin...more
The plot is just what you'd expect after the first two novels. Jack and Thorgil resume their adventures with the Northmen and tie up conflicts left from "Land of the Silver Apples." Meanwhile, a new plot arises of a mermaid's angry spirit who is wreaking havoc on Jack's village. With the Bard's help, the two have to take on a creature far more powerful than themselves.
The plot was fast-paced enough to be interestin...more
This was such a satisfying read, very much along the lines of the previous two books. Our hero Jack grows, but not completely. And, oh, Thorgil --- what a wonderful character she is. For those unfamiliar with the series, she is a Viking shield maiden and Jack is a Saxon apprentice bard. And like the previous two books there is plenty of adventure, history, and thought there. Oh, and wit --- I just love Farmer's dry humor which is throughout. While this is billed as the end of the trilogy, I c...more
Nancy Farmer concludes the trilogy that began with Sea of Trolls with this final adventure for Jack, the Bard and Thorgil. To me, this final book returned to some of the magic of the first in the series- in the best of senses. Celtic and Norse lore and mythology unite in a fantasy adventure with an appealing cast of characters and a strong plot.
Jack's village is being threatened by a mysterious monster, the spirit of a dead mermaid who fell in love with a cruel monk, and besides that, Thorgil is finding it ever more difficult to conceal her Viking heritage from the suspicious villagers. It is definitely time for Jack and Thorgil to journey out on their last adventure in this final book in The Sea of Trolls Trilogy. Guided by the bard, they once again encounter a wide variety of myths and monsters, even visiting Olaf One-Brow in Valhall...more
This met the standard of The Land of the Silver Apples, but not the higher standard of The Sea of Trolls. It was a satisfying adventure story that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to people between, say, eight and fourteen, but I wouldn't recommend it to adults unless they'd enjoyed the previous books.
I love the way Nancy Farmer blends folklore with adventure, linking together all kinds of old tales. However, it's less effective when the tales are more obscure, simply because you miss all the cool things she's doing. This installment lacked excitement. Plot elements came out of nowhere, and all was wrapped neatly with a bow at the end. I miss Olaf One-Brow.
What I appreciate most about this series is how many characters are a mixture of horrible and honorable characteristics. ...more
What I appreciate most about this series is how many characters are a mixture of horrible and honorable characteristics. ...more
Weakest of the trilogy, due to meandering story and far too many references to what has gone before. An Amazon reviewer said the series runs: world, underworld, afterworld and that sounds about right, as early Christian, Celtic, and Norse societies and lore intersect, just as they really did. First book, The Sea of Trolls, is by far the best.
This is the third in this series. Because of my love-affari with Celtic history and mythology, this series caught my eye. I have followed it faithfully. I do like the blend of magic and historical setting. I also enjoy Nancy Farmer's other books, especially THE HOUSE OF THE SCORPION.
Beautiful. Every time I pick up one of her books, I am blown away. I finished the first two books in this series over a year ago, and was worried about picking this one up and just starting out, but it was AWESOME! I flipped through it madly and read it in a day. Still though, I was pausing to think frequently because it's always offering such interesting ideas and concepts. And by the way, I LOVE Thorgil. Who else can make a heroin so awful and mean and yet so absolutely likable? A lot of autho...more
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Nancy was born in 1941 in Phoenix and grew up in a hotel on the Arizona-Mexico border where she worked the switchboard at the age of nine. She also found time to hang out in the old state prison and the hobo jungle along the banks of the Colorado River. She attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon, earning her BA in 1963. Instead of taking a regular job, she joined the Peace Corps and was sent ...more
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“Gods, if they're neglected, tend to fall asleep, but they never really go away.
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“I'd guess that you have some purpose to fulfill and that is why you were saved. But don't get a swelled head over it. A cabbage has a purpose when someone needs to make soup.”
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