Flutningurinn til Búðardals á að marka nýtt upphaf fyrir meistarakokkinn Braga og unglinga hans tvo, Elísu og Láka. Erfiðleikana vilja þau skilja eftir í borginni. Þau flytja inn í gamalt hús við sjóinn, Bragi tekur við rekstri veitingastaðar og gistiheimilis og hrífst furðu fljótt af konu í þorpinu, hinni dularfullu Karítas. Það líður þó ekki á löngu þar til tekur að bera á undarlegum atburðum í húsi fjölskyldunnar að næturlagi, atburðum sem hafa vægast sagt mikil áhrif á Braga og unglingana. Hvaða ókennilegu öfl leynast í Búðardal, þorpi sem við fyrstu sýn virtist svo friðsælt?
Ó, Karítas er hrollvekja og dulrænn tryllir sem fær hárin til að rísa og rígheldur hlustendum frá fyrstu sekúndu.
Emil Hjörvar Petersen er þekktur fyrir margrómaðar glæpafantasíur sínar um mæðgurnar Bergrúnu og Brá og stórbrotinn þríleikinn Sögu eftirlifenda. Hér færir hann sig yfir á lendur hrollvekjunnar.
Emil Hjörvar Petersen is an Icelandic author of speculative fiction. After publishing two poetry collections, his praised post-apocalyptic fantasy trilogy about the Norse gods who survived Ragnarök, Saga eftirlifenda (Survivors of Ragnarök), made him known as a pioneer in the SF&F genres in Iceland. The trilogy was published in 2010-2014. Afterwards, Petersen turned to writing a crime-fantasy series, a combination of Nordic Noir, urban fantasy and Icelandic folklore. The story follows a broke and divorced medium and her psychic teenage daughter getting caught up in crime investigations connected to supernatural beings. The first book, Víghólar (Crimson Hills), was published in 2016 and turned out to be a hit, it was awarded and optioned for a TV-show by leading Icelandic producer Sagafilm. Two more novels have been published in the series along with short stories. In 2021, the major audiobook streaming service Storytel published a folk horror story by Petersen, Ó, Karítas, as a Storytel Original.
Being one of the founders of IceCon, the Icelandic fantasy, science fiction and horror convention, Petersen has worked with Reykjavik UNESCO City of Literature and has written educational material for schools focused on speculative fiction. Petersen lives in Kópavogur, Iceland, where he works on his upcoming novels.
Skemmtileg saga en mér finnst söguþráðurinn fara svolítið “fram úr sér”, sérstaklega í lokin. Hefði mátt tóna mystíkina aðeins niður. Einstaklega vel lesin af Guðmundi Inga Þorvaldssyni.
Starting with a positive, this book for the most part was very well written. It had a good story arc and flawed characters (albeit for the father figure flawed in a way I just found frustrating and quite unlikeable). My main issue was the story itself, it was just so ridiculous even for the genre of supernatural powers. Perhaps it would have been more bearable at 50% of its length but it was a chore to finish (even on audiobook) if I am honest.
Mjög góð furðusaga, það vantar meira af svona bókum á íslensku! Fer fullsnemma í hágír, ég hefði verið til í aðeins meiri dulúð og spennu framan af en mjög skemmtileg og erfitt að hætta að fletta blaðsíðunum.