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Travel Light

Naomi Mitchison

3.95 · Rating details · 942 ratings · 204 reviews

From the dark ages to modern times, from the dragons of medieval forests to Constantinople, this is a fantastic and philosophical fairy-tale journey that will appeal to fans of Harry Potter, Diana Wynne Jones, and T. H. White’s The Sword in the Stone.

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Paperback, 135 pages

Published August 1st 2005 by Peapod Classics (first published 1952)

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· 942 ratings · 204 reviews

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Oct 23, 2016 Paul rated it it was amazing

Shelves: naomi-mitchison

Ever wanted a Tolkeinesque saga with a female lead? Look no further this is it, and from someone close to Tolkein who proof read Lord of the Rings before it was published. This was published in 1952, before Lord of the Rings in 1954.
This really ought to stand alongside The Hobbit and Harry Potter and other such tales to be read as one grows up. For some reason it doesn’t and its remarkable author is not considered part of the canon.
Mitchison lived to be 101 and her life and the scope of her inte Ever wanted a Tolkeinesque saga with a female lead? Look no further this is it, and from someone close to Tolkein who proof read Lord of the Rings before it was published. This was published in 1952, before Lord of the Rings in 1954.
This really ought to stand alongside The Hobbit and Harry Potter and other such tales to be read as one grows up. For some reason it doesn’t and its remarkable author is not considered part of the canon.
Mitchison lived to be 101 and her life and the scope of her interests and activities is quite remarkable. Part of the Haldane family, her early success was as a geneticist, she then volunteered as a VAD during the war. She was a lifelong feminist and campaigner for birth control, an active socialist and a very prolific writer. She published over ninety books including historical novels (one critic has described her as the greatest historical novelist of the twentieth century), science fiction, politics, sexuality, travelogue, fantasy, memoirs and numerous articles.
Travel Light is the tale of Halla, born to a king but cast out to die, she is raised first by bears and then by a dragon. When she eventually returns to people she has the gift of languages and can speak to all people and animals. Halla has a particular dislike of heroes (especially because they tend to slay dragons) and is known as heroesbane for a while. There is magic here and lots of travel, an appearance from Odin Allfather (who advises Halla to travel light and keep moving), a Valkyrie who keeps popping up when heroes die to carry them off to Valhalla (which is definitely not what the heroes think it is), crooked princes and governors, duplicitous clerics to name but a few. Halla communicates with all kinds of animals and travels for a while with a group of men on a quest for justice. Halla deals deftly with the usual male desire to tie her to home and hearth and continues to travel light. It’s great stuff and Mitchison makes her moral points gently along the way. Halla is an interesting protagonist and is much more Gandalf than Bilbo Baggins. Although this is a fable, it does not have the usual fable structure. There are links to Beowulf; the Grendel family has a walk on part. The word hero is in this tale, a pejorative term for someone who makes their living from killing and murder. Established religion is corrupt and distinct from true belief which is important, but not to be held onto blindly. Mitchison is teaching respect, understanding and tolerance with a light touch.
This is a book I wish I had read when I was younger. My main quibble is that it is too short. One reviewer, a writer of fantasy (Amal El Mohtar) has wondered what would have happened if she had read this as a child;
“But, most crucially for me, I wonder: Where might I have gone if, instead of a middle-aged Hobbit enamored of his pantry, I had embraced a girl who lost three homes before choosing the open road?”
Who knows indeed; this should be a classic. ...more

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Sep 14, 2019 Spencer Orey rated it it was amazing

Shelves: antediluvian-fantasy

This was really beautiful. It's a meditative fairy tale that turns into something else entirely by the end. I'm a fast reader these days, and even though this book was short, it made me slow down and take my time. I appreciate that a lot.

Like a lot of other readers, I found this one thanks to Amal El-Mohtar's NPR review: https://www.npr.org/2014/01/01/258384...
And I'm so glad I did! There's a lot of heavy subject matter but a gentle touch, and no matter how grim things got, I always felt strange ...more

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Jul 22, 2014 Jareed rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: souls weighed down by the trivialities of life, children

Shelves: fantasy, children-s-lit

Travel light my child, as the Wanderer travels light, and his love will be with you."(57)

description

Travel Light

Travel Light tells the story of Halla, a girl born to a King, who will also take the very same gift that was given, for he casts her out into the wilds before any words could be spoken. She is nursed by bears and raised by dragons. But the time of dragons has come to past and magic is waning, our dear Halla is destined to make a choice. Who will she be? Halla Bearsbairn? Halla Heroesbane? or Hall ...more

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Jan 02, 2014 Nicky rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, based-on-myth-saga-etc, dragons

I came across this because of Amal El-Mohtar's NPR review; the idea of a book in dialogue with Tolkien, by one of the women around him who he encouraged and listened to, definitely appealed: I think just recently I was asking if anyone's written anything about Tolkien's female students, about whom I know very little except that I'm sure I have been told they existed. (Time for a woman to write a biography of Tolkien? Move over, Humphrey Carpenter, Tom Shippey?)

And this book delivered. It is rath I came across this because of Amal El-Mohtar's NPR review; the idea of a book in dialogue with Tolkien, by one of the women around him who he encouraged and listened to, definitely appealed: I think just recently I was asking if anyone's written anything about Tolkien's female students, about whom I know very little except that I'm sure I have been told they existed. (Time for a woman to write a biography of Tolkien? Move over, Humphrey Carpenter, Tom Shippey?)

And this book delivered. It is rather slight -- it's short, and on first glance, rather fable-like. Naomi Mitchison resisted any urge to insist on a moral, though: while there are religious people in the story, and Hella's travelling light seems a virtue in her, there are good people who struggle with faith, good dragons who keep out of the gods' way, and though for a while it looks as though there might be a moral about Christianity in there, then there's also a bit of a wry look at the church in Constantinople, and it ends with some more Norse mythology. I don't think she honestly ever pushes any moral except finding your way through life and being good to people and creatures, and in the meantime she has an intriguing wander through different cultures and traditions.

Mitchison is a lot less sure than Tolkien about the period and the people she wants to write about, I think. Tolkien talked about creating "a mythology for England", and I've argued elsewhere that Susan Cooper succeeds, but I don't think Mitchison is as rooted in a place, an idea. Like her protagonist, she's willing to wander. I wonder what a difference it'd have made to genre fiction now if Mitchison had a greater role, and Tolkien a lesser? Maybe we'd have less to worry about from the constant onslaught of medieval European fantasy.

It won't scratch the same itch as The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, for sure. It's a different sort of story -- if you're a fan of Le Guin, perhaps, it's more like the stories of Earthsea. Or it's like a more fantastical, more female Rosemary Sutcliff. Don't read it for The Hobbit 2.0 -- it's something all its own.

Oh, and it can be quite amusing, too: Dragon Economics 101... ...more

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May 20, 2019 Sylvester rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorites, open-library, 2019, fantasy-sci-fi, ebook

I think this would be considered a Y/A novel. Mitchison was ahead of her time. She was turning Fantasy inside-out back in the 50's, before the genre was even well-worn. First, she throws everything in - a bit of the feel of Beowulf, with the wonderful hyphenated phrases (flame-fringed, gold-collared, bracelet-giver), the Norse lore (Valhalla, Valkyries), the names (she goes through a series of life-twists that are marked by name changes = Halla Bearsbairn, Halla Heroesbane, Halla God's-gift), a I think this would be considered a Y/A novel. Mitchison was ahead of her time. She was turning Fantasy inside-out back in the 50's, before the genre was even well-worn. First, she throws everything in - a bit of the feel of Beowulf, with the wonderful hyphenated phrases (flame-fringed, gold-collared, bracelet-giver), the Norse lore (Valhalla, Valkyries), the names (she goes through a series of life-twists that are marked by name changes = Halla Bearsbairn, Halla Heroesbane, Halla God's-gift), a unicorn or three, a heroine raised by bears and dragons who (my favourite) can speak the language of most animals and peoples (this adds all kinds of interest to the plot), and who having spent most of her life on Dragon Mountain, sees "heroes" as evil. There's a wonderful point where the whole St. George and the Dragon story gets turned inside out, and the dragon rescues the maiden from the hero. The plot doesn't follow the usual fantasy lines - Halla is definitely the heroine, but she is finding her way, listening to animals, people, watching for where she fits in. At certain points she sees that it's not haphazard. The Valkyrie tells her, "It's all there, it's all in the weaving." But it takes the entire book for her to find where she fits.
Mitchison really bucks expectation.

"Perhaps she did not die," said Halla,"perhaps her nurse turned into a bear and carried her away into the forest. Perhaps she was brought up by bears and dragons. Perhaps it was better for her in the end than being a king's child."
"That was never in the story," said Modolf.
"Forget the story," said Halla."

Well, isn't that something. I mean, we know that being a king's child is an important element of fantasy, but Halla is, and doesn't take it up.
Interesting.

I enjoyed the Other-Perspective that Halla has. She really does think like a bear and a dragon a lot of the time. Here are some of her thoughts when Tarkan is in pain.

"If he could sleep, she thought, sleep through the unhappy months, the heart's hunger, the months of death and cold and not having what you most want, and wake with time gone past and blurred and a new year coming. But perhaps it is too early in the year, she thought after that, and besides, he is not a bear."

Yeah. I could see the good of being a bear once in a while.
1952, folks. Naomi Mitchison. Way back then, already.

...more

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Jan 16, 2016 ambyr rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: authorㅡfemale, acquiredㅡhumble-bundle, protagonistㅡfemale, ageㅡya, ownㅡcurrently, stand-alone-novel, genreㅡfairy-tale

(Read because it was highly recommended at an Arisia panel on forgotten classics by women back in January, and also because it was part of the Small Beer Press Humble Bundle.)

A few weeks ago I went and saw a one-man show called Transmission. It was about ideas, and values, and how the books we read in childhood worm their way into our conscious (and conscience) and affect us years and decades down the line--and it was a cry to reject that, to examine our received beliefs and rebuild them anew. S ...more

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Sep 14, 2018 Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) rated it really liked it

Shelves: don-t-know-where-to-shelve-this, nmsot, couldn-t-put-it-down

Note: If you have the Smallbeer Press edition, DO NOT read the Introduction. It doesn't "spoil" the book, it entirely ruins it by telling the whole thing, elements, denouement and all. Why editors do this consistently I cannot tell you, but it seems to be a new fashion when resurrecting older texts from oblivion.
Not my usual sort of read but I found myself really enjoying it. Mitchison blends Nordic myth with her personal perception of early Christianity, adding a pinch of fairy tale to tell the ...more

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Mar 29, 2020 Dawn Lawson rated it it was amazing

Shelves: did-not-want-it-to-end

Brilliant.

There is no other word for this book.

A Fairy Tale for adults, before the genre existed.

Seemingly simple sentences like this spark aliveness throughout the book: Halla stretched her arms and the bracelets clinked and the rings flashed in the sunshine. “I’m glad I’m a dragon,” she said.

The best of fantasy, speculative fiction, slides truths into your mind through the back door while the front of your mind is enjoying the story.

for was not the sparkle of treasure implicit in the velvet d ...more

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May 07, 2011 Zen Cho rated it really liked it

Shelves: sff

I thought this was a bit twee at first but got into it after a while, and ended up liking it a lot. The point at which it gets really good is when she leaves the dragons, and when she meets the men from Marob and what happens to them. And the Valkyries and All-Father and the abrupt-feeling revelation at the end that giants and dragons are getting scarce -- loved it. It had a numinousness it's hard to find in fantasy, though one goes to fantasy precisely for that.

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Jan 10, 2017 Rodney rated it it was amazing

Absolutely stunning. I loved the ripping pace of it and the sparkling prose. Every once in a while, a phrase would be so perfectly expressed that it would just stop me in my tracks. Wonderful book, deserving of its high praise. I wish it were better known.

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Nov 16, 2019 Jamie Dacyczyn rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical, fantasy, middle-readers, books-to-reread-before-buying

I finished this book in an evening (it's only 135 pages), put it down, and thought, "Huh. That was......different?" It's clearly a book kind of meant for children, with with some startlingly violent moments that made me wonder if it was supposed to be a fairy tale book for adults written in the style of a children's story...? Or something?

It's about an unwanted princess named Halla who is taken by her nanny to be raised by bears (which the nanny turns into). When it becomes clear that her human I finished this book in an evening (it's only 135 pages), put it down, and thought, "Huh. That was......different?" It's clearly a book kind of meant for children, with with some startlingly violent moments that made me wonder if it was supposed to be a fairy tale book for adults written in the style of a children's story...? Or something?

It's about an unwanted princess named Halla who is taken by her nanny to be raised by bears (which the nanny turns into). When it becomes clear that her human biology can't quite match up to the bears' instincts to hibernate, they convince a dragon to adopt her as part of his treasure. After the dragon clan makes her fireproof, her formative years are spent living in a dragon's cave, helping him organize his treasure, learning dragon customs and folklore (princesses are honored to be sacrificed to dragons and heroes are wicked men who want to kill innocent dragons to take their gold!), and befriending other creatures like mermaids and Valkyries. When a tragic event forces Halla to strike out on her own, the "All Father" (Odin, based on the description) gives her a piece of his cloak and some advice to "travel light". She eventually finds her way among some new (human) friends, visits Constantinople, and has much adventures along the way.

The writing style was definitely from a different time (written in 1952), and it reminded me strongly of old fairy tale books I've read in the past, especially "A Book of Princess Stories" by Kathleen Adams & Frances Elizabeth Archinson (a book I read over and over as a child). Like a classic fairy tale, this had some nonsensical events and those moments of casual violence that make the modern reader think, "Wait, this is for children??" There aren't many fairy tales written for children these days that mention brains being smashed out or that a character looks "like a little village slut." (Seriously, that line made my eyebrows shoot up. Whoa now, can you even say that??)

The tone was generally light, even when it was sad, in such a way that felt almost humorous without being directly funny. There were so many lines that I want to quote, especially with Halla's dragon-like views about treasure, but I especially loved this one when Halla is trying to learn about a different city by asking various animals: "But there were cranes and herons circling who had news of a kind, and sometimes beavers, though they were much too busy for light conversation, since logs of wood were their treasure and their plans all had to do with the getting of it." I don't know why this kind of phrasing delights me, but I loved it.

I also loved this long sentence right from the first page, when Halla's nurse decides to save her from her cruel stepmother: "So she turned herself into a black bear then and there and picked up the baby in her mouth, blanket and all, and growled her way out of the Bower at the back of the King's hall, and padded out through the light spring snow that had melted already near the hall, and through the birch woods and the pine woods into the deep dark woods where the rest of the bears were waking up from their winter sleep."

Doesn't that sound like a story you want to envelop yourself in?

I will admit that I loved the beginning of this book, when she's among the bears and dragons, more than the second part where she's among humans. Halla joins a small group of men who were traveling to see the Emperor, and I frankly had a hard time telling them apart, even though their names were nothing alike. I think I was secretly hoping they'd go away and leave Halla to resume talking to bears and dragons and such. She still gets a chance to chat with horses and rats, but I want dragons!

I also started to worry for a while that this was going to turn out to be a Christian allegory, in the vein of Narnia, when she arrived in Constantinople (ie, the center of the Roman Catholic church at the time) and there was much talk from other characters about who was and who wasn't a true Christian. However, Halla doesn't seem to pay this much mind, and she's clearly more attached to the All Father/Odin and her Valkyrie friend, so I definitely don't think the author was writing a Christian story. This is just a little fable about a girl traveling from a Medieval-ish Germanic-ish region through time (literally, as we learn that Odin had boosted her ahead a few centuries) to witness the spread of Christianity and thus the subsequent loss of older beings like dragons and giants. She herself never shows the slightest inkling that she wants to convert. And in fact in the end (view spoiler) which is not exactly in keeping with Christian mythology. I also checked the author's Wikipedia page, which talked a lot about her feminism, birth control activism, and how one of her books was criticized for not emphasizing Christianity....which confirmed for me that this book was definitely NOT intended as a Christian story. Good, I don't want no stinkin' allegorical life lessons, I just want DRAGONS, VALKYRIE, and BEARS, oh my!

All in all, I found this book to be a pretty delightful little tale. Definitely for fans of old-school fairy tales and fables, or for fans of newer books like Catherynne Valente's Fairyland series. I'm definitely going to look into their author's other works as well. ...more

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May 26, 2018 Kaion rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, childrens

Like everyone else, I read Travel Light because NPR told me to.

Halla is born the daughter of a king, but he abandons her when he remarries. Luckily, her nurse is a werebear and takes her to live in the woods, with all the other bears.

This is not a spoiler because this all happens by the end of the first paragraph. By the end of the first chapter, Halla has found herself adopted by a dragon, and is learning proper dragon things, like how to catalog your hoard.

Unfortunately, Naomi Mitchinson does ...more

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Apr 11, 2020 Kelsey rated it really liked it

Oh, that ENDING was EXCELLENT. Such a wonderful little book, so ahead of its time!

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Oct 22, 2016 Kirsty rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: october-2016, borrowed

I borrowed this from my University library for three reasons: firstly, I had never read any Mitchison and felt I should rectify that, particularly as she's a Scottish author; secondly, its original Virago green spine stood out to me on the shelf; and thirdly, the storyline sounded both weird and wonderful. I must admit that I don't ordinarily read books with elements of magic to them (with the exception of Harry Potter, of course), but I read the first page whilst I should have been looking for ...more

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Aug 28, 2014 Louise Marley rated it it was amazing

I can't remember why or how I bought this book. Someone must have recommended it, because it's a slim little volume, first published sixty years ago, and there's nothing about it that might have caught my eye. Whoever suggested it--maybe a Facebook friend--deserves my thanks!

Naomi Mitchison lived to be 101, according to the cover information, and published dozens of books. If this is representative, I'll be going in search of some of those. TRAVEL LIGHT defies categorization, truly, but if I had ...more

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Mar 23, 2014 Bogi Takács rated it it was amazing

Shelves: have-it-around

(Read on recommendation by Rose Lemberg and Amal El-Mohtar.) Such a pleasant surprise. I have a feeling it skewed my standards re: children's books, now everything will seem less awesome...

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Jan 03, 2020 David rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Wow. This is a book that is going to stick with me for years as I think it over and make new realizations about what it has to say. Lately I've been thinking about the question of "who gets to tell stories and who are they focused on" and Travel Light introduces so many new parts to consider, and I'm certain some that I won't even realize for a long time. Why is Grendel the villain? Why can't the hero be the antagonist? Who picks the protagonist and why? Are they the most interesting choice? Oka ...more

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Mar 13, 2018 Peter rated it it was amazing

An amazing fantasy story that was beautifully written. It has certainly made me want to seek out more of Naomi Mitchison's work

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Dec 29, 2019 Neil rated it it was amazing

This totally needs a better cover than the Shel Silverstein-ish scrawling art. This is kinda like The Long Ships (aka “Red Orm”) but with a strong and very independent female protagonist, and a bit more magic/fantastic creatures. Can’t believe this gem (published right before LoTR) isn’t more widely known.

...more

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Mar 04, 2014 Amanda rated it really liked it

Shelves: recs, fantasy, read-in-2014

Travel Light is basically a subversive fairy tale about a princess who's cast out to live with bears, and then dragons, and then humans as she goes on her own hero's quest. In some ways it's also a cautionary tale against kings and heroes, who are nothing but self-entitled men who steal and kill and do terrible things with the terrifying certainty that they're in the right. Mostly, though, it's about traveling light and choosing your own destiny. It's a short, light read, but surprisingly denser ...more

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Jun 17, 2020 Bob Churchill rated it it was amazing

This novella feels like it's fallen out of time. It absolutely comes from the era of Tolkien and CS Lewis - published after The Hobbit and the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, but a few years before The Lord of the Rings - but it also prefigures Philip Pullman, especially in the somehow Lyra-like character of Halla (view spoiler) and continues beyond.

Pop culture This novella feels like it's fallen out of time. It absolutely comes from the era of Tolkien and CS Lewis - published after The Hobbit and the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, but a few years before The Lord of the Rings - but it also prefigures Philip Pullman, especially in the somehow Lyra-like character of Halla (view spoiler) and continues beyond.

Pop culture reference: (view spoiler)

It's by turns funny and serious, cute and devastating, and ultimately philosophical. To describe it as a satire on the direction of fantasy-writing is only telling part of the story. It has concerns far beyond genre.

Don't let the apparent superficiality of a princess protagonist talking to the animals fool you. There are deep running waters here. It won't be long before darker themes emerge, including (spoilers and sensitive content warning:) (view spoiler)

That thematic strand in particular makes it a strange choice to sit alongside children's literature, being a more horrifying recurring theme than anything really in The Lord of the Rings, let alone the Hobbit. But it is absolutely not a throwaway plot device, here. It's part of the spectrum of influences on Halla as a girl specifically, (view spoiler)

The long second act in (view spoiler) is almost stranger than all the strange and magical stuff surrounding it. It's fair to say it's the driest section of the book, almost a hurdle to get over. But there is a quest. And it's a strange kind of quest for a fairy tale. (view spoiler)

With simple gestures and observations, Mitchison crystallizes cultures and characters including non-human animals in beautiful instants. If there's a risk of orientalism in travelling from north-west toward south-east, Mitchison's sympathy and understanding (view spoiler) transcends the use of stereotypes.

There are themes here of (view spoiler)

There was for me a shiver-inducing moment in the final few pages, (view spoiler) It's a nexus moment for mythology and fantasy, history and truth, mortality and meaning, and it lifts this fairy tale into another domain entirely. (view spoiler) ...more

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May 21, 2020 Aric rated it really liked it

Shelves: childrens

If you're looking for a fun fantasy novel for kids that isn't beholden to the Campbellian monomyth, look no further. Travel Light should be up there with Alice in Wonderland and The Hobbit as a classic work of children's fantasy, but thematic material and a deeply anti-authoritarian streak have probably worked against its popularity.

It starts with a princess, and immediately goes sideways, when she his rejected by her father and thrown out of the castle, to be raised by bears and dragons. From t If you're looking for a fun fantasy novel for kids that isn't beholden to the Campbellian monomyth, look no further. Travel Light should be up there with Alice in Wonderland and The Hobbit as a classic work of children's fantasy, but thematic material and a deeply anti-authoritarian streak have probably worked against its popularity.

It starts with a princess, and immediately goes sideways, when she his rejected by her father and thrown out of the castle, to be raised by bears and dragons. From the dragons she learns the language of all creatures, mathematics, economics (the favorite subject of dragons), and that humans and especially heroes are dangerous and evil. When humans go to war against her adoptive father-dragon, she learns this firsthand.

Can you see why this story wouldn't appeal to every lover of fantasy? This is not grimdark, but it's not noblebright either.

This story has shapeshifters, dragons, talking animals, Valkyries, Odin, and a lot of Christians - especially when Halla journeys to Constantinople - some of them good, but many of them corrupt. There is a side character arc entirely about losing faith. Yet through all sorts of dangerous scrapes, Halla manages to come out ahead, thanks in part to taking Odin's advice to "travel light." In the end, she brings a sort of redemption to a struggling family but eschews the "got married and lived happily ever after" ending that fairy tales would have settled for. Considering that this was published in 1952, this is a radically subversive little tale.

Disclaimer and Minor Spoiler follow:

I read Travel Light with an eye to figuring out if my five-year-old was old enough to enjoy it. And this brings me to another thing about being written in 1952 (perhaps): unlike today's middle grade chapter books, this narrative includes attempted sexual assault ("I'll make a woman of you!" one "hero" yells on his way to assault the protagonist - who ends up being rescued before he touches her). While this is historically accurate to the sort of Vikingish group being described, it is startling to my present-day sensibilities about what is appropriate for children to read. Given how excellent the rest of the story is, I'll probably rephrase some things as I read aloud, but I might give it another year or two, since the Constantinople portion has more political intrigues than just talking to animals (although that is still important).

Postscript:

At the time I purchased it, Travel Light was not available in paperback from major outlets, perhaps due to COVID-19 supply chain issues; so I got the ebook. If you contact Small Beer Press, they might have some paper copies laying around, but I haven't tried that. ...more

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May 01, 2020 Sue rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, strong-female-lead, children-s-books, classics

The magical and mythical elements of this story were endearing and exciting. Halla is raised by bears and dragons, then approached by Odin, then sets off on an adventure! She speaks to animals and a Valkyrie visits her and befriends her. She ponders the meaning of dragon treasure, and what really matters in life. I loved that about this book. Halla is a badass character. The main plot is this political mission for three men from Marob, though, and it is BORING. Three men from Marob set out to vi ...more

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Jul 27, 2020 Phalgun rated it it was amazing

I've never been a fan of 'Mindfulness', a word with a somewhat vague definition and a particularly strong and rooted presence in the lexicon of every single advocate of 'The Good Life' that I've ever had the misfortune to encounter. It reeks of stagnancy, being a tumor of a word swathed by circular, egregious studies, rising to the top of the commercial chain on heaps of zombified minds, to become a shiny vomitus of the industrialised spiritual and self-help market.

Halla embodies and represents ...more

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Feb 05, 2020 Deb rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

How did I not discover this book or its author Naomi Mitchison sooner? I was so absorbed by the story and the beautiful, sparkling, breezy prose that I did something I've never done before when finishing a novel; I immediately began the story again. The story begins like so many fairy tales with an unwanted princess being secreted away from the palace, but then nothing else proceeded as I anticipated. There are bears and dragons and heroes, but there is something weightier than typical fairy tal ...more

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Jul 17, 2019 Kate Savage rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Unexpectedly charming. I dislike most books that seem to be aimed toward children. But the breezy-bold sentence structure won me over. Also: Mitchison pays close attention to other species.

The author wrote 90 books in her century of life. Some of these were aimed at fighting fascism. Some were arguing for reproductive rights (and got blocked or censored). And some, like this one, are about dragons and unicorns.

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May 20, 2020 Richard rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to Richard by: Neil

Shelves: fantasy, ebook, classic, fantasy-mythology

Delightful… but not at all what I expected.

This starts off as a clever young-adultish story set in a world of Norse mythology, kind of.

But then it somewhat suddenly veers into a completely different story about Christianity and the hypocrisy of the powerful, kind of.

The two halves work together quite nicely, though.

It only takes one evening to read. Check it out.

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Apr 22, 2017 Chrissy rated it really liked it

Interesting, especially with backgrounds and parallel to Tolkien Style

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Jun 06, 2018 Danielle rated it liked it · review of another edition

Sweet and charming, but didn’t find it as meaningful as others have.

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Dec 30, 2019 Catherine rated it really liked it

I know that fairy tale / myth retellings are a dime a dozen, in some ways, but rarely are they done with so much eloquence, scope, and independence. I wish I'd had this book when I was younger, but even now, I find it melancholy and beautiful in ways that Young Me would have missed.

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What's the Name o...: SOLVED. Child (most likely a girl) raised by dragons, junior fiction novel [s]	4	61	Jan 24, 2015 05:22PM

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About Naomi Mitchison

Naomi Mitchison

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Naomi Mitchison, author of over 70 books, died in 1999 at the age of 101. She was born in and lived in Scotland and traveled widely throughout the world. In the 1960s she was adopted as adviser and mother of the Bakgatla tribe in Botswana. Her books include historical fiction, science fiction, poetry, autobiography, and nonfiction, the most popular of which are The Corn King and the Spring Queen, ...more

Books by Naomi Mitchison

The Corn King and the Spring Queen (The Hera Series)

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“Travel light my child, as the Wanderer travels light, and his love will be with you.” — 5 likes

“If he could sleep, she thought, sleep through the unhappy months, the heart's hunger, the months of death and cold and not having what you most want, and wake with time gone past and blurred and a new year coming. But perhaps it is too early in the year, she thought after that, and besides, he is not a bear.” — 2 likes

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