The Islands of the Blessed

The Islands of the Blessed by Nancy Farmer is the third in a trilogy steeped in Norse mythology and traditions, set in the 700s, all focused around a young bard's apprentice named Jack.

Taking this seriously, I decided to read the first two books in the series as well, and I'm glad I did. Each is about 450 pages though, so the series itself was a cool 1,400ish pages of Young Adult goodness. That's why there's been a delay since my last post. The first book was The Sea of Trolls, and the second was The Land of the Silver Apples.

So, on to the book. I'll start by saying that I really liked it. Sort of Harry Potter-esque, the series creates its own world that is easy to be immersed in. Nancy Farmer's creativity makes the worlds of elves, trolls, and countless other creatures come alive. The entire set was an adventure. Jack, the hero, is eleven when he's called by the village's bard (read: pagan wizard) to become an apprentice. In the first book, he and his sister are captured and held as slaves by warriors that hope for the halls of Valhalla upon their deaths. On the first of many, many adventures, Jack's character is intriguing: he has the emotions of an an eleven-year-old, but his wisdom grows and grows. He's learning to find his own strengths and gaining the humility to admit weaknesses. I believe that there will be more in this series, and I welcome them. The third book, specifically, allows him to spread his wings. Thanks to Nancy Farmer, I was so thoroughly engulfed in the book (also because I'd been reading it nonstop for three days) that I took any triumph of Jack as on of my own. It was delightful!

As a happy coincidence, I've always been enthralled by Norse mythology. I was immersed in my heritage as a child (thank goodness!) and had fairy-tale books with Norse stories and Viking runes. This series had a wonderful balance of actual mythology tied in with its own adventures.

Now for the bad news. I was a little irritated by one thing in the series: the horrible view of Christians. Now, I understand fully that the lead character, Jack, considers himself a Christian, to some extent. He was raised a Christian and struggles with the things he's seen that conflict with his religion. But for all intents and purposes, he is pagan, as is the Bard. This doesn't other me- it's a fictional story. Nor does it bother me that there are countless encounters with creatures that don't exist and follow other gods and what have you. What bothered me is is that the characters in the books that are Christian are almost all thoughtless men that are either ridiculously stupid or maddeningly power-driven. I wasn't so much offended by this as I was left unsettled, or possibly disappointed. The Bard is quick to say that not all men that are Christians are like this, and there are redeeming characters that are Christians, but overall, I wasn't thrilled with this. It was a personal feeling that I would have changed- but I didn't write the books, so Nancy Farmer has complete artistic license, and I chose to keep reading. I was never so offended that I would think of putting the books down, nor did I think that this was intended- it just happened to be Jack's encounters with the Christians of the time. This was truly my only complaint with the series, and it was minor- a sidenote even within the series.

Anyways, the final verdict.
Overall, I truly loved the series. It was fun, adventurous, enchanting, and easy to read. Now let's hope that the next book is a short one!