Bitten by Books
Karn Korlundr did not want to be hauld (leader) of the family, and especially did not want to spend his time working on his father’s farm or trading at the local market. All Karn was interested in was the strategy game he excelled at, called Thrones and Bones. He refused to think of anything else, even to the point of trading three oxen for one small barrel of fish, because he was mulling over game strategy and not concentrating on the trading. He was able to challenge the trader and make the deal more equitable, but it was still an embarrassment to Karn’s father, the hauld.
Thianna was a half-breed giant, and as such, was only eight or so feet tall rather than fifteen. Her nemesis, Thrudgy, hated her with a passion because she was half-human, and because she could best him in the giants’ preferred ball game called Knattleikr. Her father, picking up on Thianna’s unhappiness, took her to visit her mother’s final resting place, and then gave her what he said was a drinking cup that had been her mother’s. As Thianna examined it, she realized that it was not a cup at all, but some sort of horn. She blew into it, but she heard nothing. She was unaware that the call of the horn would set off a reaction in a town far away, one she had never even heard of.
Karn’s single-mindedness was not unusual for a boy of his age, and it was encouraged by his uncle Ori, who would have been the next hauld had Karn not been born. Thianna’s feelings of not fitting in are also typical of a girl her age, in human years rather than giants, who reckon time differently. The two are reluctant partners on a journey to nowhere, working together to protect and defend each other. Frostborn was an interesting and fast-paced story, intriguing and clever, and I appreciated that both Karn and Thianna became more accepting of themselves after their dangerous journey.
Book Stats:
- Age Range: 8 - 12 years
- Grade Level: 3 - 7
- Paperback: 368 pages
- Publisher: Yearling (May 26, 2015)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0385387814
- ISBN-13: 978-0385387811
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Books in the Thrones and Bones series in the order they should be read:
Frostborn
Nightborn
Review Overview
Overall Rating
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Summary : Karn’s single-mindedness was not unusual for a boy of his age, and it was encouraged by his uncle Ori, who would have been the next hauld had Karn not been born. Thianna’s feelings of not fitting in are also typical of a girl her age, in human years rather than giants, who reckon time differently. The two are reluctant partners on a journey to nowhere, working together to protect and defend each other. Frostborn was an interesting and fast-paced story, intriguing and clever, and I appreciated that both Karn and Thianna became more accepting of themselves after their dangerous journey.
