Snow-Walker

by Catherine Fisher

Book Overview

Since Gudrun came from the frozen mists beyond the edge of the world, the Jarl's people have obeyed her in hatred andterror. But the enchantress has one weakness: a son, Kari, banished to a forbidding fortress in the north, never seen by the Jarl's people. In secret they wonder: Are the rumors true? Was he born a monster? Now Jessa and her cousin Thorkil have been exiled to the north, and if they survive the journey, they will find the truth: Is Kari...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060724765
• ISBN13: 9780060724764
• Release Date: September 2005
• Publisher: Greenwillow Books
• Length: 640 Pages
• Weight: 1.41 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 4.2" x 6.8"
• Age Range: 13 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 8 and higher

Customer Reviews

This Book Is GREAT!

3 books in 1! Although this seems really wierd, each is a sequel to the other. A seemingly normal land, ruled by a king. The king dies,and being controlled by his wife, a snow walker,many people lose their homes. However, when she banishes Jessica and her cousin, they discover her only rival:her son. He is the only person who can even defeat her, but will he try? ................................................................

Good book

Snow walker is a great book me and my friend both read and loved it. I thought it had a great plot and was fun and exiting. It was worth reading it.

excellent fantasy

The malevolent Snow-walker Gudrun came from the ice to use the Ragnar patriarch to become the ruler of the realm. She married Lord Jarl Ragnar, who is her puppet unable to independently think anymore. Recently, she sent a blizzard to put down a resurrection by the rightful ruling family, the Wulfings. Using her spouse, she exiles the next generation of Wulfings, cousins Jessa Horolsdaughter and Thorkil Harroldsson, to remote Thrasseshall on the edge of the world. There they will live with her son, rumored to be a monster that no one outside that isolated frozen hold has seen since he was born. Jessa meets Gudron's offspring Kari Ragnarsson, who is a Snow-walker with his mother's powers but is different due to the upbringing of his "caretaker" Brochael Gunnarsson who has showered him with love and understanding. Kari is the only hope to free her people from the icy grip of the evil sorceress, but can he commit matricide and if yes, can those who care for him like her keep him from becoming a chip off the maternal block? SNOW-WALKER combines a wonderful action-packed trilogy into a fabulous single volume fantasy that will thrill middle school readers. The Nordic saga is fantastic because of the cast that are deeper than the snow that is everywhere. The heroes are a superb group while the villain is so terrifically nasty that the audience will shiver as much from her as from the climate. However, the story belongs to Kari, raised in isolation as a "creature", he must decide between his mother's pleas to become her sidekick or the entreaty of those residing in the tundra with him to save the world from her. Harriet Klausner

Up there with Gormenghast and His Dark Materials.

This book quite litereally blew me away. From the opening pages, Catherine shows her uinque and extraordinary skill with words. Her work draws strong elements from Norse Mythology, but since when has that been bad? The language flew off the pages and straight to my heart; she writes with such a flair and creates a seamless blend of action, intrigue, poetry and betrayal. Indeed, I have adopted the character Skapti as my new wide-spread internet user-name! She has, in my opinion, created a dazzling book that fully passed my expectations. Heroism, and tragedy are extremely powerful themes, and Catherine deals with both subjects extremely well. I have no idea why I hadn't heard of it before I picked it up in my local book store. This destroys Harry Potter and draws up just short of Philip Pullman's Dark Materials and Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast...and that is a great achievement for any author. I fully reccomend this book, up there with Tolkien, Pullman, Mervyn Peake. I send praise to Catherine for delivering such a work of art. I can only hope that she continues to deliver such spell-bounding tales as sublimely as she does.Regards,ECX(P.S, I also thought the chapter quotations added a uinque flair to the story...well done to Mrs Fisher again.)

one of the best children's fantasy trilogies

Catehrine Fisher deserves to be far, far better known because she has a rare gift of being able to tell gripping stories in beautiful, shapely prose - no surprise to discover she's also a poet. This was the first novel of hers I read, and I've since re-read it to my children many times. If you're at all interested in the Vikings or Norse mythology it's especially useful, as it draws on these while creating a wholly believeable world (I also recommend the Margrave books, and The Oracle, which has just been short-listed for the Whitbread Prize).The story begins with the evil witch Gudrun exiling her own baby son, Kari, and a huge warrior who has dared to cross her to the bitter north. Kari is supposed a monster, but when a small band of rebels is also exiled there, they find the truth to be very different....for Kari has inherited his mother's powers but struggles to find acceptance among human beings. There are sub-plots such as the growing attraction between Jessa "two-knives" and the skald or poet, but the main thrust of the plot is the chilling battle between Kari and his mother, or between love and hate, courage and fear, trust and lies. There are unforgettable images, such as Kari's crystal-strung room, the enchanted snake-bracelets biting into the flesh, the werewolf fighting the bear and the frozen bridge at the rim of the world. Each novel has the bite and crack of ice in it, the love of a good tale told by the fire-side that makes your hair stand up. I can't recommend them too highly for 8+. Oh, and they'd also make great films.