Inní Mér Syngur Vitleysingur - Sigur Rós

The Silver Sea (Originally Published as Wolf Cry)

Author: Julia Golding
Genre: historical fiction, young adult
Pages: 334
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish

Brief Summary:
Ohthere, a Viking lord, comes back from a sailing voyage to find his village destroyed and everything gone but his daughter Freydis, now crippled by a pirate sword. Her brother, Toki, the only child who meant anything to him, has been captured by the aforementioned pirates. Ohthere had picked up a slave, with mysterious blue-black skin for her. Enno, the slave, did not want to feel compassion for the Vikings that enslaved him, but finds himself drawn to Freydis, whose treatment is little better than his. Along with Ohthere's crew, they set sail to rescue the rest of the villagers and brother Toki.

Review:
First thing, which really does not matter at all, is that I cannot figure out why they changed the name of the book. The new name, Silver Sea, does not really have any correlation to the story. Yes, they spend a lot of time sailing on the waters, which are probably silver sometimes when the light shines off of them the right way, but there is actually a prophecy in the story referred to as 'Wolf Cry.' I could not find an image of the cover I read that was the right size, so exhibited enjoy the more Viking-ish cover! Pointless change is pointless.

Last year, I read my first book by Julia Golding: Dragonfly. Although the story was largely predictable, I loved it. The characters were engaging and felt like real people. (And the P&Pish nature of the romance held appeal too.) I expected this book to be much the same: predictable, but quite enjoyable and clever in spite of that.

Well, I was wrong. I totally thought I knew what was going to happen. But I was wrong. For one thing, I didn't get the super happy ending that I was expecting. Most books for teens end pretty happily, although I can name a good selection that don't, although most are somewhere in the middle of a series or a dystopia. In this instance, the sad ending does make for a more realistic story given the setting. Still, I was rooting for the characters and hoped all the good people would get to have everything they wanted and the bad people die.

Julia Golding writes strong women, although not necessarily physically strong. They are clever, resourceful and determined. Although I recommend Dragonfly more than Silver Sea, I will definitely be reading more Julia Golding and think she is a fantasy author well worth trying.

"Á silfur á
Lýsir allan heiminn og augun blá
Skera stjörnuhiminn
Ég óska mér og loka nú augunum
Já, gerðu það, nú rætist það
Ó nei"