Heroes of the Valley, by Jonathan Stroud Synopsis: A coming-of-age story in a Viking village Brief Book Review: A fantastic YA novel. Stroud really knows how to make a story live within its world. The Valley feels like the entirety of the world, and it’s a rich, vibrant world that lives and grows far outside the pages of the novel itself. The characters are self-determined and display constant agency. The female characters are strong in the real sense, rather than just the “I know kung-fu and wear leather pants” sense. The protagonist moves from an innocent, precocious boy full of naïve ideals to a mature young man who avoids becoming jaded and retains reasonable idealism. There’s plenty of humor, conflict, and action along the way and all of it flows naturally. The way that nothing ever quite works out the way it’s intended to makes for captivating storytelling. And the twist at the end is
SF/F Review - Heroes of the Valley
SF/F Review - Heroes of the Valley
SF/F Review - Heroes of the Valley
Heroes of the Valley, by Jonathan Stroud Synopsis: A coming-of-age story in a Viking village Brief Book Review: A fantastic YA novel. Stroud really knows how to make a story live within its world. The Valley feels like the entirety of the world, and it’s a rich, vibrant world that lives and grows far outside the pages of the novel itself. The characters are self-determined and display constant agency. The female characters are strong in the real sense, rather than just the “I know kung-fu and wear leather pants” sense. The protagonist moves from an innocent, precocious boy full of naïve ideals to a mature young man who avoids becoming jaded and retains reasonable idealism. There’s plenty of humor, conflict, and action along the way and all of it flows naturally. The way that nothing ever quite works out the way it’s intended to makes for captivating storytelling. And the twist at the end is