Heroes of the Valley, by Jonathan Stroud
Young Adult, 2009
The author of the Bartimeaus Trilogy, has proven that Anti-Heroes can be as interesting if not more interesting than our perfect run of the mill protagonists. In Heroes of the Valley Halli Sveinsson is the younger brother in the ruling family of Svein. The valley was purged long ago of an evil race of monsters, the Trogs, that lived underground by the Heroes. Svein and his counterparts who died fighting one last battle to keep the valley safe for their families instead of fighting among themselves. Now after many generations of relative peace, a blood feud erupts as Halli's uncle is killed during the yearly celebration and gathering of all of the houses of the heroes. Halli wants revenge and journeys to try to take it. In the meantime he wonders about the validity of the stories that he was told as a child and that surround the burial cairns that the families maintain just over the border of the valley to keep the Trogs out.
Stroud nicely mixes a variety of Norse traditions and culture with a protagonist that can't seem to get anything right and makes plenty of mistakes, some of them very costly. I was intrigued by his approach to how we question the myths and traditions of our past, and amid all of the skepticism and seeking for "truth" what if the stories actually turn out to be true?
A well told tale with intriguing character development, as long as you don't have to put down the book in frustration as the characters make mistake after mistake. Grade: B.
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