Starred review from April 1, 2024
Saintcrow continues her Norse-inspired "Black Land's Bane" trilogy (after A Flame in the North) with this second epic fantasy. Elemental volva Solveig and her shield maiden, Arneior, have traveled far into the North as weregild for the skin-changer wolf Eol and his friend, the immortal Elder Aeredh. Through the treacherous cold and harrowing attacks by misshapen monsters, Sol and Arn discern that the weregild pact was made deceitfully, and they will never see home again. Instead, the Northerners have always planned on taking Sol far north to the Elder haven of Waterstone, a beautiful but hidden refuge from the Enemy of the Black Land. There, a weapon created by the only other known elemental is hidden in a magical tower--and Sol is the only one who can use it. Even as Sol and Arn grow closer to their captors-turned-allies, treachery is found at every turn. VERDICT Saintcrow's attention to detail and fantastical worldbuilding, inspired by Norse Viking legends and places, merits her series' comparison to classic epic fantasies like J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" and Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time."--Jen Funk
Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
April 29, 2024
The Enemy continues to pursue Solveig and her companions in Saintcrow’s well-constructed second Black Land’s Bane fantasy. After the events of A Flame in the North, Solveig has found a measure of safety in the Elder city of Waterstone, home of the ancient weapon that Elder Aeredh believes only Solveig can wield. She, however, is wary of the toll the weapon will take on her magic. It soon becomes clear that she has other motives for coming to the city—and that Aeredh hasn’t been honest about his intentions in bringing her there. With her faith in her friends and her own powers shaken, Solveig finds Waterstone to be a gilded cage. Meanwhile, though the Enemy cannot reach her within the city’s walls, their dark forces continue to grow within the Black Land. The Norse mythology–inspired worldbuilding remains fascinating, and Saintcrow keeps the pages turning by weaving together danger and magic. This sets things up nicely for the epic conclusion. Agent: Lucienne Diver, Knight Agency.
May 15, 2024
The thrilling sequel to A Flame in the North (2024) starts right where that first book ended, with Solveig awakening to find herself a captive in Waterstone, an Elder city of immortals known by a few and forgotten by many as those who inhabit the city intended. Solveig's mind is filled with a nightmare: a vision of her home charred and broken, all she had never known and loved, destroyed. Within her confines, Solveig struggles to access her seidhr, the powerful fire magic she has wielded since she was a child. When she is presented to the Elder King Taeron, her mental anguish becomes physical pain and an overwhelming urge from her own magic wanting to rip itself from her body. Despite being unsure of so much--Is her magic fracturing or growing ever stronger? Has the death and destruction in her dreams already come to pass?--she must navigate this new city with only her shieldmaiden at her side. Another satisfying installment of the Black Land's Bane series; lovers of Norse-inspired fantasy will be pleased.
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June 1, 2024
In the second volume of what is now a blatant Tolkien pastiche--following A Flame in the North (2024)--a young wisewoman and her loyal shield-maiden grope for their roles in a looming conflict with Evil. Solveig, a human magic-worker with exceptionally rare elemental powers, and her sworn protector, Arneior, are at first captives and then guests in the hidden Elder (read: elven) city of Laeliquaende, or Waterstone, finding refuge after many travails. Solveig believes that their Elder companion, Aeredh, intends to take the Jewel (read: Silmaril) that the king of Laeliquaende keeps in a locked tower so that Solveig can use it (somehow) against the Enemy, the evil eldest son of the Allmother. She does not wish to do that, but she's also fairly angry when Aeredh reveals that he doesn't intend for her or the Jewel to be used against the Enemy: He simply wants to keep both of them in the city so the Enemy doesn't get them for himself. Since the book is entitled The Fall of Waterstone, it's not a spoiler to reveal that things don't go as planned. Saintcrow does draw on the Norse sagas, the same source material that Tolkien did, but also freely helps herself to Tolkien's original work, mainly the Silmarillion (specifically, the stories that would later be published separately as Beren and L�thien, 2017, and The Fall of Gondolin, 2018) but also a fair bit of The Lord of the Rings (e.g., desperate chases through the wilderness and a relationship between a father and his sons that bears a strong resemblance to that of Denethor and his sons Boromir and Faramir). Solveig and Arneior--who are appealing characters--are seemingly unique to Saintcrow's work, while other characters are considerably less so. And despite these significant borrowings, very little happens to drive the story along in any interesting way. At this point, the wider plot seems to be meeting new people, spending a little time with them, and then they and/or their homes are destroyed. Unlike in Tolkien, no real large-scale resistance seems to be going on. High fantasy involving a battle against an enemy who is evil just for the sake of embracing evil was terribly popular in the late 20th century; these days, most readers prefer something more nuanced. For nostalgic fantasy fans only.
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