The Sea of Trolls is the first book in a three-part series by Nancy Farmer. The book is set in 793 A.D., following the main character, Jack, who is the son of a farmer. His father plays favorites with Jack's sister, Lucy, and never respects him no matter what he does. When Jack goes to feed the village Bard, he is asked to become the Bard’s apprentice. He learns all about the "life force" and is trained for about a year before everything spirals out of control. The Bard goes insane, Northmen attack Jack’s village, he and his sister are captured by the Berserkers, and they are taken to be traded as slaves. On the way, Jack learns about the Northmen’s culture and meets a young shield maiden named Thorgil—who he is kind of frenemies with. Jack is taken all over the world and learns about the Norse gods, goes to Jotunheim and ends up going on a crazy quest to save his sister from being sacrificed.

I first read this book for an assignment in sixth grade, and I loved it. I especially enjoyed how Nancy Farmer included multiple cultures of mythology, including Roman, Christian, and Norse mythology. The Sea of Trolls also has a great plot line with twists and humor. It is a little violent with small amounts of cursing, so I would recommend this book for ages 11 (or mature 10) and up.

The Land of the Silver Apples is the second book in the three-part Sea of Trolls series by Nancy Farmer. The book resumes with its main character, Jack, getting ready with his family for a sacred holiday. At the ceremony, his sister Lucy accidentally corrupts the ritual. Jack and a handful of others (Jack’s dad, the Bard, a Monk rescued from the razed "Holy Isle," and a recently-freed slave named Pega) must go to another town to save Lucy from a supposed demon. Once there, the group discovers that the local Monks are very cruel, and when it is Lucy’s turn for Purification, a terrible thing happens. Once again, Jack must go on an insane quest to save his sister, making new friends, including a slave-criminal-turned-prince, Hobgoblin royalty, a long thought to be dead Monk, and the surprising reappearance of Thorgil. Jack also learns many new things, including how Elves came to be and a terrible secret about Lucy from his father.

The Land of the Silver Apples is one of my favorite books and has many similar traits to the first book that I loved, including many types of mythology, but this book has much more Christianity involved. I enjoyed this book a lot, but I will warn you that you will want to read the first book in the series, The Sea of Trolls, because there are many references that you will not understand otherwise. Overall, I would recommend this book for ages 11 or 12 and up because of some violent parts and small amounts of cursing.

The Islands of the Blessed is the third and final book in the Sea of Trolls series by Nancy Farmer. The main character Jack, a Bard in training, and his friends are stocking up for a big storm when multiple problems come out of nowhere: a giant storm ravages the village, destroying all the crops: a demon revenge spirit comes and kills some of the few livestock they have left; the Bard, Jack's mentor, has a daughter who has been unfairly locked up in a monastery; and at the worst timing possible, some of Jack's family visits. Once again, Jack, his friend Thorgil, the Bard, and others must go on an insane quest to fix everything. They get pulled into an astonishing variety of side problems. They learn new legends and stories, get attacked by monsters, uncover magical artifacts, and more. They will learn and meet many new things and people along the way, with even more characters appearing and old ones coming back as well.

Out of the three books in the trilogy, The Islands of the Blessed was my favorite because the storyline was faster-paced and was more descriptive of the characters and surroundings. I would suggest this book for ages 10 and up, but I would like to advise you to read the first two books before this one to understand the plotline better.

Reviews by: Duncan S.

Duncan is a sixth grader at Ocean Charter School and volunteers at the Westwood Library.

—Ruth Chung, Young Adult Librarian, Westwood Branch Library