Ice Land: A Novel

A creative re-telling of the Norse myths, in a parallel storyline to a more historical storyline of medieval Iceland. Great characters, and reasonably faithful to the old norse myths. Doesn't pull any punches around how Freya got Brisengamen (by sleeping with four dwarves), or by how fickle the Norse gods were.....good fun.

I read Betsy Tobin's Bone House earlier this year and really didn't care for it. Luckily for me I decided to give her another chance - Ice Land was fantastic! Tobin's writing is clear with beautiful phrasing. The story alternates seamlessly between Freya (the Norse goddess of love,) and Fulla, a young woman struggling to find her place in a frightening and ever-changing world.

I loved the historical tidbits - especially the information about King Olaf of Norway - and the sprinkling of Norse mythology throughout was delicious! This is just the kind of book that makes me want to go back to the library and check out everything they have on the mythology and history of Iceland.

Ice Land is a superior piece of historical fiction, well-crafted and beautiful. There is something for everyone here: adventure, history, romance, mythology and ideology - all entwined in one novel. Definitely a winner!

Oh. My. I fell in love with the cover a year or so ago, and when I found out it was about Norse myth, knew I simply had to read it. When I finally got my hands on it, it was definitely worth the wait.I knew the story dealt with Freya (Norse goddess of love), and somehow the country of Iceland. What I didn't realize was that there were two separate storylines that were going to be presented -- stories that were overlapped and interwoven with an intricacy I did not expect. I was quickly immersed in the story - excuse me, stories - I was reading, and then when everything came together I was surprised. But also delighted.I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting - probably a novel just about the Aesir and Asgard. Instead I got a beautifully descriptive novel that examined the humanity of the gods, and their undeniable connections to the 'earthlings' (humans, dwarves, giants, animals ...). It's a novel about life, and chances, and most of all: Love.

When I started this book I thought it was going to be a really good one. I love mythology, especially Norse mythology. Unfortunately the awkward writing takes away from the fascinating landscape the book is set in.The book alternates between three viewpoints. The first viewpoint is done in first person and deals with Freya the goddess of beauty. She is on a mission to save the Gods from self-destruction. The second viewpoint is done in third person and deals with Fulla, a young girl on the brink of womanhood who is dealing both with the invasion of Christianity and her looming betrothal. The last viewpoint is from that of Dvalin; also in third person, Dvalin is a half-dwarf who is connected to both Fulla and Freya. Between these viewpoints are small intervals where Ice Land's primary volcano is discussed.Unfortunately this switching of viewpoints makes for an awkward story. The early passages with Fulla are done in third person with almost no conversation; so there is a lot of she does this, her hand touches this and it is a very awkward read. I agree with previous reviewers that if this book had been written in a completely different style it could have been great. As it is, it is very hard to read. I really had to push through the beginning of the book. The end was a bit better.Once you get to know the characters, they are engaging. Unfortunately though it takes quite a bit of time for the characters' personalities to show through because of the cumbersome writing style. I am not sure if the book was written as it is to convey primitive culture, but the writing style itself is primitive. All in all this made it hard to enjoy the book.There were some good things about this book. It was interesting to read about the gods acting and living as normal people. Most of this book was about the characters going about their day to day lives; there wasn't a lot of build up to some spectacular climax. It was also interesting to learn how the volcano affected everyday life; although this wasn't included until the end of the book. The characters were somewhat interesting and engaging and I was rooting for them by the end of the story. The setting of the book was creative and interesting too.Unfortunately the above mentioned positives were just enough to drag this book into an "it's okay" category from me. I definitely don't feel a need to check out any more of Tobin's books and mostly I am just happy I am done reading it.

Summary: Ice Land involves two intertwining stories set amidst the turbulent backdrop of Iceland in the eleventh century. Fulla is a young woman who has been raised by her grandfather since her father was killed in a border dispute. Her grandfather is anxious for her to marry someone wealthy and respectable, but her heart is set on someone else... a young man that her family will never accept. Freya is a young goddess, who has been warned by the Norns that catastrophe is coming. They send her to find the Brisingamen, a dwarf-made necklace with the power to influence destiny. But the dwarf brothers who made the necklace are not willing to part with it easily, both Freya and Fulla will find themselves caught up in a quest that is tied to the necklace, to their fates, to the gods, and to the deep forces stirring in the land itself.Review: Ice Land bills itself as a story of myth and saga, a story of love and jealousy and magic and passion and destiny. All of these things are true. It also bills itself as being in the tradition of The Mists of Avalon, and while I can see where they're drawing the comparison, Ice Land doesn't quite measure up.The problem for me was that while Tobin is very good at evoking a mythological atmosphere, giving her work a feeling of being contained within an Icelandic saga, and drawing on the power of her setting to create a real sense of turmoil in the world and in her character's lives, the story itself just didn't go particularly deep. The story was compelling, no doubt, but it didn't deal with many of the themes it set up in any particular detail, and that ultimately made it somewhat unsatisfying. For example, much is made in the early parts of the book of the tensions between pagans and Christians. This should have been an area with a lot of fertile ground to explore, especially given that the rest of the book dealt with the ending of the time of the Norse gods. However, Christianity is barely mentioned after about the halfway point of the novel, and the two themes, despite their obvious connection, aren't really tied together as well as they should have been.Similarly, it took a very long time for me to realize that Fulla's and Freya's stories were actually interconnected, rather than running in parallel. While both stories are interesting, they're very disparate for much of the book, making the shifting focus distracting, and when they finally directly intersect, it's too late to make the book fully cohesive.All of this is sounding more negative than I mean it to; while the book did have some structural problems, I enjoyed reading it very much. Tobin's language is lofty and lovely, and the individual elements to each story are well written and very compelling reading. Mostly, I think my main issue with this book is that, in all its sweeping scope and mythic background, it sets itself up for bigger and more grander things than it actually achieves. 3.5 out of 5 stars.Recommendation: I think historical fiction fans as well as people interested in Norse mythology will enjoy this book, as long as they go in expecting a good story rather than a Grand Epic Saga.

A revolution is taking place that will surely change the lives of the gods and mortals who live together in Ice Land. Freya sets out on a desperate search for the one item that may help save her and her people. There is a necklace with an immense amount of power that is capable of changing everything.Fulla has found her soul mate. The problem is, she has been promised to another. And if that wasn't bad enough, the love of her life is part of the enemy clan.Will Freya's journey prove successful or will the life she's known vanish without a trace? Will Fulla marry the man that has been chosen for her or will she stand up to her family and live happily ever after?This is one of those books that after you've read the first couple pages, you are so drawn in that the world around you ceases to exist. It's a beautiful, timeless story.

Fulfilling the wishes of the Fates, the Norse goddess Freya becomes enchanted by a necklace crafted by four dwarves. The price they set for the necklace is high: Freya must spend a night with each of them. From this myth grows Betsy Tobin’s Ice Land.Tobin weaves Freya’s quest for the necklace with that of a young Icelandic girl’s for love. Fulla lives with her grandfather in an Iceland at the turn of the first millennium. It is time for her betrothal, and, as in all good love stories, Fulla finds herself drawn to a man from a family who opposes her own.Connecting the tales of the two women is Dvalin, a half-dwarf who was one of the creators of Freya’s necklace and who is on his own quest to heal his sister. Away from his home when Freya strikes her bargain with his brothers, he changes the terms for his part of the necklace and uses Freya to guarantee safe passage through the land of the giants.At first glance, Tobin’s novel may seem like yet another in a long line of Tolkien-wanna-be fantasy novels. However, it is anything but. The goddess Freya is nothing more than a woman with access to certain powers and a benefactor of myths and legends told about her people. Although she owns a cloak that lets her change into a falcon, her story and the others don’t depend on magic.The half-dwarf is viewed as a short man, and the giants are only a few heads taller than normal men. Asgard isn’t located across a rainbow bridge but through a crevasse in a mountain. Human emotions and deeds are what drive Ice Land.The strength of Tobin’s writing lies in her handling of daily life. When Fulla and her grandfather attend an annual festival, the reader gets a look at how early Icelanders likely lived. Christianity is beginning to alter the religious landscape of Iceland; a new law demands everyone be baptized and follow Christ publicly, although they are allowed to practice the old religion in private.The world around the characters is changing and the three main characters find themselves caught up in the transition. The success of Fulla and Freya’s quests depends on their ability to adapt to the changing world, even when the changes are heralded by natural disasters.Ice Land changes viewpoints with every chapter, focusing on a different character’s experiences and outlooks. Freya’s chapter is written in the first-person point of view, with the others in the more removed third-person point of view.Although changing viewpoints from character to character works, the change from first- to third-person can be confusing and doesn’t seem to serve a purpose for the novel. Fulla and Dvalin’s stories hold the reader’s interest just as much as Freya’s, and the three characters work as equal protagonists.However, that may be the only drawback of Ice Land. Otherwise, Tobin’s writing shines. The novel is paced slowly, allowing the reader to absorb early Iceland and know the characters fully. Even minor characters like Sky, the mute giant boy, and Gerdling, Dvalin’s youngest brother, shine in the novel.Ice Land does not adhere strictly to any of the Norse legends about Freya and her necklace or Fulla’s grandfather, Hogni. Instead, Tobin takes the best of the legends and of the Icelandic Sagas and creates a detailed, interesting world of her own that is well worth reading.