Description:

“Like the druidic life force Jack taps, this hearty adventure, as personal as it is epic, will cradle readers in the ‘hollow of its hand’ ( Booklist , starred review).

Jack has caused an earthquake. He was trying to save his sister Lucy from being thrown down a well, but sometimes the magic doesn’t quite work out. Not only does Jack demolish a monastery, but Lucy is carried off by the Lady of the Lake, and Jack has to follow her through the Hollow Road, which lies underground.

Aided by Pega, a slave, and the berserker Thorgil, Jack encounters hobgoblins, kelpies, yarthkins, and elves—not the enchanted sprites one would expect, but fallen angels who steal human children for pets. In the eighth century, the world is caught between belief in the Old Gods and Christianity, and what Jack and his companions do will decide the fate of both religions.

From National Book Award winner Nancy Farmer, this second book in the Sea of Trolls trilogy brilliantly enlarges the world of the first story. Look for the conclusion in The Islands of the Blessed.

**

From Booklist

Starred Review Safely returned from his perilous stint among Northmen, 12-year-old Jack reflects, "That's the nature of adventures. . . . They're nasty while they're happening and only fun later." For readers, though, there's satisfaction in both the nasty and the fun, and this sequel to The Sea of Trolls (2004) offers full measures of both. After Jack learns that his often-bratty little sis is a changeling (and that his real sister likely dwells with hobgoblins), a misguided exorcism results in Lucy's disappearance. Then the young bard must descend into the out-of-time Land of the Silver Apples to retrieve both of his lost siblings. In that richly imagined realm, surprises include a reunion with shield-maiden Thorgil as well as creatures whose appearances deceive—shape-shifting knuckers; hideous yet likable hobgoblins; and lovely, soulless elves, whose inability to grow or age tinges their existence with tragedy. Occasionally, one wishes for a greater range of emotional tone to the predicaments, which plunge Jack into deep despair perhaps too consistently, but Farmer beautifully balances pell-mell action and quieter thematic points, especially the drawbacks of immortality and the wild tangle of Christian and pagan traditions in eighth-century Britain. Like the druidic life force Jack taps, this hearty adventure, as personal as it is epic, will cradle readers in the "hollow of its hand." Mattson, Jennifer

Review

"Jack, Pega, and Thorgil prove strong and capable in ways they themselves never suspected, and readers will look forward to the final installment." -- Kirkus Reviews , Starred Review

“Like the druidic life force Jack taps, this hearty adventure, as personal as it is epic, will cradle readers in the ‘hollow of its hand’ (Booklist, starred review).

Jack has caused an earthquake. He was trying to save his sister Lucy from being thrown down a well, but sometimes the magic doesn’t quite work out. Not only does Jack demolish a monastery, but Lucy is carried off by the Lady of the Lake, and Jack has to follow her through the Hollow Road, which lies underground. Aided by Pega, a slave, and the berserker Thorgil, Jack encounters hobgoblins, kelpies, yarthkins, and elves—not the enchanted sprites one would expect, but fallen angels who steal human children for pets. In the eighth century, the world is caught between belief in the Old Gods and Christianity, and what Jack and his companions do will decide the fate of both religions. From National Book Award winner Nancy Farmer, this second book in the Sea of Trolls trilogy brilliantly enlarges the world of the first story. Look for the conclusion in The Islands of the Blessed.