The Snow-walker Trilogy: "The Snow-walker's Son", "The Empty Hand", "The Soul Thieves" by: Catherine Fisher
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8 reviews
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Publisher: Red Fox
Release date: 3rd April, 2003
Media: Paperback
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Rating: - Sorcery and Hard Choices
An excellent trilogy set in the world shaped by northern myths. The son of a cold-hearted sorceress is rescued from the prison she left him in and grows into powers which alienate him from the normal society. Will he choose to use his powers to dominate those less gifted and join his cruel mother or will he take the harder path. Atmospheric with good characters and a tinge of horror from the well-drawn, grendel-like creature which portrays the beast as an incorporal, terrible need...a spectre growing as it feeds. A better depiction of the grendel than most found in the various beowulf renditions. Catherine Fisher is an accomplished story-teller and this is great read for 12 and up, including adults.
Rating: 
- A Glittering and Spellbinding Nordic Fantasy
A truly spellbinding fantasy trilogy, with an icy cold sorceress at its very core.
The evil Gudrun, coming from a frozen land beyond the ends of the earth, strikes fear into the hearts of all she touches. Her power is her sorcery. Her weapons are evil magic spells and runes. Her vision reaches beyond the realms of the naked eye.
Through these three short novels we follow Jessa, the orphaned daughter of wealthy landowners. Uprooted by the evil Gudrun at the beginning of the story, Jessa is exiled with her cousin to a harsh and distant land where Gudrun's own son has already been held in captivity for many years.
Jessa, however, is a strong-willed girl, and determined not to be defeated...
I found this so captivating and with such a good pace to it, I literally couldn't put it down until I'd finished all three! Great for all ages 10+.
Rating: 
- Absorbing Nordic fantasy
Catherine Fisher usually writes about British (specifically Celtic) mythology but that doesn't mean you should pass up this collection. The grounding in Nordic myth is solid and the echoes with specific tales will especially please afficionados. I was particularly pleased by the character of Jecca, a strong girl who is accepted as an equal by the men and refuses to be left behind. (She would probably get on well with Alanna and Keladry from Tamora Pierce's Tortell.) The first book sets up the characters and the situation, the second develops them and the third ties up all the threads. It's good they've been brought together, as once you've started reading, you find you are drawn on as surely as if Gudrun herself were doing it! Kari, the eponymous character, is especially well-drawn.
Highly recommended.
Rating: - Cold and lovely
Welsh author Catherine Fisher strikes gold in an icy, shimmering new fantasy, "Snow-Walker." With likable characters and vidid writing, Fisher demonstrates her talents in the arena of Norse mythology, filled with shapeshifting wolf-men, soul-stealing ghosts, and icy witches.
Jessa is horrified when she learns that the Jarl (a sort of king-chieftain) has exiled her to Thrasirshall -- where Kari, the son of the Jarl and his cold, evil wife Gudrun, lives in complete isolation. He's rumored to be a monster. But when Jessa arrives, she finds that Kari is not a monster -- but a lonely young boy who has the power to destroy his scheming sorceress mother, and has been sent away because of that.
After the death of the Jarl, Gudrun vanishes, and a new Jarl, Wulfgar, is chosen. And Kari vanishes back to the north for a few years, honing his magic abilities. But with power comes greater fear. Kari fears becoming like the evil Gudrun, and others fear his dark magic. Even Wulfgar begins to doubt him, especially when Kari is accused in a prophecy by a priest.
But Kari and Jessa have more than just accusations to deal with. A monstrous, bearlike creature is coming to the Jarlshold, with Wulfgar as its target. And Wulfgar's bride's soul is stolen by Gudrun. Kari and his loyal friends band together to defeat the evil Snow-Walker -- but is the good in Kari enough to keep him from becoming like Gudrun?
The first book by Catherine Fisher, "The Oracle Betrayed," was a tepid mix of Greek and Egyptian cultures. She fares much better with the rich Norse mythology, against a backdrop of monsters, snow, ice, and sorcerous people with eyes like bits of ice. Werewolves, armies of dead men, villages on lakes, and spirits conjured out of loneliness and misery are only part of this story.
It's actually like a trilogy of novellas, each a little over 160 pages long -- "The Snow-Walker's Son," "The Empty Hand," and "The Soul Thieves." With plenty of room to stretch, Fisher's writing is tense, descriptive, poetic, and simple. Her descriptions of magical beasts and phantoms are spellbinding. The main problem is that the climactic battles in "Soul Thieves" and "Snow Walker's Son" seem to finish too quickly and cleanly, although the finale is a satisfying one.
Though the strong-willed Jessa is the lead character, Kari is the center of the novel -- a boy who never had a normal life, and has a lingering fear of being turned to evil. The supporting characters like Wulfgar, Kari's loyal guardian Brochael, crippled thrall Hakon and others are well-drawn. Gudrun isn't given much dimension (okay, she's evil and cruel, we got it), but her chilly plotting is well-done.
Catherine Fisher is well-suited to the robust Norse legends of the snowy north, and the solid "Snow-Walker" is an excellent fantasy read for adults and teens alike.
Rating: - Poetically written norse fairy-tale
At first, I found the book a little slow and hard to get in to. But I really liked the writing style - Catherine Fisher writes so beautifully! The book is a pleasure to read for the grace and eloquence of her writing alone.
But by the time I got onto the second book, I found that I really did care about the characters and couldn't put the book down. It becomes addictive gently and quietly without your realising. The story really does pull you in and the vividness of the world Fisher creates is amazing.
I would also say that the book is suitable for a wide age range. I'm 19 and I really enjoyed it, although I'd have thought the language and imagery might be a bit heavy for younger children. I would definitely recommend this book - and my advice would be to perservere with the first story "the snow-walkers son" because by the time you get onto the second and third books in the trilogy, you'll find youself reaching for the book before you even realise how hooked you are!
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