Booklog: Heroes of the Valley (Stroud)

Heroes of the Valley (Jonathan Stroud)

Halli Sveinsson is too smart for his own good; with no inclination for farming or herding, he regularly sets the House of Svein on its ear with his practical jokes. But the trick he plays on Ragnar, heir to the rich, ambitious House of Hakon, has unintended consequences that end in the death of Halli's beloved Uncle Brodir. When no one else seems inclined to take an heroic revenge upon the Hakonssons, Halli sets forth -- only to discover that the world is wider and heroism more complicated than he'd ever imagined. Stroud knows his sagas and creates a wonderful pseudo-Icelandic world; both its remembered heroic past and current law-and-economics-driven present ring true. Halli makes an entertaining protagonist -- think Miles Vorkosigan without the steadying influence of his parents -- and he's aptly counterbalanced by his romantic interest Aud, who's as intelligent as and even more manipulative than he. Best of all, Stroud places them in situations that test their certainties to destruction, forcing them to evaluate the myths by which they choose to live (and setting them against the mass of their fellows who aren't so inquiring, and inclined to resent anyone who is). There's a rather Bujoldian concern with the relationship between persons and principles here, allied to a Catherine Jinks-esque talent for depicting the reactions of realistic characters in fantastic settings. Highly recommended.