Fairy Tale Fandom Book Report: The Northlore Series vol. 1: Folklore.

Okay, this is another one I’ve been meaning to get to.  The publishers of this book contacted me a long time ago asking me to read this book and give it a review.  They even gave me a digital copy for my kindle.  However, it took me forever to fit reading the book into my schedule and then even more time to figure out when to post a review.

How long?  Well, the book came out back in May.  The digital copy they sent me was likely an advance copy and now it’s January of the next year.  Yeah . . . Now you know why one of my conditions to those seeking reviews is that I can’t promise I’ll have it done by a certain time.

Now that I have taken the time to sit down to write this review, I find myself with a different problem.  I just don’t have all that much to say about it.

Trolls

First, a little general information.  The Northlore Series Vol. 1: Folklore is an anthology of poems and short stories published by Nordland Publishing.  Nordland Publishing is a publisher that specializes in Scandinavian-centric material.  The book features 21 different pieces by 19 different authors and is edited by M.J. Kobernus and Katie Metcalfe.  All the stories and poems focus on different creatures from the bountiful folklore of the Scandinavian countries.  The stories are filled with trolls, elves, huldra, draugen, mara, and more.

hulder

However, like I said, I don’t know what to say.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good book.  I’d probably have a lot more to say if it was a bad book.  I enjoyed it greatly.  I found all the entries to be well written and entertaining.  I found it engaging and easy to read with few parts if any that felt like a slog to get through.  Sometimes I was even surprised by the endings of the stories.   

draugr

I was a little perplexed to see two selkie stories in the book because I always associated selkies with Irish folklore rather than Scandinavian folklore.  However, a quick search lets me know that a similar creature exists in Swedish folklore.  I would have preferred they use whatever the Swedish name of the creature was rather than calling them selkies.  But still, the stories are good!  Usually, I have some kind of angle to pursue or point I could make during a review.  But not this time.  I don’t know what it is.  Maybe it’s writer’s block or some kind of folklore-related burnout, but I just don’t have anything to say but “this is a good book”.

So, basically, it’s just a good book!  Read it if you are so inclined!