Trollgrave… The most Norse of the Norse-inspired books that I’ve ever read, that is for damn sure!

It starts as something simple. A look at god-speaker Alvir’s life as a wandering healer, his troubles, his regrets, his work. But when Alvir accepts a request to go and check on another god-speaker, what he finds changes everything – himself, his beliefs and the world as he knows it.

There are some interesting conflicts in the book, both between the enemy and the people, the people amongst themselves, and additionally, the main character Alvir brings to the table not one but two difficult internal conflicts. Driven by his faith in Gods – and believe you me, Alvir’s faith is incredibly strong, indeed – I thought his personality tiptoes on the border of being very close to unreasonable with some things. I felt like we weren’t far off blatant prejudice. That’s one of the things that was well done about this story – the personal convictions of all characters were so full on strong, but as the story progressed and fate, or Gods, sent the most difficult of obstacles Alvir’s way, I became to realize that even if he is blessed by the gods and able to wield magic, he’s still human. Alvir displayed a lot of conflicting emotions and he felt rather lost, albeit with a strong purpose. I do enjoy a character who is a step beyond cookie-cutter.

Once the plot of the book explodes into epic proportions, there is no escape from the story. You’re in it for the long haul. There are twists and unexpected enemies, as well as multiple battle scenes worthy to be blown up on a big TV screen. Which brings me to the writing.

My goodness, Bradshaw can deliver. The detailed descriptions in this book? Wow. Trollgrave took me right into the time and place. It’s all pine needles, moss, fern, and mushrooms. It’s God-speakers and Windborn, and rune-magic, it’s trolls and spirits and the very nature.

Overall, admitting that whilst the pace was on the slow side for my tastes, Bradshaw really made up for it with his skill to deliver atmosphere. Particular favourites of mine were, as you can tell by the quote I chose, the forest scenes and the rune-weaving magical scenes. To die for! *chef’s kiss*

Get yourself immersed in this magical adventure with high stakes, for in the end it will all be oh, so worth it!