Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Lexie

I have yet to meet a re-interpretation of my favorite fairy tale 'East
o'the Moon, West o'the Sun' that hasn't pleased me greatly and Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow (SaM, IaS)does not fail. As a quick comparison to the other two novel length adventures I've read on the fairy tale, East by Edith Pattou and Once Upon a Winter's Night by Dennis L. McKiernan, the story follows a similiar path.

Poor
family with many kids, wintery climate, enchanted white bear, evil
Troll Princess and plucky, resourceful lass. The manner in which these
cornerstones are brought about however is the real fun. I will, more
then likely, be doing reviews for both books seperately some time soon
and then will do a true comparison review of the three.

Pika, or
lass as her beloved older brother Hans Peter calls her, is the youngest
child of Frida and Jarl. Frida rejects Pika, going so far as to not
even name her (a horrifying occurance since unnamed children can not be
baptized and are more easily snatched by trolls) and thrusts the
responsbility of raising her into her oldest daughter's hands. Pika
doesn't spend a lot of time lamenting this fact--merely takes it as is
and does her best to stay out of her mother's way. I thoroughly
disliked Frida, I'm not even certain she was meant to be liked at all.
She was greedy, selfish and later in the story as their luck changes,
downright ruthless. She had more in common with the troll queen and
princess then she did her own family.

Aside from Hans Peter,
Askeladden ('lucky third son' according to the myths) is featured more
heavily then the other siblings. Later in the story one of her older
sisters has an important role, but for the most part they are merely
there and only occasionally show up. I was grateful for this since
remembering 8 other names--and their importance to the story and family
dynamic--might have fried my brain. The few random newbites are more
then enough and their cameo appearances are short.

Not mentioned
in the backcover blurb/synopsis is the fact that Pika can communicate
with animals. The importance of this--and ramifications of this--aren't
entirely felt until the latter half of the second part, but is
important none the less.

At the risk of gushing, I had no
problems with this book. It was a fun, enthralling read from start to
finish that would keep a teen girl or adult entertained. There is
nothing particularly racy involved and only the mildest sort of
violence (mostly perpetrated towards the trolls by their own hands).

((reprinted with author's permission))