Allreaders.com
Author Catherine Fisher booklist (click here)

Book Review By Harriet Klausner
Snow-Walker by Catherine Fisher



HarperCollins, Aug 2004, 17.99, 512 pp.
ISBN: 0060724749

The malevolent Snow-walker Gudrun came from the ice to use the Ragnar patriarch to become the ruler of the realm. She married Lord Jarl Ragnar, who became her puppet. Recently, she sent a blizzard to put down an uprising by the rightful ruling family, the Wulfings. Using her spouse, she exiles the next generation of Wulfings, cousins Jessa Horolsdaughter and Thorkil Harroldsson, to remote Thrasseshall on the edge of the world. There they will live with her son, rumored to be a monster that no one outside that isolated frozen hold has seen since he was born.

Jessa meets Gudron's offspring Kari Ragnarsson, who is a Snow-walker with his mother's powers but is different due to the upbringing of his ”caretaker” Brochael Gunnarsson who has showered him with love and understanding. Kari is the only hope to free her people from the icy grip of the evil sorceress, but can he depose his mother and if so, can those who care for him like her keep him from becoming a chip off the maternal block?


Harriet Klausner


Plot & Themes
Tone of book - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - fantasy world/fantasy past
Political power play Yes
Political plotlets - overthrowing govt/kingdom
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Family relations Yes
Descript. of chases or violence - 10 %
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40 %
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40 %
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 10 %

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status:
Age: - a teen

Main Adversary
Identity: - Female
Age: - long-lived adults
Profession/status:
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
How sensitive is this character?
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters

Setting
Earth setting: - during "Tolkien" (fairytime) times
Takes place on Earth? Yes

Writing Style
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How much dialogue? - significantly more dialog than descript
Back To Main Menu