A lot of mud is slung at this book by critics bogged down in socio-political analysis... Plucking themes out of thin air...American Indians versus Indian Indians... Aggressive agrarian settlers/colonials versus plain ol' nomadic tribes....
Why?

It's a book about bloody Trolls? They're make believe. Maybe they should pay attention to real world problems such as the rise of Trump? A real life troll....

But I digress.... As the author is prone to do, too. Our young Mr Finlay loves a wicked twist, time after time setting up expectations only skewer them. It makes for a strange haphazard journey. A transposed Tarzan tale. A fishy book full of red herrings.

SPOILER ALERTS:

Things that get skewered. First quarter of book is largely useless. A set up of a world and romance that is never fulfilled or re-visited...
Baby Claye seems destined to be moulded/brought up by the honourable old knight and the buxom nursemaid... but no.
Destined to dominate and lead the trolls... but no.
Destined to save his adopted Indian tribe... but no.
Destined to learn wizardry from weird old mage... but no.
Destined to depose the despot who overthrew and slew his parents... but no.
Destined to tie up the loose ends happily and neatly... but no.

Overall, a rollercoaster of a read, well written with constant twists and turns. The heart of the book however is the sweet mother-son relationship, without which it would be slightly smarmy. The loose ending(s) screams out for a sequel - though probably written by someone more straight forward, someone prepared satisfy and gratify the reader... But no, this is a one-off in all senses of the term.
( )

A lot of mud is slung at this book by critics bogged down in socio-political analysis... Plucking themes out of thin air...American Indians versus Indian Indians... Aggressive agrarian settlers/colonials versus plain ol' nomadic tribes....
Why?

It's a book about bloody Trolls? They're make believe. Maybe they should pay attention to real world problems such as the rise of Trump? A real life troll....

But I digress.... As the author is prone to do, too. Our young Mr Finlay loves a wicked twist, time after time setting up expectations only skewer them. It makes for a strange haphazard journey. A transposed Tarzan tale. A fishy book full of red herrings.

SPOILER ALERTS:

Things that get skewered. First quarter of book is largely useless. A set up of a world and romance that is never fulfilled or re-visited...
Baby Claye seems destined to be moulded/brought up by the honourable old knight and the buxom nursemaid... but no.
Destined to dominate and lead the trolls... but no.
Destined to save his adopted Indian tribe... but no.
Destined to learn wizardry from weird old mage... but no.
Destined to depose the despot who overthrew and slew his parents... but no.
Destined to tie up the loose ends happily and neatly... but no.

Overall, a rollercoaster of a read, well written with constant twists and turns. The heart of the book however is the sweet mother-son relationship, without which it would be slightly smarmy. The loose ending(s) screams out for a sequel - though probably written by someone more straight forward, someone prepared satisfy and gratify the reader... But no, this is a one-off in all senses of the term.
( )

A lot of mud is slung at this book by critics bogged down in socio-political analysis... Plucking themes out of thin air...American Indians versus Indian Indians... Aggressive agrarian settlers/colonials versus plain ol' nomadic tribes....
Why?

It's a book about bloody Trolls? They're make believe. Maybe they should pay attention to real world problems such as the rise of Trump? A real life troll....

But I digress.... As the author is prone to do, too. Our young Mr Finlay loves a wicked twist, time after time setting up expectations only skewer them. It makes for a strange haphazard journey. A transposed Tarzan tale. A fishy book full of red herrings.

SPOILER ALERTS:

Things that get skewered. First quarter of book is largely useless. A set up of a world and romance that is never fulfilled or re-visited...
Baby Claye seems destined to be moulded/brought up by the honourable old knight and the buxom nursemaid... but no.
Destined to dominate and lead the trolls... but no.
Destined to save his adopted Indian tribe... but no.
Destined to learn wizardry from weird old mage... but no.
Destined to depose the despot who overthrew and slew his parents... but no.
Destined to tie up the loose ends happily and neatly... but no.

Overall, a rollercoaster of a read, well written with constant twists and turns. The heart of the book however is the sweet mother-son relationship, without which it would be slightly smarmy. The loose ending(s) screams out for a sequel - though probably written by someone more straight forward, someone prepared satisfy and gratify the reader... But no, this is a one-off in all senses of the term.
( )

A great twist on the usual Tarzan trope, and a fun story in its own right.
( )

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1650790.html

The central character is a boy brought up by trolls, à la Tarzan or Mowgli, who then seeks his destiny among his own kind; he wanders into a human war between subsistence pastoralists and settled agriculturalists (Native Americans vs European feudal settlers seeming to be the paradigm) and eventually, in an ending that came rather abruptly though did at least fit with what we had seen before, chooses his own way.

I was a bit dubious about the sexual politics of the book. The story is all about how Maggot (né Claye) becomes a Man; the only thoroughly evil character is a eunuch who was born male and is addressed by female pronouns; and Maggot's crucial decisions are about rejecting the women who might care for him. That may not have been what the author intended but that was what came across to me.

A more minor snark: "prodigal" does not mean "long-lost", it means "wastefully extravagant". ( )