The Black Pool by Jennifer Willis (4.5 stars)

About The Black Pool
(from GoodReads)

THE MORRIGAN IS AWAKE 

Sally is taking a break from magick-or trying to. Leaving her runes behind, she's studying in Ireland and doing her best to ignore her roommate's reckless, witchy-wanna-be experiments. But the presence of the Norse Moon Witch on Irish soil rouses the dark and dangerous Badbh-the slumbering keeper of the Black Pool cauldron and a sister goddess of The Morrigan-and Sally once again finds herself at the epicenter of supernatural doom. 

LOYALTIES WILL BE TESTED 

With the treaty between the Vanir and the AEsir hanging in the balance, Thor, Heimdall, and the Vanir twins Freyr and Freya travel to Dublin to face The Morrigan-and to contend with rampaging faeries, a shape-shifting pooka, shutterbug tourists, and marshmallow pixie trinkets exploding from leprechaun hammers. The time has come for Freyr and Freya to choose between Odin's Lodge and their own kin. And Thor is missing another fondue party. 

THERE CAN BE NO PEACE WITHOUT BLOOD 

As AEsir, Vanir, and mortal come to grips with the dark chaos around Dublin's Black Pool, one of their own must make the ultimate sacrifice to prevent Paranormal World War.

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Review

After the perils of Iduna's Apples, Sally is taking some time away from magic to study in Ireland. As fate would have it, her roommate is obsessed with magic; she's just knowledgeable enough to be dangerous. 

A simple mistake, a moment where Sally lacked judgement over irritation, brings forth a great evil.--an evil that threatens a long-in-place treaty and new family bonds. Freyr, Freya, Thor, and Heimdall head to Ireland to help Sally (along with the often-meddling Loki). Can they save the world from the evil unleashed? What losses will they suffer in doing so?

I love this series, and The Black Pool is an excellent third installment--I say this with great hope that the series will continue (it certainly ended in a way that begged for it to). Although loaded with action, the characters and their reactions to the action are forefront. Plus, there's humor and wit to boot. Thor and Loki are as entertaining in this series as they are in the movie franchise--although Jennifer Willis definitely creates her own unique world and traits for these characters. 

A good book touches on as many aspects of our lives as it can: humor, excitement, fears, sadness, happiness, love, friendship, and so on. This book does that in spades. I laughed, I screamed, I cried. I highly recommend it to readers who love mythology books with well-written action scenes and character development. 

Note: My 13-year-old daughter read the first three books in this series over a long weekend and loved them (she's a mythology nut and has read most YA mythology books).

Rating: 4.5 stars

Check out my reviews of the first two books in the series: Valhalla and Iduna's Apples.

About Jennifer Willis

On the fiction side, I write kooky stuff -- frustrated witches, vampires, old gods having to get jobs as photocopier repairmen. It's simply my nature. Apparently, my work is in that popular YA/mainstream crossover category inside the urban fantasy genre, which is really just a happy accident.

I'm a native Virginian living in Oregon, and my fiction is frequently set in one of these locales.

As a freelance journalist and essayist, I specialize in sustainability, religion/spirituality, health, history, and living. I've written for The Oregonian, The Christian Science Monitor, Salon.com, The Portland Tribune, The Writer, Ancestry Magazine, The Lund Report, The Jewish Review, Skirt!, Heeb, InterfaithFamily.com, Aish.com, HGTV's FrontDoor.com, Spirituality & Health, Vegetarian Times, and other online and print publications at home and across the globe.

Oh, and I really like dogs. And trees. And bellydancing.

Note: I received a complimentary copy for review purposes. A positive review was not guaranteed or requested; the opinions expressed are my own.

Iduna's Apples, Jennifer Willis (5 stars)

Summary of Iduna's Apples
(from author's website)

Iduna’s Apples is the second book in the Valhalla series of urban fantasy/YA fiction.

Thor and his kin are depleted by the battle for the White Oak Yggdrasil and are in desperate need of Iduna’s apples—the sacred fruit that grants immortal strength and long life to the Norse gods.

But Iduna’s Grove in modern-day Norway comes into harvest only once every four hundred years—just in time for retreating glaciers to free the dreaded Frost Giants from their icy prison. The gigantic and eerily courteous Frost Giants hold the harvest ransom and demand wives: Freya, Saga, Heimdall’s girlfriend Maggie, and even teenaged Norse Witch Sally Dahl.

Will Heimdall and Thor track down the Frost Giants and the apples before succumbing to sudden mortality? Can Sally atone for accidentally calling up an army of old lady Berserkers to stand against Odin? Is that Thor in a wedding dress? And is there a darker, more sinister enemy on the loose, targeting both the Norse gods and their Frost Giant foes?

Also check out the online glossary of Valhalla characters, terms, places, and more!

Review

Too often I love the first book in the series only to be disappointed by the second, or what I like to refer to as sequel slump. As excited as I was to read Iduna's Apples, the sequel to Valhalla (a 5-star read, see review here), I was nervous. Would I love it as much?

I opened the first page with a bit of trepidation. But my nervousness did not last long, because the story and characters pulled me right in.

The Norse gods of old are still living within the constraints of the human world. After a fierce battle at the end of Valhalla, they need the renewing lifeforce from their sacred fruit--Iduna's apples. Unfortunately, an old enemy stands in their way. One they thought was safely imprisoned and no longer a threat.

When Heimdall, Thor's brother, and his girlfriend, Maggie, go on vacation to his native Norway, the Frost Giants take them by surprise and kidnap Maggie. They need to grow their numbers and demand wives in exchange for the apples. As the gods become increasingly weaker, other long-forgotten enemies come forward. Will the gods be able to survive and keep their immortality? Can they keep their loved ones safe?

What I love best about this series... the humor. The scene where Thor disguises himself as a possible bride for the Frost Giants had me in stitches. Literally, I was laughing out loud. Jennifer Willis has an amazing ability to create vivid images, and she's equally gifted with action and humor scenes. Not a small feat.

I'm so excited for more books in this series, and I highly recommend both Valhalla and Iduna's Apples to all readers--not just the ones who love mythology and the young adult genre, but all readers who appreciate good writing, great story, and memorable characters.

Plus, Iduna's Apples raises a really intriguing question... if you were offered the chance at immortality, would you take it? The decision is not as cut and dry as one might think.

Rating: 5 stars

About Jennifer Willis

On the fiction side, I write kooky stuff -- frustrated witches, vampires, old gods having to get jobs as photocopier repairmen. It's simply my nature. Apparently, my work is in that popular YA/mainstream crossover category inside the urban fantasy genre, which is really just a happy accident.

I'm a native Virginian living in Oregon, and my fiction is frequently set in one of these locales.

As a freelance journalist and essayist, I specialize in sustainability, religion/spirituality, health, history, and living. I've written for The Oregonian, The Christian Science Monitor, Salon.com, The Portland Tribune, The Writer, Ancestry Magazine, The Lund Report, The Jewish Review, Skirt!, Heeb, InterfaithFamily.com, Aish.com, HGTV's FrontDoor.com, Spirituality & Health, Vegetarian Times, and other online and print publications at home and across the globe.

Oh, and I really like dogs. And trees. And bellydancing.

Note: I received a complimentary copy for review purposes. A positive review was not guaranteed or requested; the opinions expressed are my own.

Best Book I've Read this Year: Day One in a 30 Day Book Meme

Last week I posted about a 30 Day Book Meme. There are 30 days of questions, and I'll try to answer one a week, if not more often.

Day One: The Best Book You Read Last Year

That's so hard! I have a list of my favorite books on the sidebar, but I haven't updated them in awhile. This past year has been a stellar reading year! Not only did I read some wonderful bestsellers, I found some excellent gems in smaller books.

My five star reviews for 2011 (in random order):

1. Max and Menna, Shauna Kelley
2. Valhalla, Jennifer Willis
3. Art of Racing in the Rain, Garth Stein
4. Turning Point, Melissa Luznicky Garrett
5. Come Back to Me, Melissa Foster
6. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot
7. Emeralds Never Fade, Stephen Maitland-Lewis
8. Call Me When You Land, Michael Schiavone

I loved each of these books for different reasons and they span genres. I look forward to reading more books in 2012 and adding to my 5-star list.

What is your top favorite 2011 book?

Valhalla, Jennifer Willis (5 stars)

Summary from her website: Sixteen-year-old Sally Dahl is a rare, modern-day Norse Witch with more power than she realizes. Playing sick from school in Portland, she’s casting rune spells during a rare astronomical convergence to bring about a better, happier planet — and hoping her parents don’t find out.

What Sally doesn’t know is that the Norse gods are still around, albeit without their divine powers — Odin is a high school principal, and blustering Thor is about to lose yet another job as a photocopier repairman. But Heimdall has the perfect cover as a forest ranger while he and his kin hunt for the newly reincarnated World Tree and try to prevent Ragnarok, the literal end of the world that could be timed to the same alignment of stars.

Instead, Sally stumbles across Managarm the Moon Dog, a lost god who seems desperate for her magickal help. But does he really share Sally’s vision of a more peaceful world, or are his intentions much, much darker? And what can she do about the ancient Berserker warriors she accidentally calls up, who pledge their allegiance and then demand junk food runs to Voodoo Doughnut and Burgerville?

I met Jennifer in May while participating in Wordcount’s Blogathon. Thanks to my daughter’s fascination with all things mythology, my house was eagerly anticipating the movie, Thor. Jennifer was such a giving and witty blogger, so I was intrigued to read her book. Finding out it was about Thor in modern-day times was icing on the cake.

The story centers around Sally, a teenager experimenting with powers she doesn’t fully understand. She soon meets a real Norse god, Managarm. Unfortunately, he’s out to undermine the other gods and plays on Sally’s naiveté and vulnerability.

Action abounds, but I found myself most drawn to the scenes of modern-day gods, stripped of their powers, trying to make it in the real world. They reminisce about their god days, feasts and battles, while trying to fit into their jobs and fighting with girlfriends. Can you imagine finding out your boyfriend is really the brother of Thor? He’s fighting to save the world, but can’t even explain why he’s really late. Priceless. Add Odin as a high school principal. Genius.

Sally’s job is to call forth loyal, battle-ready warriors, not to mention save the world: “Though she was only sixteen, this would be the great act of Sally’s life. The world—and the ancient spirits she resurrected—would thank her for it.” But would they? Other warriors are springing forth siding with Thor and his family. Between the two sides, you have everything from old ladies to an entire football team, the Vikings no less, fighting. Thor’s brother, Loki, plays a role, but he’s not the bad guy you would suspect from the Thor movie. He’s misunderstood, fragile even.

I commend Ms. Willis on her ability to combine battle scenes and softer sides of the participants with humor and reality. She also did an excellent job tying in the lesser none (at least for me) Norse god mythology. The characters are memorable, a key to a great read for me. I fell in love with Sally’s cat based on name alone, Baron Jaspurr Von Pussington, III, and my heart broke in a pivotal scene involving Frigga, Thor’s mother. She is a goddess, but still a mother and certainly not impervious to loss.

I wanted Sally to “get it” before she did, but I can’t imagine the teenage dilemma of finding out you are the Moon Witch, only reincarnated every twenty generations, and a pivotal player in a god-struggle. She comes through in the end in grand fashion, and the novel left me wanting to know more about her future adventures.

Well-written and expertly crafted, Valhalla is a must-read if you enjoy mythology, strong characters, humor, and action.

Follow Jennifer Willis on Twitter and Facebook.