2 reviews for:

The Night of the Scourge: The Sister Bells Trilogy Vol. 3

Lars Mytting, Deborah Dawkin

4.25 AVERAGE

offeringsfromthewellspring's review

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious sad tense

5.0

sharkybookshelf's review against another edition

4.0

I was pretty excited to finally get my hands on the final instalment of Mytting’s Sister Bells trilogy - I’ve been (im)patiently waiting two years for it to be published in English. The first book remains my favourite (it’s basically a love letter to stavkirker and is SO bleakly atmospheric), but this was a fitting conclusion to the multi-generational saga and brings us to WWII.

Reviewing books that are part of a series without spoiling the previous books is always a bit tricky, so I’ll keep this vague. As with the two previous books, there’s a seam of magical realism running through the story, which I enjoyed, though this one was heavier on the biblical references.

Objectively, it was perhaps a little bloated (the rural Norwegian WWII experience is…comprehensive) and slightly over-dramatic, but I didn’t particularly mind. I really enjoy the atmosphere and strong sense of place in Mytting’s work and the way he writes so beautifully about anything to do with wood, so was happy to just immerse myself in the story and overlook any a-little-too-convenient coincidences in the plot.

The publisher’s blurb suggests that this can be read as a standalone, but I really wouldn’t recommend that - you’d miss out on so many layers of richness and historical context to the overall story. Honestly, it’s a silly suggestion.

A rich, atmospheric and dramatic conclusion to a multi-generational saga which highlights remarkable periods of change in Norway’s recent history.