beccacoffindaffer's review
5.0
Legitimately one of my favorite books of all time and one I like to reread to get swept up in the language, in the world Gratton built, and in the incredible, messy amazing-ness that is Signy Valborn.
If you haven't read this whole trilogy of interconnected YA fantasies, you should put them on your TBR.
If you haven't read this whole trilogy of interconnected YA fantasies, you should put them on your TBR.
bigbear73's review
5.0
A few months ago, I finally read book 1 of Tessa Gratton’s United States of Asgard series, The Lost Sun. (Yeah, I don’t know what took so long either.) Liking it was a no-brainer; a Norse influenced United States, complete with berserkers, Odin, Thor, trolls, and everything else that makes Norse mythology fantastic. It was extremely well-written, and the characters are so likable that I find myself thinking of them when I’m reading other books.
Strange Maid is even better. I have to admit, it took me a second to warm up, but that’s because we were really getting to know Signy, the main character. I mean, really. After reading this book, I feel like she is someone I truly know, someone I know which book to buy for their birthday, what not to make her for dinner. The characters are fantastically developed, and Signy is the example. The plot is well paced, and doesn’t give itself away. And, I have to tell you...the feels smacked me in the face. The high point of the plot sang to my heart, and I wanted to simultaneously hug Tessa and yell at her for not warning me I’d hit an emotional high finishing this book. Exclamations of exultation over lunch whilst sitting in your cube provide for some odd looks. :)
Read this. I recommend it for anyone who likes alt history, fantasy or Norse mythology.
Strange Maid is even better. I have to admit, it took me a second to warm up, but that’s because we were really getting to know Signy, the main character. I mean, really. After reading this book, I feel like she is someone I truly know, someone I know which book to buy for their birthday, what not to make her for dinner. The characters are fantastically developed, and Signy is the example. The plot is well paced, and doesn’t give itself away. And, I have to tell you...the feels smacked me in the face. The high point of the plot sang to my heart, and I wanted to simultaneously hug Tessa and yell at her for not warning me I’d hit an emotional high finishing this book. Exclamations of exultation over lunch whilst sitting in your cube provide for some odd looks. :)
Read this. I recommend it for anyone who likes alt history, fantasy or Norse mythology.
ginnikin's review
This took me a *lot* longer to read than the first one. I just didn't bond. I did finish it, though, so there's that.
kblincoln's review
4.0
We return to the United States of Asgard in this second book about Signy, a girl chosen in childhood by Odin all father to be valkyerie of his new world tree, but who was presented with a riddle that put her off her path.
We encounter Signy as she gets a partial answer to the riddle that upended her life: that the stone heart she seeks is that of a troll mother.
The poet, Ned Unferth, who brings her this news is a riddle. He is scarred, brimming with poetry and secrets, and intent on bringing her into the heart of abandoned Montreal: mountain troll territory.
The second half of the book finds Signy encountering Soren (the berserker main character from the first book) and the Mad Eagle Beserkers (who all deserve their own book) and going on a further troll hunt.
The world of Asgard, the constant rune and poetry writing/quoteing characters and all that from the first book that I liked so much were still present, but dragged a bit here on Signy's journey. She spends a lot of time hanging out and waiting and so the book felt too until the final third.
It was awesome seeing the characters from the first book playing a big role. When the layers of prophecy and dreams and riddles are all pulled back...there is an awesome symmetry and story at the heart revealed that is worth the wait.
I'll be buying the third book to find out what happens to Soren and Astrid :)
We encounter Signy as she gets a partial answer to the riddle that upended her life: that the stone heart she seeks is that of a troll mother.
The poet, Ned Unferth, who brings her this news is a riddle. He is scarred, brimming with poetry and secrets, and intent on bringing her into the heart of abandoned Montreal: mountain troll territory.
The second half of the book finds Signy encountering Soren (the berserker main character from the first book) and the Mad Eagle Beserkers (who all deserve their own book) and going on a further troll hunt.
The world of Asgard, the constant rune and poetry writing/quoteing characters and all that from the first book that I liked so much were still present, but dragged a bit here on Signy's journey. She spends a lot of time hanging out and waiting and so the book felt too until the final third.
It was awesome seeing the characters from the first book playing a big role. When the layers of prophecy and dreams and riddles are all pulled back...there is an awesome symmetry and story at the heart revealed that is worth the wait.
I'll be buying the third book to find out what happens to Soren and Astrid :)
missprint_'s review
5.0
"In a week and a half I'll be seventeen. It's a decade since I climbed the New World Tree, since Odin Alfather, god of the hanged, named me the next Valkyrie of the Tree, and still I have not won my place on the Valkyrie council."
Signy Valborn dedicated herself to Odin when she was seven years old. She was told one day she would join Odin's Valkyrie council and fill the long vacant place of the Valkyrie of the Tree. That was before she read the riddle. Before she left her Death Hall and her sister Valkyrie behind.
The Valkyrie of the Tree will prove herself with a stone heart. Signy knows that is her riddle. But after traveling far and wide through New Asgard for years, she is no closer to finding an answer.
Until a mysterious troll hunter named Ned Unferth appears with a proposal. Ned speaks in riddles as well as ancient poetry and truths that feel more like lies. But he promises Signy that a greater mountain troll holds the answer to her riddle and offers to train Signy to hunt them. Signy has never been so close to her future and has little choice but to accept Ned's help.
Their winding journey will take Signy to the wilds of Canadia and beyond. Along the way she will cross paths with a lone berserker named Soren Bearstar, a monstrous troll mother, and the truth behind the destiny she was promised so long ago in The Strange Maid (2014) by Tessa Gratton.
The Strange Maid is the second book in Gratton's Songs of New Asgard (United States of Asgard) series. It is preceded by The Lost Sun. Both books function very well as stand-alone titles however, because of timeline and character overlap, The Strange Maid does include some spoilers for The Lost Sun if you choose to read the books out of order.
Gratton once again delivers a perfect blend of myth and fantasy in this engrossing tale. Signy is a sharp, wild narrator with strong opinions and a vibrant love of poetry that comes through in every word of her frank narration. Ned, Signy's mysterious companion for much of the novel, is a perfect foil as Signy is forced again and again to re-evaluate what she knows (or thinks she knows) about her chosen path.
The Strange Maid is a vivid story about the power of choice as well as an ode to the strength of well-chosen friendships. References to Beowulf and other Norse tales will bring these older myths to life for new readers.
Ideas of causality as well as free will are also artfully explored in this remarkable second book in a trilogy that promises even greater things to come.
Possible Pairings: Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken, Graceling by Kristin Cashore, Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst, The Curiosities by Tessa Gratton, Maggie Stiefvater and Brenna Yovanoff, Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones, Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers, The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley, Clariel by Garth Nix, Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce, Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell, The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab, The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner, Beowulf
Signy Valborn dedicated herself to Odin when she was seven years old. She was told one day she would join Odin's Valkyrie council and fill the long vacant place of the Valkyrie of the Tree. That was before she read the riddle. Before she left her Death Hall and her sister Valkyrie behind.
The Valkyrie of the Tree will prove herself with a stone heart. Signy knows that is her riddle. But after traveling far and wide through New Asgard for years, she is no closer to finding an answer.
Until a mysterious troll hunter named Ned Unferth appears with a proposal. Ned speaks in riddles as well as ancient poetry and truths that feel more like lies. But he promises Signy that a greater mountain troll holds the answer to her riddle and offers to train Signy to hunt them. Signy has never been so close to her future and has little choice but to accept Ned's help.
Their winding journey will take Signy to the wilds of Canadia and beyond. Along the way she will cross paths with a lone berserker named Soren Bearstar, a monstrous troll mother, and the truth behind the destiny she was promised so long ago in The Strange Maid (2014) by Tessa Gratton.
The Strange Maid is the second book in Gratton's Songs of New Asgard (United States of Asgard) series. It is preceded by The Lost Sun. Both books function very well as stand-alone titles however, because of timeline and character overlap, The Strange Maid does include some spoilers for The Lost Sun if you choose to read the books out of order.
Gratton once again delivers a perfect blend of myth and fantasy in this engrossing tale. Signy is a sharp, wild narrator with strong opinions and a vibrant love of poetry that comes through in every word of her frank narration. Ned, Signy's mysterious companion for much of the novel, is a perfect foil as Signy is forced again and again to re-evaluate what she knows (or thinks she knows) about her chosen path.
The Strange Maid is a vivid story about the power of choice as well as an ode to the strength of well-chosen friendships. References to Beowulf and other Norse tales will bring these older myths to life for new readers.
Ideas of causality as well as free will are also artfully explored in this remarkable second book in a trilogy that promises even greater things to come.
Possible Pairings: Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken, Graceling by Kristin Cashore, Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst, The Curiosities by Tessa Gratton, Maggie Stiefvater and Brenna Yovanoff, Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones, Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers, The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley, Clariel by Garth Nix, Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce, Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell, The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab, The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner, Beowulf
ruthailuj's review
5.0
I warn you this book is full of riddles. Riddles from the gods, of fate and destiny. Signey Valbourn is training to become the first new Valkyrie in 100 years. But she is faced with a riddle. She must find her answer in order to become the Valkyrie she believes she is destined to be. In her search she will grow. She will love, she will lose and she will discover herself. This sequel to "Lost Sun" is another well written tale that satisfies. We meet again our favorite hero in Soren Bearstar and a new hero in Signey Valbourn, Valkyrie of the tree.
sarahelisewrites's review
4.0
A companion - and continuation - of The Lost Sun, the first book in The United States of Asgard series. Again we see how the familiar has been twisted into a culture based on Norse mythology rather than the one we have today in America.
While the narrator and many of the characters are new to this book, a few from the first book make appearances. I can't wait to read the conclusion of this trilogy!
While the narrator and many of the characters are new to this book, a few from the first book make appearances. I can't wait to read the conclusion of this trilogy!
shinychick's review against another edition
4.0
I stand corrected. When I read last year's [b:The Lost Sun: Book 1 of United States of Asgard|18440950|The Lost Sun Book 1 of United States of Asgard|Tessa Gratton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1410773475s/18440950.jpg|18183974], I said that I couldn't imagine how there was series potential, or how you could even connect the characters from that book to another one. [a:Tessa Gratton|3111338|Tessa Gratton|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1328563756p2/3111338.jpg] does it - by starting Signy's story before The Lost Sun and continuing after it. She involves Soren Bearstar, and we get to see what happened after his adventures with Astrid and Vydir.
All that said, I like Signy. She's bold, brash, and strong in her own way. Setting out to prove herself (she thinks, to her god, Odin), she happens upon a poet, Ned Unferth (Ned the Spiritless) who offers to help her kill a troll, which he assures her will accomplish her task. Over months of training and practice, they fall for each other (and, again, as with my criticism in [b:The Lost Sun: Book 1 of United States of Asgard|18440950|The Lost Sun Book 1 of United States of Asgard|Tessa Gratton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1410773475s/18440950.jpg|18183974], the romance is very whirlwind, unexpected, but not without passion.)
I look forward to book three, a lot because even if I'm not fond of the romance, I love the world building and setting - it's so immersive, and it's fun to imagine what it must be like, living in the United States of Asgard.
All that said, I like Signy. She's bold, brash, and strong in her own way. Setting out to prove herself (she thinks, to her god, Odin), she happens upon a poet, Ned Unferth (Ned the Spiritless) who offers to help her kill a troll, which he assures her will accomplish her task. Over months of training and practice, they fall for each other (and, again, as with my criticism in [b:The Lost Sun: Book 1 of United States of Asgard|18440950|The Lost Sun Book 1 of United States of Asgard|Tessa Gratton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1410773475s/18440950.jpg|18183974], the romance is very whirlwind, unexpected, but not without passion.)
I look forward to book three, a lot because even if I'm not fond of the romance, I love the world building and setting - it's so immersive, and it's fun to imagine what it must be like, living in the United States of Asgard.