Frostborn (Thrones and Bones)

I picked up this book because of a podcast interview with Lou Anders. I've been a fan of Lou's from his many podcast appearances, so definitely wanted to check it out. My boys are six and thirteen, so just barely missing the target middle grade audience of 8-12, but thought they (and me) would enjoy it all the same. The interview I listened to said Frostborn would still work well for the younger of the middle grades, so thought I'd try it on the younger son first. I asked him if he was interested in book that was likely a little too advanced, but one that had giants and dragons in it, and his eyes totally lit up. So, I read this to my six year old son, who absolutely loved it. Near the end, he was griping about only having a few chapters left and then when we were down to the last chapter, he was asking me when is book two coming out? He went crazy with happiness at the last line of the book. He's already wanting to reread it. He's also figured out that next year is 2015 and because book 2 should come out in 2015, that must mean it's only a couple months away! Right? :) Now I'm distracting him with other books, but he definitely keeps coming back to this one. For a six year old, it was a <i>little</i> advanced for him, but nothing a few well timed "this is what that word means" from me. And he was interested in it enough that, while he couldn't read it himself, by the end he was definitely picking out all the words on the page that he did know. He was very willing to try to follow along as I read it to him. He had little difficulty following the plot (a few "I don't remember that" from the early chapters), but not enough to really confuse him. We discussed a few of the forgotten things and how they applied later without much difficulty. He even figured out a few of the plot twists as they happened. He's a boy, so of course, he loved the Karn scenes, but the Thianna scenes were pretty well received, too. I think because Thianna was a lot more action oriented, her scenes still appealed to him. So from his point of view, this was an amazing book. We now "have" to make a Thrones and Bones set. A small suggestion would be to have a printable board on http://www.thronesandbones.com/ but seeing the simple hand drawn ones at http://louanders.com/thrones-and-bones-sets.html I'm not sure how much is really needed. From an adult's point of view, the book was really very good. I know I'm not exactly the target audience, but I greatly enjoyed the story. From my perspective, it may have been a little lacking in the "out on their own" section of the book only compared to the fantastic detailed beginning. I was kind of wondering where the story was going for a bit about three quarters in, before it made sense and they circled back to tie it all up in a bow. I think the ONLY thing that felt a little out of place was the reappearance of Gindri, but I would guess he plays a more involved role in future novels. So really, the rating really goes like this: The Kid: ***** I love it! I want the next book NOW! The Parent: ***** My kid is incredibly enthusiastic about reading this and even when I was too tired to read on a specific night, I was "forced" by him to read anyway. Now he wants more. Cool. The Adult: **** Pretty good. A little straightforward, but still had a twist or two that kept me guessing. Again, I'm not really the target audience, but I still liked it a lot. Very enjoyable. I want to read book two, too, to find out more about this world.

Every time I travel I take a book with me from my giant stack of reading material. Recently I purchased a tablet for myself and needed something worthy of my trip to GenCon for me to enjoy on the plane. Now normally I do not read YA fiction but, having met Lou Anders for a few years back (and having been in occasional contact) I was aware of a book he had been working on and was delighted to hear of it's release. The book, Thrones and Bones Frostborn, would be my somewhat appropriate book to read as I traveled to one of the biggest gaming conventions of the year. I say somewhat appropriate because gaming and finding where you belong are at the core of this tale. Being a "geek" all my life I have, until well into my adulthood, felt somewhat out of place in the natural order of things. Where my school mates played ball or ran track, I found myself creating Roleplaying Games or reading comics. Growing up was difficult as a geeky person in the late 80's and 90's so finding where I belonged took many years. These days pop culture has made it easy to be a geek, GenCon is one of those shows that remind you that you belong, but the pain of rejection and being an outcast still occasionally haunts me to this day. This is where this book really spoke to me. This book, the first in a series, follows two unlikely heroes, both just different enough from their communities that they feel that they do not belong. The young boy, Karn, is the heir apparent of a large family homestead and is being groomed for the task of taking over in the event of his fathers passing, however, Karn, being a gamer and a dreamer, has no wish to run the family farm. He would much rather explore, find his place in the world and of course, play Thrones and Bones, his favorite board game. Our other protagonist, Thianna, is a girl of two worlds, half Frost Giantess and Half human, she doesn't fit in either world and only knows one. She is painfully aware that she is different, but only wants to be what she grew up as, a Frost Giant, like he father. Our two protagonists eventually unite and what an adventure they have. In their journey they face Trolls, the Undead and even a Dragon all the while discovering that being different can be a benefit that can eventually save your life. For someone who was once a bit of an outcast, it was a nice reminder of how things can get better over time, something I tend to have taken for granted over the years. I look forward to the next installment of the series and can honestly say I haven't been this excited about a new fantasy series since I first read the Dragonlance Chronicles all those years ago. Give this book a go, it's well worth your while.

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. This books has transformed bedtime-stories from being very dull for me into very exciting for both me and my 5-year old son. This is his favourite book (and he is a big fan of books). The story is very compelling with lots of action and excitement and there are both a male and a female lead character. The fantasy-world setting is rich and fascinating. We highly recommend it.

The first book in the Thrones and Bones trilogy is a winner for kids of all ages. Thianna and Karn are fantastic protagonists who show a nice amount of growth from their introductions to the story's denoument. The Norse inspired land of Norrongard (sorry for not using the correct symbols in the name) is a breath of fresh air; I've read plenty of middle-grade and YA fantasy novels and haven't encountered anything quite like it. The draug and their leader, Helltoppr, are a real standout. Undead don't usually get much character, but all four of them have plenty of it. The story ends a little too neatly, but I trust Lou Anders has a solid plan to get Karn and Thianna together again. I'll be reading this one to my kids and getting the next book in the series soon.