The Winter Riddle
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- 6,49 €
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- 6,49 €
Publisher Description
Once upon a time, the North Pole was a very noisy place.
A kingdom cowered under the maniacal rule of the White Queen, The Vikings raided and pillaged as they were wont to do, and the Winter Witch avoided talking to any of them. When her peace and quiet are obliterated by threats of war and Ragnarok, she'll try anything to get them back. When casting spells to become nearly invisible and dealing with otherworldly powers fail, the Winter Witch needs to forge an alliance with Santa—a retired warrior who's anything but jolly—to save the North Pole from calamity.
Will the Vikings take up arms against the frost giants? Will an evil necromancer keep the kingdom in the grip of fear? And for the love of Christmas, will everyone who isn't the Winter Witch please stop meddling with dark forces beyond mortal comprehension for a bit? Deck the halls and bar the doors! We're in for a long winter's night.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hooker (Peril in the Old Country) tries too hard to be clever with this fantastical yuletide tale. In the Kingdom of Aurora atop the North Pole, Volgha is a princess turned witch who just wants to be left alone. Unfortunately, her tyrant of a sister, Queen Alexia, is always making trouble, often assisted by the god Loki. When Volgha agrees to do a spell for them, she has no idea of the cataclysmic events that will result, putting everyone in the kingdom in danger. Solving the problem requires help from an unlikely source: a man by the name of Santa Klaus. The novel ably weaves well-known fantasy tales with new ideas and offers a fun, fresh take on myth and legend. However, rather than letting readers enjoy the tale, Hooker must remind them constantly that he is the one telling it, making an otherwise pleasant story an exercise in marveling at the author's faith in his own cleverness. The already disjointed plot falls apart under the weight of the cheeky observations, making this a Christmas clunker.
