Series: The Snow Walker by Catherine Fisher
Genre: Fantasy
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Book 1: The Snow Walker’s Son – 4 stars
Book 2: The Empty Hand – 4 stars
Book 3: The Soul Thieves – 5 stars
Synopsis of the first book
Jessa and Thorkil are banished by the evil witch Gudrun to the ice kingdom to the North. Here they will be incarcerated with Gudrun’s son Kari; about whom there are the most terrible tales. He is rumoured to be half-man, half-beast and is a figure of dread. After an endless journey, Thorkil and Jessa arrive and, at last meet Kari. He is not as they feared but is a slight winsome young man. His only terror is that he, too, has the power. But he is determined to use the magic wisely.
Review
Some books that you remember from your childhood, you remember with fondness. For me those books are The Snow Walker trilogy. And I dare say they might have installed my love for fantasy as I have it now. Recently I reread this trilogy, and I still loved them as much as I did before.
The books are set in somewhat of a Norse setting in a world where there is often snow and cold. Plot wise there are very little surprises throughout each book. I would say that the second book is the weakest in this. The strongest out of these books is certainly the last book where there is more focus on Kari as a character, and we travel to the world of the Snow Walkers, a race with magic that lives at the end of the world. However as a children’s book I thoroughly enjoyed these books of adventure set in a snow world. I’ve always held a fascination towards books that are set in a colder world, accompanied with snow and storms.
Our main character throughout the books is Jessa, a girl who is strong and somewhat impulsive when she tries to prove herself. She does grow somewhat in this. However the most interesting character of this story is Kari, a half snow walker, hidden away for most of his life and feared by most because of who his mother is. Even his own mother seems to fear him. He’s interesting because he is somewhat mysterious and withdrawn from others. Yet he has a kind heart, and fears becoming like his mother. The way others treat him, reminds me a lot of how the refugees are being treated right now. People don’t deal well with the unfamiliar. The bond he has with his guardian and protector, Brochael, and even his ravens, is interesting. Brochael took on the role of father.
After rereading this I can’t help but wonder what happened to these characters after the third book. There is still so much room to explore more in this world and in these characters as they grow older. It would be mighty interesting.
A Dance With Books 
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