Seven Endless Forests by April Genevieve Tucholke (review)

Sisters Torvi and Morgunn only have each other after the snow sickness that has swept through Vorseland strikes their steading, killing their mother. Their circumstances worsen when they’re attacked by a band of heathen girls led by Uther, a wolf-priest with a terrible magic, and Morgunn is kidnapped. Torvi sets off to rescue her, accompanied by a secretive druid and collecting several companions along the way, including a handsome bard and a talented storyteller. Rumor has it that Uther is traveling north to find a legendary sword stuck in a tree and claim it for her own, earning a coveted jarldom and the status that comes with it. While the formal storytelling tone matches the Norse-inspired setting and the story’s Arthurian influence, the plot itself is a series of introductions to a dizzying array of characters, some with no or little purpose, and legends that are either unfinished or have no real connection to Torvi’s quest at all. The last third of the book, however, lights up with action, and particularly compelling is Torvi’s final meeting with her sister, whose vices led her to Uther and who is unwilling to give them up for her sister. While this is set several decades after Tucholke’s other Vorse novel, The Boneless Mercies (BCCB 11/18), fans of that novel can expect to hear some familiar names in the tales offered up by the bards and a similar mix of folklore and questing.