Bracelet of Bones by Kevin Crossley-Holland is the first book in his YA Viking Saga. It is the story of Solveig who goes in search of her father, Halfdan a Viking mercenary who left her behind when he went to become one of the Viking Guard serving Empress Zoe in Constantinople. As she journeys from Norway to the fabled city she travels with others, first fur trappers and then sea-going traders. Unfortunately, the focus of the story becomes less about Solveig and more about the lives of the people she meets and travels with.

I was expecting an exciting coming-of-age story about a courageous young woman who risks travelling halfway around the known world to be reunited with her father, but for some reason the author tended to focus on the story lines of the various characters that Solveig met along the way. So instead of one strong narrative it became a watered down series of stories for the author to insert information and justify the extensive research that he obviously did.

Bracelet of Bones is the first in a planned trilogy, but I won’t be continuing on with this saga as I really can’t say that I enjoyed this read. ( )

Something a little different about the Vikings: in the 11th century Solveig travels from Trondheim to Miklagard [Constantinople] to reunite with her father, Halfdan, who is there part of the Varangian Guard. She passes Ladoga, Kievan Rus, Black Sea, then her destination and reunion. The author must have researched thoroughly, but the story and characters fell flat. And how on earth could a young girl travel such a distance and in dangers--such as rapids on the Dnieper River--without some male figure hurting her? Her companions in the trading ship all treated her like a sister or daughter [depending on their age]. That was a bit hard to believe. The map tracing her journey was a gem! The author states that discovering in Aya Sofia the name "Halfdan" carved on a balustrade in Runic letters gave him the idea for the story. ( )

Solveig's father leaves her with her step-mother and step-brothers to rejoin his old leader Harald in Miklagard. Solveig sets out to follow him, an impossible journey across half the world. Crossley-Holland is one of the best story-tellers out there, with an instinctive appreciation for the role of myth and spirituality and poetry in everyday lives. Therefore the journey is vivid and fraught and wonderful, full of living, breathing characters and sudden, horrible dangers, hidden threats and tensions amidst joy and laughter and fellowship. Beautifully written and thoroughly alive, this is a gem of a book. ( )