Dear All,

I read the very short book by Jonathan Stroud which goes by the name of "The Ghost of Shadow Vale". It is a simple Icelandic legend retold in modern English. Pleasant, easy and short to read. It will not change your life.

What is interesting is Jonathan's love for Icelandic myths. Many of their elements are clearly present in Heroes of the Valley, for instance. And in a short appendix to the book, there is some information about the author which I would like to share with you:

Favourite hero:
Odysseus, from the Greek myth. He isn't the strongest guy around, but he's clever. And that means he survives*.

Favourite monster:
Fenrir, from the Norse myth. He's big, he's bad, he's a wolf, and at the End of the World he swallows the king of the Gods. That's just about as nasty as a monster can get.

Favourite fight scene:
Beowulf against Grendel, in the poem Beowulf. The here waits for the monster in a darkened hall, just like Grettir does with Glam**. Perhaps the Icelancic poet knew the English poem, written a few hundred years before?

Regards,

Nick

*This reminds me of Bartimaeus, don't you agree?
**In "The Ghost of Shadow Vale".