Giants of the Frost

By: Kim Wilkins

Narrated by: Edwina Wren

An epic saga of love, fate and betrayal.

Victoria has chosen career over love, but starts to question this decision when she finds herself working at a remote weather research station on a tiny island off the coast of Norway.

In this world of midnight sunshine, the Old Gods still watch the affairs of humanity - one of them has become fixated on Victoria, certain that she is the reincarnation of a woman he fell in love with over a thousand years before. It was a love affair which threatened the very existence of Asgard.

Dangerous love and desire are soon running out of control, as the spectacularly supernatural obliterates Victoria's refuge in scientific rationalism.

©2004 Kim Wilkins. (P)2007 Bolinda Publishing

Critic reviews

"A page-turning supernatural romance/dark fantasy novel with lashings of brooding Norse mythology." (The Age)
"Beautifully rendered....Quite possibly her finest work yet." (The Courier Mail)

An all-time favorite, possibly Kim's best

This is my 4th reading of this book and my 2nd audio listen. Need i say more? It is a magical story and for those who love Norse mythology, an even greater delight. And Edwina Wren's narration is flawless.

I loved this story

The narrator Edwina Wren was supernatural herself in the reading of this book.I just loved all 477 minutes of this lovely story. If you like romance/fantasy this would be a great audiobook to listen to over and over and over again. I did!!!!

Epic Tale With A Modern Twist

I really loved this book, more than I expected to. The author blended epic story telling of the old gods seamlessly with a modern twist. The way she characterized the Norse Gods and explained their existence, and their place in our mortal world, was very well done. Their characters take what we know of the gods, Odin the All Father and Loki the Trickster and the rest of the gang and turn their archetypes on their heads, making them fallible and almost human in their desires and weaknesses. This type of story is a classic in itself, a love story based on past life experience, and Wilkins brings everything we enjoy about the genre and adds her own elements besides. Despite the subject matter, I didn't feel it was cliché.

The narrator was quite enjoyable as well. Not only is her posh british accent melodic, her Norwegian accents aren't bad either. She does a very good job of assigning a different voice to every character, I was impressed by her range.

All in all, well worth the credit.

Intelligently written, but too glum

Any additional comments?

At first I was pleasantly surprised by this book, it is very intelligently written and I liked learning about the norse mythology aspect. I was also happy it wasn't a romance novel. It is slow paced and glum, which isn't the problem as there are several book series like that that I enjoy (like game of thrones), unfortunately it just didn't incorporate any humor or enough action to counter the glumness and listening to this book just made me feel very heavy. I thought the narrator was very good.

Good

This was a good book. I enjoyed the reader as well as the story.

light entertainment

I took a chance on this one - fearing it would turn out to be unbearably soppy and clich?d - but I don't regret the credit I spent on it. I enjoyed the story, the mix of the modern and the ancient, of technology and mythology, of the love and the suspense elements. In terms of the story my criticism is the fact that the great love, to me, was just not believable. But that didn't ruin it for me. Much more annoying was the narrator: the voices she gave to the characters (mainly the male characters) did not do it for me at all, and throughout the book I found myself imagining how much more interesting and likable the cast of this story would be were it not for the narration.
This title was enjoyable enough, but I'm sure that reading this book rather than listening to it would be doing yourself a favour.

Beautifully written but slow moving.

I have had this book to read for quite some time. I first read Kim Wilkins in the Dreaming Again anthology released in 2008. I immediately went out and picked out Giants of the Frost and The Autumn Castle. I thought the Autumn Castle was okay, but not great. Giants of the Frost was also in the “okay but not great” category. It moves pretty slowly. It’s advertised as an urban fantasy but really doesn’t fit in that genre all that well.

I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was okay. Some of the characters voices were really well done and some were very annoying. For example the character of Aud had a very scratchy annoying voice. However, the main character’s voice was incredibly well done and nice to listen to. So I guess there was some good and some bad here.

Victoria Scott is trying to recover from breaking off her engagement and just wants somewhere quiet to finish her thesis. She takes a job on an isolated island in the Sea of Norway with a small group of weather researchers. Vicki is a logical woman and isn’t prepared for the stick like man who haunts her doorstep or the terrifying Hag that tries to suck the life out of her. Unknown to Vicki she has a history with this island, a history from a past life.

Meanwhile in Aesir lands Vidar is waiting for his true love on Midgar to be reborn. Until that time he is living away from the rest of his family (Odin, Loki, etc.) in a simple farmhouse with the slave Aud. Odin wants to keep Vidar close because of the prophecy that Vidar will one day save his life. However, Vidar is determined to be reunited with this true love once she is reborn.

I enjoyed the Norse mythology here and the beautiful writing style. I love the setting of the lonely Norse island in the sea; it’s very atmospheric and Wilkins makes it easy to picture. However, this story is very slow. Not a lot happens given how long the book is; midway through the book I was just plain bored.

I really enjoyed the characters on the research island in Midgard; Vicki and her coworkers were doing interesting work and were interesting to read about. However, I thought the portions of the book that took place in Asgard were boring and childish. I really disliked the character of Aud who made numerous poor decisions and then ended up being one of the only characters to get a happy ending. I cannot begin to go into the depths of my dislike for Aud and her childish and selfish decisions.

Overall this was an okay read. There were parts of the book I really liked (the mythology, Vicki’s character, writing style) and parts that I absolutely hated (how slow the middle of the book was, Aud’s character, the scenes in Asgard). It was just a very uneven read for me. I think from now on I will stick to Wilkins short stories and skip her books; I seem to enjoy her short stories a lot better than any of the books she’s written.

AMAZING!

I picked this up on a whim and was so surprised at how great it was. The story and characters are fabulous. The writer has a wonderful, literary turn of phrase and captures the essence of the worlds very well. The narrator is incredibly good and keeps you completely engaged. A must for your library!

Enjoyed it

I enjoyed reading this book first and listening to it later. Some of the "magic and romance" of this novel is harder to visualize through the reading. I think that is due to the length and slow parts more then the reader through. This book is not for someone looking for a bodice ripper or the perfect ending. I enjoy how it mixes enough of reality to make it believable and that life doesn't always turn out as we want it to be. "Autumn Castle" by the same author is better, but this book was still enjoyable.

Norse myth and Now

This was a very good book. there are a couple times it seems to drag a bit but then it always picks up. The story is good another Modern day person runs into things old and beyond there understanding. If you enjoy that sort of fantacy this really should be read.