This book was okay. The pacing was good, and the characters seemed realish most of the time.

It kept tantalizing me by hinting that it would be a sort of Norse ghost/horror story, and while there was a little of that; the dual love stories completely eclipsed the horror story. And I'm at a place where I just can't be bothered to care about straight people's love stories, even if one of the lovers is the son of Odin.

I finished it and if something else by Kim Wilkins finds it's way to me, I may read it as long as there's an absence of sappy love story. ( )

Norse themed horror/romance, with supernatural and time-travel threads.

Honestly not a bad book, but very much not not to my taste.

I almost DNF this book ... several times. I'm not exactly sure why. There were times when it grabbed me, but then I'd loose interest.

Good writing, heavy horror vibe in the first half of the book at least. In my opinion a weak, unsatisfactory ending. ( )

Entertaining and fun read that includes norse mythology and legends. ( )

I picked it up because of the Norse mythology - I re-read it because it's a beautiful love story set between worlds, with enough fantasy and excitement to make it palatable to anyone, even cynics. ( )

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. ( )