Book Reviews

Book Blurb

Upon leaving his company's Christmas party, Gunnar Dagviðurson decides to walk to the train and enjoy the snowfall, only to get caught in a winter storm that magically transports him to a mysterious foreign realm. That’s how Celyn finds him, stumbling blindly through the snow, and Celyn takes Gunnar home to a castle of faery. Gunnar wants to find his way home for Christmas, but suddenly he’s faced with a choice: does he go back to his adopted family in the human world or stay with the magical family he’s found?

A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2013 Advent Calendar package "Heartwarming".

Book Review

"Where do I really belong?" is a question many adopted children will ask themselves on a regular basis, possibly along with "I wish my real family would come to take me away" when the going gets tough. In this story, Gunnar, adopted by Icelandic parents and looking very different from them, gets the opportunity to find out exactly where he came from when he is an adult. I really liked the way the author used the legend of the wall between the worlds being thinner around the Solstice. It enables Gunnar to take the trip of a lifetime to explore an alternate reality, only to leave him with a very difficult choice. 

Gunnar has never really fit in. His adoptive parents and sisters love him, but he knows he is different. Not just because he is gay, but he looks different from them and any other race of humans he has encountered. He has made a life for himself, loves his job as accountant, and has no idea what is in wait for him when he walks to the train station through the snowy park one evening. The world he discovers once Celyn, a warrior on horseback who wears silver armor, rescues him from the snow storm is very different from that of the humans. Yet, the beings who live in this dimension/reality know of humans and a few funny misunderstandings ensue when Gunnar makes assumptions about how things work based on the legends he has grown up with. It seems that not everything humans think they know about elves and the Yule Cat are actually true!

And when Gunnar meets his magical family, or at least his biological father, it dawns on him that there is a choice to make for him. Interestingly, this doesn’t center on which family he belongs with. He is very clear that the humans who raised him and loved him for over thirty years are his family. His conflict is of a much more personal nature. Celyn has come to mean a lot to him and is clearly in favor of the idea of Gunnar staying. Gunnar is torn, but the solution he finds ensures a heartwarming ending for all.

If you like stories with more than a touch of the mystical and enjoy reading about traveling to alternate dimensions and realities, if you like Nordic myths and legends and want to see how they might interplay with our reality, if we let them, and if you're looking for a fun, slightly fantastical read with slowly building, warm emotions between two men who aren't as different as they might think, then you will probably like this short novella.

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Novella, 59 pages/15657 words
Heat Level
Publication Date	01-December-2013
Price	$3.99 ebook
Buy Link	https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/a-solstice-journey-by-felicitas-ivey-5990-b