Nickolai of the North

Nickolai #1

by Lucy Daniel Raby

Nickolai is the last true elf left in the world, rescued from the fate of his people by Comet, a flying reindeer. Brought up by human parents in the distant north, Nickolai knows that there's something different about him. Teased and bullied because of his pointed ears, he seeks solace with the reindeer in the enchanted forest. But when Magda starts to steal children's youth in order to regain her own beauty, Nick must travel north to foil her evil plans ...

Genres: Fantasy, Christmas, Middle Grade, Childrens, Young Adult, Magic

352 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2005

About the author

Lucy is an award winning children's writer who is currently planning to move into teen and New Adult fiction with historical romance and sci fi.

She wrote her first book at 5 and her first play at 8, a nativity play which was performed for many years at her old school. She went to London university where she read English, before embarking on a writing career that included advertising copywriting, journalism, TV and film scriptwriting, books and theatre.

She has a long track record in children's writing, with 25 years' experience in TV, Film, Animation, Puppets, Books and Theatre.

She has worked on numerous children's TV shows, including triple award winning Shaun the Sheep, Angelina Ballerina, Chuggington, The Blobs, Gypsy Girl, Magic Key Adventures, the Hoobs and her own creation for CBBC, Big Kids.

Lucy has published several books so far;

'Nickolai of the North', a fantasy fiction about the childhood of Santa Claus, for 8 - 12 year olds, was first published by Hodder in 2005. Shortlisted for the Rotherham Children's Book Award, nominated for the Highland Children's Book Award 2006 and the Lincolnshire Young People's Book Award 2006, it has achieved four foreign sales so far - in Japan, Russia, France and Italy.

The second book in the series, 'Nickolai's Quest', a sequel, was published in October 2007.

The film rights for Nickolai of the North are under option to Mann Made films and she is collaborating with them on plans for an animation movie version.

Lucy has also written a stage musical adaptation of Nickolai of the North which was performed Christmas 09/10 at the Marine theatre in Lyme Regis, Dorset and in a sell out show at the Archway theatre in Horley in Jan 2012. With 16 foot tapping songs with music by Geoff Tinniswood,fully orchestrated backing tracks and sheet music, the playscript and lyrics are available for licence. Contact Lucy direct or at her agent gemma@gemmahirstassociates.co.uk

Both Nickolai books are available in print and as ebooks here on Amazon.Print copies are also available either via nielsens book data or direct from Lucy at lucydanielraby@o2.co.uk. Lucy is hoping to write a third title to complete the series.

Another e book is currently available on this site - 'Goddess in Pyjamas', a fantasy sci fi adventure for 12+ readers set on a faraway planet.

Lucy has written two other plays,Six Characters in Search of a Story, (also performed in Lyme Regis Oct 2010) and Kill the Lights, co-written with Duncan McIntosh. Both are available for licence at the above email addresses.

Previous print books include 2 spinoffs from her TV episodes for Disney's pre-school 'Animal Stories', 'Sammy the Hippo' and 'Camilla the Camel', 'Ralph the Rabbit', 'Peter the Peacock' and 'Lily the Lost Puppy', a book for 4 - 7 year olds, part of the Puppy Tails series, for Working Partners/Macmillan publishers.

Lucy is currently working on a historical romance for 16+ readers called 'Henry Henrietta', so watch this space!

To find out more about Lucy and her work, go to www.lucydanielraby.co.uk.

Or

Facebook: Facebook profile
LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/lucy-danie...
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/512761669
Twitter: @lucydanielraby

Where to buy in print

http://www.lucydanielraby.co.uk

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 2 out of 5]

Orphaned as an infant one Winter Solstice Eve, when the evil elf Magda, banished to the subterranean Vortex for her wicked deeds, returns and destroys the great Elf Kingdom, Nickolai Grishkin is rescued by the flying reindeer Comet, and given to a human couple to be raised. Aware from a very young age that he is different, Nickolai grows into adolescence in the northern village of Norsk, only discovering that he is the adopted son of Hannah and Joe when he meets Comet again. When Magda creates Doransk, a fabulous city of gold in the far north, toward which a steady stream of human travelers head, Nickolai decides that he too must seek this extraordinary city, in order to discover more of his true heritage. Once there, the terrible truth about Magda and what she is doing - robbing children of their childhood, in order to make herself appear beautiful and young - is revealed, and Nickolai and his friends - human, fairy, and reindeer - must struggle to overthrow her, and save the world's children from a fate worse than death...

I wanted to enjoy Nicholai of the North more than I did. I've owned it for quite a number of years, but have never managed to read it before, probably because I was always saving it for the holiday season, and then not getting around to it at the appropriate time. In any case, this past year (2019) I decided it was finally time. Although the story idea was interesting, somehow I couldn't enter wholly into the reading, and found I could only get through a little bit at a time. It's difficult to pinpoint anything specific in the writing that put me off, although I did find the author's use of setting rather confusing. It felt both modern and historical - mention is made of horse-drawn carts, at one point - but also oddly ahistoric. Raby describes Inuit residents of the far north, leading me to think that the setting is North America, but her time period seems well before there would be a large Euro-American/Canadian presence. It's all a little odd, and no doubt suffered in comparison to another "Santa origin fantasy" I recently read, William Joyce's Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King , which provided an engrossing and fast-paced read. In addition to my fairly lackluster reaction to the story itself, I was also disturbed to see a number of errors and vagaries in Lucy Daniel Raby's afterword, that might mislead young readers. The original St. Nicholas was not a Turkish saint as she claims, although he lived in what is now Turkey. Rather, he was a Greek living in Asia Minor, at a time before Turkey existed. Candlemas, which occurs on February 2nd, is widely considered the end of the longer Christmas season, but is not the pagan holiday onto which Christmas was "grafted." It was Saturnalia and/or the Winter Solstice that determined the celebration of Christmas at its current place in the calendar. Surely, even a little bit of research could have clarified these matters for the author?

I already own the sequel to this one ( Nickolai's Quest ), so I will probably read it despite my less-than-enthusiastic response to Nicholai of the North. That said, I'm not sure that I strongly recommend this, as I think there are better Santa fantasies out there, from the William Joyce, mentioned above, to L. Frank Baum's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus . Perhaps the reader should track those down instead.

[Riley X · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was an amazing story about the boy who turned into Santa! I really loved all the excitement and how it isn't your average story. This is differently a book everyone much read!

[Cocoontale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Une lecture pleine de magie, idéale pour Noël (évidemment !) et qui m'a un peu rappelé "La véritable histoire de Noël" de Marko Leino (d'ailleurs, si vous avez aimé l'un, il y a de fortes chances pour que vous aimiez l'autre).
Cette lecture peut plaire aussi bien aux petits qu'aux grands car le vocabulaire employé n'est pas trop enfantin et que l'histoire parle à tout le monde.

+ : la magie de Noël, l'enfance de Nickolaï
- : j'ai un peu moins accroché au milieu du livre sur tout ce qui concerne la Cité d'Or (Doransk), c'était un peu long et répétitif mais la fin vient rattraper le tout
-------
A read full of magic, perfect for Christmas (obviously!) and that reminded me a bit of "La véritable histoire de Noël" from Marko Leino.
This book can please both young and older readers because the vocabulary used isn't too childish and the story speaks to everyone.

+ : Christmas' magic, Nickolaï's childhood
- : I didn't like the story about Doransk (the golden city) at the middle of the book, I found it quite long and repetitive but fortunately the end is better

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This will always & forever be one of my FAVOURITE childhood winter reads. 🩵

The characters are lovable, the storyline is wonderfully done and the imagery is pure magic. Every time I reread it, it gives me such a fuzzy warm feeling and I don’t think I could ever get rid of my copy 🥹

[Muphyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much, much better than I expect, full of nice little twists and turns and more than a one-dimensional Christmas story.

3.5 stars

[Tasneem · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought this in a charity shop in Newark in November and just adored it. Such a lovely story, even if the modernerties, the racial markers and other inaccuracies grate at times.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this 10 years ago when I was tiny and really enjoyed it. It's mostly a solid fantasy/adventure with a fun storyline, good characters and illustrations. The plot actually reminds me of Avatar The Last Airbender in some ways - it's an adventure where they explore new cities and defeat evil rulers (eg. a very beautiful and evil fairy queen who has been draining souls to maintain her youth).

I don't remember too much about it - but I'm just going to add this to my read list so I don't forget the title.

[Ria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nickolai the last true elf narrowly avoided the fate of his mother when she was turned to ice by the evil Queen Magda but is rescued by Comet the reindeer.
Brought up by a kindly couple he soon knows he is different and destined for great things.
But Queen Magda didn't stop at trying to kill the last elves, she is now bent in trying to steal the children's childhoods from them too.
Travelling to the golden city of Doransk he prepares for an epic showdown to take back what she has stolen.
A clever and inventive tale of how the story of Father Christmas came about.
Great fun and an engrossing read.

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought I’d read a Christmassy book before Christmas and this did not disappoint. I’ll admit I’ve owned this book for years and never had the chance to read it so was sort of childish in places however the story was amazing. I love that someone has thought of an alternative beginning to Santa’s journey, definitely going to be keeping this to read in the future!

[Asil_df · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un joli conte de Noël qui mêle différentes légendes sur la création du père Noël.
Dans cette interprétation du mythe, l'histoire s'installe tranquillement, les indices sont lancés au fil des pages. De telle sorte qu'à la fin, tout se recoupe : la légende est créée.

J'ai passé un très bon moment de lecture aux côtés de Nikolaï l'elfe, à arpenter les contrées du Grand-Nord, à voir des aurores boréales, des rennes volants et des jouets à profusion.

Je ne peux que conseiller de lire ce livre durant les fêtes de Noël évidemment 💙❄

[Hilde Du livroblog · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un moment de lecture agréable pour se mettre dans l'ambiance de Noël avec cette histoire sympathique mais prévisible. La magie opère tout de même en compagnie du petit elfe et de ses amis.

[Hassan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Iykyk

[RuneKirhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5⭐️

[Léa Becomeadinosaur · Rating 3 out of 5]

J'ai apprécié cette lecture. Facile à lire et agréable en cette saison des fêtes, ce n'est pour autant pas un coup de cœur. J'ai trouvé certains passages un peu trop rapides, d'autres trop long.
Mais l'histoire derrière ce roman est magique et donne le sourire et l'envie de croire au père noël :)

[Céline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un très joli conte de Noël, parfait pour la période des fêtes...

[Jill Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nickolai was just a baby in his mother's arms, in her sleigh as they raced in the Winter Solstice Sleigh Race. When they won they received a trophy from King Vilmar. He placed the champion's robe around Ella's shoulders. It was made of red velvet lined with thick white fur.

That night was the last the Kingdom of Elves enjoyed at the North Pole. The evil Elf Magda had returned to take the northern lights and all the light fairies that kept the elves from turning to stone.

Ella escaped the horrors and with Nickolai and his Light Fairy escaped to the surface.

Nickolai didn't know what was happening when his mother tripped and called to him as she was transformed into stone.

The child was left in the snow wrapped in a red fur coat. The first he knew he'd fallen asleep in the swinging movement as he'd been whisked into the air. Saved by a flying reindeer, he was dropped down the chimney of an isolated house at the edge of a town near the forest.

The elderly childless couple who lived in the cottage took him in. They loved him dearly and raised him as their own. His pointed ears caused teasing and torment at school. His true friend Anneka stood by him. Elvina stayed hidden from the human children but appeared for Anneka and her family.

For many years Nickolai wondered why he was different. Why did he have pointed ears? Would he ever find people like himself?

Meanwhile, the evil Magda had made plans to capture Nickolai and take the last light from the world that was shone by his Light Fairy Elvina.

His long journey to the Golden City with Anneka and her friends would lead him into trouble. Would he finally discover his true identity? Would he stop the evil Magda from taking away the childhood of the all children in the city?

I loved this book. I'm very much a person who adores Christmas and the magic that surrounds it. I'm sure all children, and adults with the love of Christmas in their lives will enjoy this book.

[Maman · Rating 3 out of 5]

C'est la Saint Nicolas donc..

On va parler de Nickolaï, un petit elfe à la recherche de ses origines, de son identité. Cette quête de lui-même va l'amener à la cité dorée, là où règne une vilaine sorcière. Va-t-il découvrir d'où il vient ? Empêchera t-il l'extinction de l'enfance ?

Des fées, des elfes, de la magie, des rennes. En tant qu'adulte on devine rapidement où l'auteure veut en venir. Et par conséquent la fin. Mais je suppose qu'en tant qu'enfant lecteur cette épopée fantastique à de quoi émerveiller.

J'ai apprécié cette lecture pour ce qu'elle est : un petit conte pour enfant bourré de belles valeurs et de formules d'espoir. J'ai moins apprécié ce côté très binaire : les méchants d'un côté, les gentils de l'autre. Il y a peu de nuances dans ce texte.

Il faut retenir qu'il y a des passages tout bonnement magiques et féeriques, qui donnent à rêver même pour un adulte. Même si c'est prévisible à souhait.

Et puis cette première de couverture !! Magnifique !

[Rachal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know I claimed to be a Grinch in my review of Let It Snow, but this book was absolutely amazing. It’s a short enough read that I plan to find a way to read it to my nieces either this or next for Christmas (they live in another state so I’ll have to do video calls) because I know they’ll absolutely adore it as well. I think this book is great for all ages, whether you read it yourself or read it to someone. The journey Nickolai takes from an infant, to becoming what we all know as Santa not only makes this an amazing read, but it’s equally as adorable to hear this version of how Santa came to be.

[Amanda Caddick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was intrigued by the premise of the story. What was Santa Claus like as a child?
The story was ok, the writing could be choppy in some places, glossing over events as a “a few hours later”, “the next year”, “a few years had passed”. It felt rushed.
I did like the story, but only like.
I cared about Nickolai and his friends, I wanted them to succeed, and was happy in the end.
Santa as a kid, I’m happy with this possible explanation, mostly.

Edited to add: After writing this review I’ve learned there is a second book, and now I want to read it. That’s a sign I should make it 3.5 stars, right?

[Sharon Norrish · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books I think I have read - it is written brilliantly ! I know it's a childrens book but I found this on my bookshelf and with Christmas only months away I thought I would give it a go.

The story is so compelling that you want to push on to find out the next part.

It is quite a 'dark' fairy tale with witches, goblins and wolves so maybe a bit off-putting to the younger reader but I certainly thought it was brilliant.

To top it off my copy was also signed by the Author !

[Heather Mager · Rating 4 out of 5]

I try and read this almost every Christmas and this year I was determined to finish it again, something that I haven't done in years. And I absolutely love it.
The build up of the story and following Nickolai's journey just gets me in a christmassy mood while having such a childish wonder and adventure.
I do, however, feel that the ending was rather rushed to make sure everything fits in to creating the common myth of Santa and it didn't flow as nicely as the rest of the story.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magical Epic Story

An amazing magical story of Nicolai the Elf and his crazy journey from babe to adult. This is a holiday must read for children of all ages. It would also be a terrific family holiday tradition.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I adored the concept of this and the beginning couple of chapters were so promising. After that, I lost a bit of interest, but then I loved the last couple of chapters as well. A warm Christmassy story perfect for this time of year.

[Shell Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this to my girls. I thought they were going to love it but I think I enjoyed it more than they did! They weren't really interested and I ended up reading the end to myself.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neat Christmas story that is a bit different from many others. Really enjoyed it, even if we didn't get it finished until after Christmas.

[Clémence Pouilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super livre beaucoup de choses dont je m attandais pas

[Miss S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun festive read but really for young readers.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the end of this book a lot. Just felt like the middle part dragged on a bit too long. But some cute explanations of many of the most common Santa traditions.

[Kelly Jarvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice Christmas read with a twist to the beginning of Santa

[OAS · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lowkey this was darker than I remembered, but still good fun and very cute. I love friendship.