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Troll
At what point did humanity learn to fear each other? To hate? Paleo-Anthropologist Ariel Connor thinks she knows. She just can't prove it yet, but her newest find, high in a Norwegian Valley, may give her the proof she needs. Those scary stories we've told our children to keep them from roaming too far outside the gleam of the porch light may have come from real incidents, many, many years ago. While Dr. Connor's excavation continues, the story of what happened is slowly being revealed. Two clans are converging on the remaining game lands. One will have to leave their homes, one will tell stories and sing songs of their own bravery. One people will disappear while another will bring their history into the modern world. One way of life will be lost, but does the better way endure? What have we learned from the ancients that would have been better forgotten? Troll explores these questions and asks a few more as well.
236 pages, Paperback
First published October 2, 2012
1 person is currently reading
21 people want to read
About the author
Richard Sutton
9 books116 followersFrom San Rafael, California on a windy January in 1952, it's been a wild ride. My folks never settled down until long after I'd moved to a cabin I built on a commune in Oregon, but I couldn't sit still -- the wanderlust was in my blood. I hitchhiked to New York City in 1973. There I met my wife on Canal Street and finally found a home.
I learned my craft post-college, spending 20-plus years in the trenches of NYC advertising and publicity as a graphic designer, marker-pen-jockey, art director and copy writer. I served the needs of a wide range of clients from corporate multinationals to non-profits and small retail businesses. I now limit my design and marketing work to book covers and collateral marketing for authors.
Our other family business, since 1985 has been trading and retail in the authentic American Indian arts, primarily Southwestern cultures. Indigenous cultures world wide, have an amazing resilience. We could learn some lessons from them. Much of my work deals with intolerance, diversity and the clash of cultures.
I've worn lots of different hats and hung them all over the place. Finally, I have the chance to concentrate on what I really love about being alive; to read and write what I like, when I like; and to listen to and make the kind of music that gives me peace.
I learned my craft post-college, spending 20-plus years in the trenches of NYC advertising and publicity as a graphic designer, marker-pen-jockey, art director and copy writer. I served the needs of a wide range of clients from corporate multinationals to non-profits and small retail businesses. I now limit my design and marketing work to book covers and collateral marketing for authors.
Our other family business, since 1985 has been trading and retail in the authentic American Indian arts, primarily Southwestern cultures. Indigenous cultures world wide, have an amazing resilience. We could learn some lessons from them. Much of my work deals with intolerance, diversity and the clash of cultures.
I've worn lots of different hats and hung them all over the place. Finally, I have the chance to concentrate on what I really love about being alive; to read and write what I like, when I like; and to listen to and make the kind of music that gives me peace.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 10, 2013
A thoughtful examination of what it means to be human, wrapped in an engaging exploration of two cultures that builds in suspense to a satisfying, if bittersweet, conclusion.
I found it very satisfying that this book depicts early humans as not so dissimilar from our ourselves. They may live in a very different environment, but they have the same needs and cares (for good and ill) as we do. Too many stories show them as too brutish, or too innocent. This story finds a good balance between the two.
Also appreciated, is that while the author is obviously very familiar with the archaeological details, they remain in the background, breathing life into the characters and setting, without overpowering the plot.
(A mild spoiler, may be safe to read)
(In which I discuss crucial events at the very end of the book)
I found it very satisfying that this book depicts early humans as not so dissimilar from our ourselves. They may live in a very different environment, but they have the same needs and cares (for good and ill) as we do. Too many stories show them as too brutish, or too innocent. This story finds a good balance between the two.
Also appreciated, is that while the author is obviously very familiar with the archaeological details, they remain in the background, breathing life into the characters and setting, without overpowering the plot.
(A mild spoiler, may be safe to read)
(In which I discuss crucial events at the very end of the book)
August 3, 2014
A thought provoking, sensitively told and believable story of a series of events that could have happened in the distant, prehistoric past, when two species of Homo Sapiens discovered each other in the far north of Scandinavia.
See my review also at:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
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See my review also at:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-revie...
http://www.amazon.com/product-reviews...
http://www.amazon.ca/product-reviews/...
http://www.amazon.com.au/product-revi...
October 19, 2012
This is as good a piece of prehistoric fiction as I've read. The characters are engaging and the story is gripping and plausible.
The author's research is sound, and he's left us leeway to believe that the 'trolls' may have survived long enough to be a vestigial memory in fairy tales. I like that.
The less entertaining take-away, of course, is the serious probability that some of our more unreasoning prejudices have very deep roots.
The author's research is sound, and he's left us leeway to believe that the 'trolls' may have survived long enough to be a vestigial memory in fairy tales. I like that.
The less entertaining take-away, of course, is the serious probability that some of our more unreasoning prejudices have very deep roots.
October 17, 2012
This is a well written and fantastic story, with excellent worldbuilding and well rounded characters. It's a perfect example of the pain and suffering that can come from the fear based predjudices people are so often known for.
August 19, 2013
Prehistoric fiction is a rarity, so it was with great interest that I read Troll. Like all books in this genre, the author provides great descriptions to give good understanding of the tools, scenery, and way of life of the period. The story takes place in Scandanavia and is about two factions of people. One group is highly developed and clearly resembles human beings. The other group is somewhat Neanderthal, part way between human and ape. These are the trolls. The two groups fear each other. Yet when a child of the human clan falls ill, it is a woman of the troll clan who offers the secret red flowers that will cure the child.
The characters are fascinating and the story is riveting and believable. Instead of making them primitive and primal, author Richard Sutton has made them human, credible, and easy to identify with. His interpretation of the period is well researched without bogging down the pace of the story. The conflict takes time to gather momentum and it is not until after the first third of the book that the story begins to truly take hold and fascinate. The events that unfold are plausible and the author writes with enough clarity and conviction that it evokes empathy and a realm of other emotions from the reader.
I found myself questioning what it meant to truly be human. Is it one’s appearance? Or knowledge? Or skill? Or rather is it how we interact with others of different races and cultures? How is superiority determined? These are some of the questions that raced through my mind as I read the story to its satisfying conclusion.
This is a gentle, easy read with depth, a pleasant change from other more highly read genres of historical fiction. A lovely book indeed and definitely recommended.
The characters are fascinating and the story is riveting and believable. Instead of making them primitive and primal, author Richard Sutton has made them human, credible, and easy to identify with. His interpretation of the period is well researched without bogging down the pace of the story. The conflict takes time to gather momentum and it is not until after the first third of the book that the story begins to truly take hold and fascinate. The events that unfold are plausible and the author writes with enough clarity and conviction that it evokes empathy and a realm of other emotions from the reader.
I found myself questioning what it meant to truly be human. Is it one’s appearance? Or knowledge? Or skill? Or rather is it how we interact with others of different races and cultures? How is superiority determined? These are some of the questions that raced through my mind as I read the story to its satisfying conclusion.
This is a gentle, easy read with depth, a pleasant change from other more highly read genres of historical fiction. A lovely book indeed and definitely recommended.
February 17, 2016
Prehistoric fiction is a rarity, so it was with great interest that I read Troll. Like all books in this genre, the author provides great descriptions to give good understanding of the tools, scenery, and way of life of the period. The story takes place in Scandanavia and is about two factions of people. One group is highly developed and clearly resembles human beings. The other group is somewhat Neanderthal, part way between human and ape. These are the trolls. The two groups fear each other. Yet when a child of the human clan falls ill, it is a woman of the troll clan who offers the secret red flowers that will cure the child.
The characters are fascinating and the story is riveting and believable. Instead of making them primitive and primal, author Richard Sutton has made them human, credible, and easy to identify with. His interpretation of the period is well researched without bogging down the pace of the story. The conflict takes time to gather momentum and it is not until after the first third of the book that the story begins to truly take hold and fascinate. The events that unfold are plausible and the author writes with enough clarity and conviction that it evokes empathy and a realm of other emotions from the reader.
I found myself questioning what it meant to truly be human. Is it one 19s appearance? Or knowledge? Or skill? Or rather is it how we interact with others of different races and cultures? How is superiority determined? These are some of the questions that raced through my mind as I read the story to its satisfying conclusion.
This is a gentle, easy read with depth, a pleasant change from other more highly read genres of historical fiction. A lovely book indeed and definitely recommended.
The characters are fascinating and the story is riveting and believable. Instead of making them primitive and primal, author Richard Sutton has made them human, credible, and easy to identify with. His interpretation of the period is well researched without bogging down the pace of the story. The conflict takes time to gather momentum and it is not until after the first third of the book that the story begins to truly take hold and fascinate. The events that unfold are plausible and the author writes with enough clarity and conviction that it evokes empathy and a realm of other emotions from the reader.
I found myself questioning what it meant to truly be human. Is it one 19s appearance? Or knowledge? Or skill? Or rather is it how we interact with others of different races and cultures? How is superiority determined? These are some of the questions that raced through my mind as I read the story to its satisfying conclusion.
This is a gentle, easy read with depth, a pleasant change from other more highly read genres of historical fiction. A lovely book indeed and definitely recommended.
January 31, 2014
Troll is a story about a meeting between a clan of Neanderthals and a clan of early modern humans. It begins with an archaeological dig that reveals three bodies buried in a Neanderthal way, but two of them are skeletons belonging to a modern human man and his daughter. This baffles the archaeologists because previously the two races were supposed to have lived at different times. The novel flips between the modern archaeologists and selected men and women from both clans as the author plays out a story that would explain the anomaly.
It’s a poignant story, reminding the reader of how easily fear when whipped to a frenzy by self-serving people can turn a group of people against another. But it also reminds us of how one act of kindness can break down barriers. It also suggests that old stories of trolls and giants may merely be racial prejudice from the times when various kinds of hominids walked the earth.
The characters are strong, the pacing just right and the plot tight; the only problem is a great deal of passive writing and some very strange punctuation. Despite this, however, I found it surprisingly readable and unexpectedly powerful.
It’s a poignant story, reminding the reader of how easily fear when whipped to a frenzy by self-serving people can turn a group of people against another. But it also reminds us of how one act of kindness can break down barriers. It also suggests that old stories of trolls and giants may merely be racial prejudice from the times when various kinds of hominids walked the earth.
The characters are strong, the pacing just right and the plot tight; the only problem is a great deal of passive writing and some very strange punctuation. Despite this, however, I found it surprisingly readable and unexpectedly powerful.
December 25, 2013
Troll by Richard Sutton
3 out of 5 stars
This story is an explanation for the end of Neanderthal man and the beginning of racism. It stops just short of being insulting, particularly to our dark-skinned brethren who live in a land where the river never freezes.
That being said, Sutton is a master storyteller. The narrative was seamlessly edited and it hummed like a... No, scratch that: It purred. Whatever you do, don't pass this writer by. He be awesome, if slightly uncouth.
Sandi H. of the Kindle Book Review, received a free copy of this book for an independent, fair, and honest review. We are not associated with the author or Amazon.
3 out of 5 stars
This story is an explanation for the end of Neanderthal man and the beginning of racism. It stops just short of being insulting, particularly to our dark-skinned brethren who live in a land where the river never freezes.
That being said, Sutton is a master storyteller. The narrative was seamlessly edited and it hummed like a... No, scratch that: It purred. Whatever you do, don't pass this writer by. He be awesome, if slightly uncouth.
Sandi H. of the Kindle Book Review, received a free copy of this book for an independent, fair, and honest review. We are not associated with the author or Amazon.
July 17, 2015
Good, really good!
September 12, 2014
Great read! Makes one think about how early humanoid species might have interacted. Troll puts a fresh and sympathetic face on those other species that didn't survive as such.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews