Nornin

Ljónið #2

by Hildur Knútsdóttir

Alma Khan veit ekki af hverju henni, óbreyttum nítján ára starfsmanni í baunahúsinu á Hellisheiði, er boðið starf í einkagróðurhúsi hinnar heimsfrægu Dr. Olgu Ducaróvu. Helst dettur henni í hug að það tengist eitthvað Kríu ömmu hennar, sem þekkir Olgu eftir alræmdan leiðangur þeirra til Mars. Þegar Alma kynnist svo hinni leyndardómsfullu Indru umturnast lífið endanlega. Árið er 2096 og náttúran er óútreiknanleg. Gamli miðbærinn er afgirtur og þar standa fúin hús í flæðarmálinu. Eitt þeirra á amma Ölmu og enginn skilur hvers vegna það er henni svona mikilvægt.

Nornin er framhald Ljónsins sem kom út 2018. Ljónið hlaut Barnabókaverðlaun Reykjavíkur og var tilnefnd til Íslensku bókmenntaverðlaunanna. Hildur Knútsdóttir hefur skrifað fjölda vinsælla ungmennabóka og hlotið fyrir mikið lof gagnrýnenda. Hún hlaut Íslensku bókmenntaverðlaunin fyrir Vetrarhörkur, sem ásamt Vetrarfríi var jafnframt tilnefnd sem ungmennabók ársins í Tékklandi.

Genres: Young Adult, Dystopia

330 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2019

About the author

Hildur Knútsdóttir was born in Reykjavík, Iceland. She writes fiction for both adults and teenagers, as well as plays, screenplays and short fiction. Hildur is known for her evocative fantastical fiction and spine-chilling horror.

Her horror novella The Night Guest was chosen one of the best thrillers of 2024 by The New York Times. Her work has been nominated for The Locus Awards, World Fantasy Awards, The Dublin Literary Award and The Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize, and has been awarded The Icelandic Women’s Literary Prize, The Icelandic Literature Prize, The Reykjavík Children’s Literature Prize for best original work and The Icelandic Bookseller’s Prize.

Reviews

[Björgheiður · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ungmennaspennusaga, dystópía með dassi af fantasíu? SIGN ME UP. Meistaralegur spádómur um breytingar heimsins næstu 80 árin og hvernig Reykjavík gæti litið út. Er að hakka þennan þríleik í mig á ógnarhraða, góð leið til að verja fyrstu þrem dögum ársins ef þú spyrð mig.

[Rosa Gudny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alveg frábær. Áhugaverð og raunsæ framtíðasýn. Ekkert kom mér á óvart í söguþræðinum en þetta var skemmtilegt ferðalag. Hildur er frábær í persónusköpun og sögusviðum.

[Sai · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was alright. I’m personally not much for futuristic sci-fi nor teen books so maybe I’m not the target audience. Overall it was an interesting story and concept, although the pacing felt a little too slow and a lot of the filler chapters just felt useless.

Some repeat vocabulary like nema staðar was a little frustrating at times (especially this example specifically) and made the writing feel a little amateurish.

I also found it hard to believe that Indra and Alma loved each other. I felt like we were never given a real reason as to why they felt about each other the way they did, they just did. I could think of a few reasons myself but none of them really are present in the book and I would’ve liked to have more exploration of the characters and their relationship. They also just felt very stagnant the whole time. I felt like Indra and Alma had so much to learn from each other yet they don’t really listen to each other in a meaningful way. And not in a way that feels like an actual intended character flaw.

Also I thought the sidelining of Rafa was kind of disrespectful….
Give my boy Rafa some more development !!!!

[Eldey Hasler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great story and so well written. It is so fun reading these series and I am always so curious to know what's going to happen next.

I am so excited to continue reading and start reading the next and final book of these series. I truly recommend reading these series and others books after Hildur Knútsdóttir. She is an exceptional writer who writes with such a thrilling and amazing way.

[Lola Sig · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ending was quite the same as in the first book and the book was quite slow as well. I liked the story but not all the characters made sense to me.

[Gunnlaugur Bjarnason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ekki alveg jafn góð og fyrsta bókin enda þarf höfundurinn að eyða miklu púðri (eðlilega) í að skapa heiminn þannig að framvinda sögunnar líður fyrir það. Samt sem áður, mjög skemmtileg lesning.

[Karítas Magnúsdóttir · Rating 3 out of 5]

noth7ng happening

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it!!! One of the best icelandic books I have read.