Fabrice Colin

This was one of my first French SFF books, bought early 2015. The good thing was: It's an omnibus, so I didn't have to buy all three books (if they're still available, of course). Then again, it's a cheap version, which means thin paper and cover. But that's what you get with mass market paperbacks.

Anyway, the concept of mixing Norse mythology and Fantasy looked very interesting to me, so I didn't really hesitate to add this book to my collection. Fabrice Colin seems to have invested a lot of time and effort to come up with a good story that deals with religion, friendship, life, ... He probably also read Tolkien's work, especially LOTR, as here too there's a ring that needs to be destroyed to restore peace and normal life.

This is a story that was spread over three books, as most is revealed and concluded in the third book, but not without adding tension here and there. It started well, I thought, with the first book. A very nice story with Janes Oelsen playing the leading role. He comes across as arrogant, as if nothing can harm him and as if he's the man. Well... he is, he is protected somehow, as he knows no fear, is immortal one way or another, and has an important quest to fulfil, so that the battle between the Faeders and the Dragons over who gets to control Midgard (realm of man) escalates into, yes, Ragnarök. Those who can flee, can go back to Asgard, the other ones have to fight or die.

In the end, even the gods themselves want all this to end, as Wultan is power-hungry, craves it so much, he desperately wants to rule in Midgard and thus control the people, the believers in the gods (Faeders). Janes is there to put a halt on this, but experiences some rough adventures and battles, also in the underworld, while in between falling in love, losing his brother (or does he?) and his parents, and so on. We also learn that Janes isn't really human after all, or definitely not 100%: Le fils des ténèbres, the son of the dark.

Especially in the third book, Fabrice Colin seems to criticize religion (in this case the old, pagan one, but probably at the same time the other ones that involve gods), as it always/mostly ends in war, the fight for power, and as a result, the people having to pay/suffer for it. That's at least how I interpreted his words, the way he told the story, wrote the dialogues.

There's a little map and list of the gods in the beginning of the book, a who's who.

All in all, this was an entertaining read and quite original, I must say. Sometimes a drag, but that could be due to external circumstances.

Important note: Vocabulary. It's vital to have a good knowledge of the French language to be able to read on. That way, you don't always have to interrupt your reading to look up the more literary words, but you can try to deduce some of them from the context.… (more)