Unlikely hero material, short, squat Halli nevertheless has grown up hearing the legends of the great heroes of the valley, larger-than-life men who vanquished the terrible Trows and protect the valley residents even in death, from the cairns that divide the high meadows from the farmlands. He reveres the hero of his house, the great Svein. Then during a gathering of houses, Halli plays a trick on the son of another house, a seemingly minor prank that changes the rest of his life. Part quest, part horror novel, part epic fantasy, this book will appeal to a variety of readers for a variety of reasons. Lots of fun. Junior high and older. Yay! I loved this book. Like most of Jonathan Stroud's books, its an unexpected, twisty take on good old-fashioned swashbuckling adventure.Halli Sveinson isn't your standard hero material. He's much too young, much too short, bandy legged, and basically useless at fighting. But he makes up for it by an amazing lack of common sense, an quick temper, a sharp tongue, and a taste for practical jokes that tend to get out of control. He is enthralled by the legend of his heroic ancestor, Svein, the hero who lead all the lesser heroes and drove the monstrous underground creatures, the trows, out of the valley. The valley is at peace now, as long as nobody goes above the wall of cairns that was built to keep the trows out. Except that...nobody has seen a trow in living memory. And as the story progresses, it becomes clear that each family in the valley thinks that it was their ancestor who was the big hero.The families in the valley live in an uneasy peace, their tendency to feud kept under strict control by the leader's wives. Instead of fighting, they deal with disagreements through a system of arbitration and fines. But it's been generations since the last blood feud, and some of the leaders itch under this yoke of law. They want some glory!Things spiral out of control when a prank of Halli's results in his irresponsible uncle insulting the leaders of a rival house. One thing leads to another and things get very ugly very quickly. Next thing, Halli is bent on revenge, to fight for the honour of his house, and off he goes on a heroic journey.As in his other books, Stroud loves undercutting his character's attempts to be heroic. Halli's quickly learns that being a hero is not quite all it's cracked up to be. He is helped in his ego-deflating progress by Aud, the daughter of a rival house. Aud is great! She's tough, funny, charming, and pretty good at manipulating people to suit herself. She's also convinced that trows do not exist, and that the legends of the heroes are all lies. Of course, Aud also has some lessons to learn.This is a pretty dark book at times. The violence is realistic and upsetting and not at all glorified, although there are some pretty amazing fight scenes too. Not suitable for young children, but I think teenagers might really enjoy it.And the end has a twist that I did not see coming.
What do You think about Heroes Of The Valley (2009)?
A very nice adventure. It was refreshing that it was a standalone novel.
—jnasia
got bored with this one.... not as good as his other books.
—smasha
