Greg van Eekhout

Stand alone fantasies:

Norse Code — (2009) Publisher: Is this Ragnarok, or just California? The NorseCODE genome project was designed to identify descendants of Odin. What it found was Kathy Castillo, a murdered MBA student brought back from the dead to serve as a valkyrie in the Norse god’s army. Given a sword and a new name, Mist’s job is to recruit soldiers for the war between the gods at the end of the world — and to kill those who refuse to fight. But as the twilight of the gods descends, Mist makes other plans. Journeying across a chaotic American landscape already degenerating into violence and madness, Mist hopes to findher way to Helheim, the land of the dead, to rescue her murdered sister from death’s clutches. To doso,she’ll need the help of Hermod, a Norse god bumming around Los Angeles with troubles of his own.Together they find themselves drafted into a higher cause, trying to do what fate long ago deemed could not be done: save the world of man. For even if myths aren’t made to be broken, it can’t hurt to go down fighting… can it?

Norse Code

Stop. Look closely. Look beyond the typically stylish urban fantasy cover (the one with the nicely built young woman holding her weapon of choice with an air of defiant competence). Look beyond the title that's both serious and punny. Inside, through pages inked with the shadows of ravens, you'll watch the long-foretold cataclysm of Ragnarok as it rolls in a relentless wave from the dry, gray plains of Hel to... the dry, black asphalt of a California parking lot. And if you're partial to Norse mythology or urban tales driven by fascinating characters and laser-crisp writing, you'll enjoy it. Verily, by Thor's hammer!

The product description/back cover summary nicely provides the premise for this novel, the debut of the gifted Greg van Eekhout. Not only has he forged ancient myth and modern culture into a cool, sleek alloy, he's done so with drama, conspiracy, humor, and (I never thought I'd say this about an urban fantasy novel with a nubile warrior-maiden on the cover) even a few touches of artistic inspiration and genius, including the use of Odin's raven Hugin (Thought) as an occasional narrator and a blink-quick invocation of the American Gothic painting in an all-out battle, to pick two.

Norse Code is simply an impressive debut. I can only guess it was printed solely as a mass-market paperback because it is a debut and because readers without passing familiarity with Norse mythology may find themselves a little numb with mythic-culture shock. Still, it has all of the aforementioned virtues, as well as gods who enjoy long walks on the beach and Mountain Dew, plus one of the coolest swords ever. Though I don't know if it's powerful or meaningful enough for a second reading, I highly recommend it for a first reading (and purchase) by fans of Norse mythology or well-written urban fantasy.  Four bright stars that won't easily be devoured by wolves anytime soon. —Rob Rhodes

Norse Code: My first foray into urban fantasy

The NorseCode genome project seemed to be a global corporate undertaking to gather DNA samples in hopes of tracing down Odin’s descendants. But college student Kathy Castillo finds out the truth the hard way when she is murdered and resurrected as the valkyrie, Mist. It turns out that NorseCode is actually the Old Gods’ front for recruiting soldiers to fight in the apocalyptic battle of Ragnarok.

Greg Van Eekhout's debut novel Norse Code was my first foray into urban fantasy, so I’m admittedly out-of-my-element. I did find Norse Code to be entertaining enough, but it really wasn’t my cup-of-tea.

Along with the characters being a little hokie, there seemed to be a few holes in the story. I’d think using a cover like “searching for Odin’s descents” would raise questions, rather than allow secrecy. A few times the blind god Hod didn’t seem very blind (but, then again, I guess he was a god). I never figured out how to be sure that someone was really and truly dead and, for lack of a better word, unresurrectable.

Also I was rather disappointed in Mist. I realize she hadn’t been at it very long, but when I read in the blurb that she was a valkyrie, I was hoping to read about a bad-ass angel-winged babe. In fact, that was the major downer for me. I’m no expert in Norse mythology, but what I think of (and what I like about it) is the whole warrior mentality thing. Instead, for me, Norse Code just came across as a little too campy.

However, I do appreciate what van Eekout was getting at. Despite that these are all-powerful Gods — well, most of them anyway — who’ve been around long before anything else, the nitty-gritty of it is that they’re just like us (or maybe we’re just like them). I commend him for his story’s perspective. And even though I wasn’t particularly crazy over it, Norse Code really is an impressive first novel. —Greg Hersom

Kid vs. Squid — (2010) Ages 9-12. Publisher: Thatcher Hill is bored stiff of his summer job dusting the fake mermaids and shrunken heads at his uncle's seaside Museum of Curiosities. But when a mysterious girl steals an artifact from the museum, Thatcher's summer becomes an adventure that takes him from the top of the ferris wheel to the depths of the sea. Following the thief, he learns that she is a princess of the lost Atlantis. Her people have been cursed by an evil witch to drift at sea all winter and wash up on shore each summer to an even more terrible fate — working the midway games and food stands on the boardwalk. Can Thatcher help save them before he, too, succumbs to the witch's curse? With sharp, witty writing that reads like a middle-grade Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Greg van Eekhout's first book for young readers is a wild ride packed with as many laughs as it has thrills.

Kid vs. Squid

Kid vs. Squid, by Greg van Eekhout, is definitely a children’s fantasy. It comes in at a slim sub-200 pages (with pretty good-sized print) and doesn’t take much time with detailed description, rich character development, or intricate plotting. That isn’t a complaint; it’s just to say that Kid vs. Squid knows who its audience is, and while it won’t dumb things down or talk down to its readers, it also won’t stretch them. Keeping to relatively humble standards of that sort, it succeeds pretty solidly.

Middle-school age Thatcher has been sent to his Uncle Griswald’s in Las Huesas, California for the summer. The beach town is oddly empty of beach-goers and Uncle Griswald lives in a tiny “museum” filled with shrunken heads, ships in bottles, strangely shaped bodies, and a “What-is-it” box he isn’t supposed to look into.

Things turn even stranger within a few pages as the box is stolen by young girl and soon Thatcher, the burglar (who turns out to be a princess), and another young girl (Trudy) are caught up in an ancient curse, the fall of Atlantis, and a battle against the head of a witch (yes, just the head) and her sea creature minions.

The plot is fast-paced and pretty straightforward, and there isn’t much time between events, especially at the close which feels a bit over-rushed and busy. The characters are clear but not particularly deep or rich. Thatcher tells us he’s a sarcastic, sometimes funny kid who uses words as defense/weapons (sometimes to a fault), but his wry humor is hit and miss throughout — sometimes right on and sometimes feeling forced or falling flat. Also, one never feels particularly attached to him. The same is true of Shoal, the princess, who is off-stage for the vast majority of the book. The best character by far is Trudy — a cross between Nancy Drew Young Detective, MacGyver, and as Thatcher points out, Batman (her utility belt is her backpack) which, he realizes, unfortunately makes him Robin. She feels the most unique of all the characters and the most individualistic, and the humor seems less forced with her. In some ways, I wished she were the main character, or at least we saw her do more (though she is heavily involved throughout).

Setting, description, etc. are pretty slim, as is typical of books aimed at younger readers. The streamlined nature helps with the beginning of the book, and young kids will enjoy speeding through, but it works against the story a bit more in the last quarter, where I found myself wishing that Van Eekhout had taken his time a bit more to show us some great set scenes as well as let some of the emotional impact build up.

Kid vs. Squid (a great title by the way) will be enjoyed by younger readers (say, 3rd through 6th grade) and less so as they move up into middle school. Recommended for that younger set, with a weaker recommendation for 7th and 8th graders who might find it a bit too quick and simple and lean, while it will probably hold little attraction for those even older. —Bill Capossere

The Boy at the End of the World — (2011) Ages 9-12. Publisher: Fisher is the last boy on earth — and things are not looking good for the human race. Only Fisher made it out alive after the carefully crafted survival bunker where Fisher and dozens of other humans had been sleeping was destroyed. Luckily, Fisher is not totally alone. He meets a broken robot he names Click, whose programmed purpose — to help Fisher "continue existing" — makes it act an awful lot like an overprotective parent. Together, Fisher and Click uncover evidence that there may be a second survival bunker far to the west. In prose that skips from hilarious to touching and back in a heartbeat, Greg van Eekhout brings us a thrilling story of survival that becomes a journey to a new hope — if Fisher can continue existing long enough to get there.

The Boy at the End of the World

The Boy at the End of the World is a new children's fantasy by Greg van Eekhout, author of Kid vs. Squid. Like his first children's book, The Boy at the End of the World is aimed squarely at the 9-12 age group. In that vein, it speeds quickly along a pretty straightforward plotline, with few twists or diversions into details of setting or character. Its likable, if a bit pallid, main character is enlivened by his more interesting (and funny) companions, making it a mostly engaging if somewhat simplistic read.

The book opens with a bang, literally, as the boy — Fisher — awakens in the pod he’s been grown in. The pod is inside an Ark, built to hold the last humans as well as other species, until the Earth has healed enough from its mostly-human-caused deprivations to support life again. The Ark has just been attacked, however, and Fisher is the sole survivor, save for a somewhat-damaged caretaker robot who managed to imprint the boy with the “Fisher” personality just before the attack. The imprint gives him not only his name, but built-in skills and knowledge. Shortly after the disaster, Fisher and the robot, whom Fisher has named Click, learn of the possible existence of a second Ark in the South. After picking up a pygmy mammoth (Fisher names him Protein), they head down a river in Huck Finn fashion to seek the rumored Ark. Along the way, they have to deal with some dangerously evolved species, attacks from rogue technology, giant talking prairie dogs, and the possibility of yet another Ark.

Fisher grows in his abilities to survive, in his moral outlook, and in his self-confidence. He isn’t a particularly deeply drawn or compelling character, but he’s enjoyable enough to follow. His companions add a good amount of humor — Click through his dialogue and Protein through his actions. And Click, toward the end, adds some moving moments as well. He also makes a good stand-in for a parent’s attempt at balancing between being overprotective and letting a child learn through risk and failure.

Events, both action ones and emotional ones, happen quickly and tend to be resolved quickly. A little more time spent in some of the scenes would have helped. The backstory is perhaps a little heavy on the environmentalism (and I say that as a card-carrying member of a host of environmental groups), and one doesn’t want to examine it too closely or it may start to show some cracks.

The Boy at the End of the World is definitely a book for preteens. Even for that group, it’s slightly shallow until we move toward the latter third, where we slow down a bit and spend some more time inside scenes, and where the stakes are raised in terms of both plot and ethics. The giant prairie dogs add a nice bit of complexity to the plot, as well as make the book more thought-provoking with regard to issues. It’s tough to review middle-grade books from an adult perspective, but my guess is that most kids will enjoy the quick pace and humorous byplay and not mind so much the lack of depth or detail.

My nine-year old son, Kaidan, read it overnight and here is what he had to say:

“I thought it was exciting all the way through. It was suspenseful from the very start. I thought it had enough information, but I would have liked if some of the scenes were longer or had more information in them. Except for at the end when the prairie dog leader was explaining a lot; I thought we already knew a lot of what he was saying so it seemed a little bit repetitive to me. The big battle at the end was my favorite part, and the scene with the evil robot was my second favorite. There wasn’t a dull scene in it. I liked all the characters; the mammoth who was my favorite. It was funny in parts. I give it a strong 3.5.”
—Bill & Kaidan Capossere