WARNING: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS BELOW
Last year, Wolf Winter was one of my favorite reads, to the point where I was annoyed that this novel never made it over to the States so I could read it. That was of course before I discovered alternative vendors on Amazon and Book Depository.
What's funny now is that I kind of regret that decision. Because, while I did enjoy this novel, I didn't love it. There was something lacking about it, it just didn't do it for me the way that Wolf Winter did. I thought about Wolf Winter for months after I read it, the characters and the story stuck with me in ways that this novel just didn't.
I think a lot of that has to do with the characters. The Wolf Winter characters- Maija, Frederika, and the Priest were interesting, compelling characters that drew me more and more into their stories the more the book progressed. In this case, I couldn't connect with the characters nearly as well, and on the surface they had intriguing story arcs but there wasn't as much underneath the surface. I pretty much figured out where Lovisa's and Magnus' respective story arcs and the mystery itself didn't grip me the way that Wolf Winter's did. I had a hard time figuring out why I should care about the murders of these three men. I mean, the murder in Wolf Winter didn't seem to have anything to do with the main plot line, but the story came together in an admirable way in the end.
I mean, there are positives to In the Month of the Midnight Sun. The writing style is different- wordier, more purple- than it is in Wolf Winter, but still good. My biggest complaint with the writing is that is just isn't that original. The writing in Wolf Winter is unique and the cold, minimalist style fits the atmosphere of the novel extremely well. In the Month of the Midnight Sun has more of a Hannah Kent-esque style, which isn't a bad thing- Hannah Kent is one of my favorite historical fiction writers- and it does work well with the story, but it's just not nearly as original.
I do like that In the Month of the Midnight Sun isn't a sequel, and there is no sign of the characters from the first novel- probably because it was set 100 years after. While maybe some of the characters are descendants of the characters in the first novel, there's no definite proof of that. It makes it easy for me to separate both books from each other.
My biggest problem with the story itself is one of the twists towards the end, centering around one of the Lapp women. I dislike Baija's remorse towards that situation since it shows some pretty hardcore double standards on Ekback's part especially given the resolution of the mystery in Wolf Winter. But that's just me.
While I've made my "meh" feelings about In the Month of the Midnight Sun clear, I would like to reiterate that this hasn't changed my opinions towards either Wolf Winter or Cecilia Ekback in general. In fact, I respect her as an author more, as she's good at crafting two very similar yet different novels. In the Month of the Midnight Sun could have been just a rehash of Wolf Winter (and I would probably still like it) but instead Ekback tried something different. I'm eager to see what she'll do next.
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| “June is a good month to purge. It's a time to flush things out, to eliminate, to seek liberation. It's a month of light. The month of the midnight sun.”- In the Month of the Midnight Sun, Cecilia Ekback |
An orphaned boy brought up to serve the state as a man. A rich young woman incapable of living by the conventions of society. Neither is prepared for the journey into the heat, mystery, violence and disorienting perpetual daylight of the far North.
Stockholm 1856.
Magnus is a geologist. When the Minister sends him to survey the distant but strategically vital Lapland region around Blackasen Mountain, it is a perfect cover for another mission: Magnus must investigate why one of the nomadic Sami people, native to the region, has apparently slaughtered in cold blood a priest, a law officer and a settler in their rectory.
Is there some bigger threat afoot? Blackasen seems to be a place of many secrets.
But the Minister has more than a professional tie to Magnus, and at the last moment, he adds another responsibility. Disgusted by the wayward behaviour of his daughter Lovisa - Magnus's sister-in law - the Minister demands that Magnus take her with him on his arduous journey.
Thus the two unlikely companions must venture out of the sophisticated city, up the coast and across country, to the rough-hewn religion and politics of the settler communities, the mystical, pre-Christian ways of the people who have always lived on this land, and the strange, compelling light of the midnight sun.
For Lovisa and Magnus, nothing can ever be the same again.
Stockholm 1856.
Magnus is a geologist. When the Minister sends him to survey the distant but strategically vital Lapland region around Blackasen Mountain, it is a perfect cover for another mission: Magnus must investigate why one of the nomadic Sami people, native to the region, has apparently slaughtered in cold blood a priest, a law officer and a settler in their rectory.
Is there some bigger threat afoot? Blackasen seems to be a place of many secrets.
But the Minister has more than a professional tie to Magnus, and at the last moment, he adds another responsibility. Disgusted by the wayward behaviour of his daughter Lovisa - Magnus's sister-in law - the Minister demands that Magnus take her with him on his arduous journey.
Thus the two unlikely companions must venture out of the sophisticated city, up the coast and across country, to the rough-hewn religion and politics of the settler communities, the mystical, pre-Christian ways of the people who have always lived on this land, and the strange, compelling light of the midnight sun.
For Lovisa and Magnus, nothing can ever be the same again.
Last year, Wolf Winter was one of my favorite reads, to the point where I was annoyed that this novel never made it over to the States so I could read it. That was of course before I discovered alternative vendors on Amazon and Book Depository.
What's funny now is that I kind of regret that decision. Because, while I did enjoy this novel, I didn't love it. There was something lacking about it, it just didn't do it for me the way that Wolf Winter did. I thought about Wolf Winter for months after I read it, the characters and the story stuck with me in ways that this novel just didn't.
I think a lot of that has to do with the characters. The Wolf Winter characters- Maija, Frederika, and the Priest were interesting, compelling characters that drew me more and more into their stories the more the book progressed. In this case, I couldn't connect with the characters nearly as well, and on the surface they had intriguing story arcs but there wasn't as much underneath the surface. I pretty much figured out where Lovisa's and Magnus' respective story arcs and the mystery itself didn't grip me the way that Wolf Winter's did. I had a hard time figuring out why I should care about the murders of these three men. I mean, the murder in Wolf Winter didn't seem to have anything to do with the main plot line, but the story came together in an admirable way in the end.
I mean, there are positives to In the Month of the Midnight Sun. The writing style is different- wordier, more purple- than it is in Wolf Winter, but still good. My biggest complaint with the writing is that is just isn't that original. The writing in Wolf Winter is unique and the cold, minimalist style fits the atmosphere of the novel extremely well. In the Month of the Midnight Sun has more of a Hannah Kent-esque style, which isn't a bad thing- Hannah Kent is one of my favorite historical fiction writers- and it does work well with the story, but it's just not nearly as original.
I do like that In the Month of the Midnight Sun isn't a sequel, and there is no sign of the characters from the first novel- probably because it was set 100 years after. While maybe some of the characters are descendants of the characters in the first novel, there's no definite proof of that. It makes it easy for me to separate both books from each other.
My biggest problem with the story itself is one of the twists towards the end, centering around one of the Lapp women. I dislike Baija's remorse towards that situation since it shows some pretty hardcore double standards on Ekback's part especially given the resolution of the mystery in Wolf Winter. But that's just me.
While I've made my "meh" feelings about In the Month of the Midnight Sun clear, I would like to reiterate that this hasn't changed my opinions towards either Wolf Winter or Cecilia Ekback in general. In fact, I respect her as an author more, as she's good at crafting two very similar yet different novels. In the Month of the Midnight Sun could have been just a rehash of Wolf Winter (and I would probably still like it) but instead Ekback tried something different. I'm eager to see what she'll do next.
7 out of 10
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