Underwhelmed

The Vikings at the British Museum, April 2014.

I'd like to think that we found this exhibition underwhelming because we were tired but after a night in a nice hotel, a lovely breakfast and then a gentle stroll to the museum mean that this wasn't the case.

I am not hugely knowledgeable about the Vikings but thanks to In Our Time and novels from Kevin Crossley Holland I do know a little about them and I hoped to learn more at this exhibition.

Sadly the set up of this exhibition left me feeling disappointed and trampled.  Once more the curse of the audio guide struck and as soon as you walked through the door there was a crowd - even with our early ticket of 10 am on a Sunday. In addition to that the cabinets were not numbered and so even when you got to the front deciphering the contents wasn't easy.

In the end we mostly skipped the first room and found that it did get a little better further through as there was more space and it was easier to reconcile the displays with the information but on the whole we found this an over priced and over rated exhibition, which is a real shame as we've loved the others we have seen at the venue.

If the exhibition was this busy first thing on a Sunday morning I dread to think how bad it is on a week day when the school parties are also in.

On the plus side getting to see the Lewis chessmen in cabinets that really let you look closely at them was great - plus no one else in the room seemed to want to see them!

Old Friend

Bracelet of Bones by Kevin Crossley-Holland.

A new book by Kevin Crossley-Holland has always been a treat and this one is no exception.

This is a book about a Viking girl's quest to find her father after he breaks a promise to her, and even in the time of great Viking exploits this stands out as an incredible journey. Solveig follows her father from Scandinavia through the inland waterways of Europe all the way to what we know as Constantinople.

As in all of Kevin's books there is great suspense and adventure mixed with a wonderful amount of mythology and legend. However unlike so many writers the strands weave together perfectly and each is essential to the plot.

I know very little about Norse mythology and I am now inspired to find out more but this lack of knowledge didn't spoil the book at all it just made the story feel more magical in someway.

I knew a little more about the Volga Vikings however as there was a fascinating In Our Time episode on these people last autumn - which is still available on the BBC Listen again service here.

There are usually a few words at the end of a book that strike fear into me as a read, those being "to be continued" but in this case I can't wait. Kevin Crossley-Holland will be coming to the library where I work very soon to talk about this book and I can't wait to ask him how long I will have to wait for the sequel.

My other question is going to be about how he creates such wonderful female characters. Gatty has long been a heroine of mine but Solveig's mixture of boldness, shyness, fear and curiosity has instantly tipped her to the top of my favourite characters.

I've heard Kevin speak on several other occasions and he is inspiring - best of all he usually has some artefacts or illustrations that have inspired his work and I'm hoping that this will be the case for this book too.

I know that this is a book I am going to want to re-read soon but this time I will have a guide to Norse mythology on hand to refer to so that I don't miss any of the detail.

In the name of full disclosure I should say at this point that I have known Kevin Crossley-Holland for many years and like him immensely but this review is of a library book and not 'sponsored' by either the author or his publisher.