2006 Locus Award for Best First Novel (nominee)
The Prodigal Troll is a tale of a human child raised by a band of mythological creatures that is both hysterical and moving.
When Lord Gruethrist's castle is laid under siege by an invading baron, he sends a trusted knight and nursemaid off with his infant son. Their escape across a wilderness landscape populated by fantastic creatures and torn by war takes unexpected turns until the baby is finally adopted by a mother troll grieving for her own lost child. Christened "Maggot" by a hostile stepfather, the human boy grows up amid the crude but democratic trolls until he leaves the band to rediscover the world of humankind.
But the world of man is a complex and capricious place. Maggot must master its strange ways if he is to survive... let alone win the heart and hand of the Lady Portia.
Finlay's society of trolls are unlike any you've ever read before, and his matriarchal medieval world, pitted as they are against an analog of Native American tribesmen, provides a rich setting for many poignant social and political insights.
Genre: Fantasy
When Lord Gruethrist's castle is laid under siege by an invading baron, he sends a trusted knight and nursemaid off with his infant son. Their escape across a wilderness landscape populated by fantastic creatures and torn by war takes unexpected turns until the baby is finally adopted by a mother troll grieving for her own lost child. Christened "Maggot" by a hostile stepfather, the human boy grows up amid the crude but democratic trolls until he leaves the band to rediscover the world of humankind.
But the world of man is a complex and capricious place. Maggot must master its strange ways if he is to survive... let alone win the heart and hand of the Lady Portia.
Finlay's society of trolls are unlike any you've ever read before, and his matriarchal medieval world, pitted as they are against an analog of Native American tribesmen, provides a rich setting for many poignant social and political insights.
Genre: Fantasy
Praise for this book
"Finlay's accounts of troll culture are thoughtful, humorous and entertaining." - Cecilia Dart-Thornton
"Reminiscent of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan... A coming of age tale wrapped in an adventure, with wit and insight." - Dennis L McKiernan
"Reminiscent of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan... A coming of age tale wrapped in an adventure, with wit and insight." - Dennis L McKiernan
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Used availability for Charles Coleman Finlay's The Prodigal Troll