The Land of Lindworms

The Land of Lindworms

Frida Nilsson

Original Title
Lindormars land
Published
Natur & Kultur 2020
Genre
Fiction 6-9
Fiction 9-12
Pages
418
Rights Sold
Danish
Norwegian
Russian
German
Tags
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The Land of Lindworms

Frida Nilsson

Sem and his little brother Immer are in foster care with Aunt Tyra, who works at home as a polisher for the nickel silver workshop. The boys are forced to help with the hard work while the other children play in the yard, and they miss their real parents. One day, the rat Sooty shows up, from a land far away, with an offer: those who will follow him and become Queen Indra’s children will receive all the toys and silk clothes they could wish for.

Childless Queen Indra is not at all as they expected her to be, she belongs to one of the last of the ancient and magical creatures called lindworms, but there’s no lack of luxury in her castle. The staff consist of a collection of animals that she has enchanted so they can walk on two legs and talk. Sem and Immer’s days are now filled with play. Soon enough, Sem notices that Indra seems to like Immer much better than she likes him. And the animals in the castle begin to behave strangely… Surely there is something mysterious about Tjodolf, the brown bear who is the queen’s forester. Why is he looking at Sem and Immer as if he hated them?

A story about longing for love, but also about the difficulty of doing the right thing instead of the easy one. How, as Sem asks himself, should one be to be able to love oneself?

Illustrations by Alexander Jansson.

“The author is our new Astrid Lindgren.“
M Magasin

“Nilsson is a master at interweaving the fantastic and the realistic. In this sense she resembles another famous Swede, Astrid Lindgren.”
Die Zeit (Germany)

”Swedish author Frida Nilsson is a stellar author in modern children’s literature. Her work is characterized by aspects such as her respect for children and their worldview, her sensibility for their vulnerability, and her unfaltering sense of justice.”
The James Krüss Award

“Frida Nilsson once again demonstrates her unique sense of storytelling and humour, with which she ridicules the evil and comically portrays Indra’s power and greatness. The story is told in a language that is old-fashioned, but never stale.” Sylvia Schwab, Deutschlandfunk Kultur

“It’s worth re-reading from the end, as so often with Nilsson – and as children always love to do with beloved stories.” Eva-Maria Magel, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

 

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Press voices
"Sweden's best children's book author now. (...) This book is a big step forward for Frida Nilsson's authorship. She has become an author that everyone who is interested in children's litterature should get to know." - Morten Olsen Haugen, Aftenposten (Norway)

“Thrilling, gripping, nerve-racking, and impossible to stop reading.” – Stina Nylén, Göteborgs-Posten

"Frida Nilsson (...) has a special ability to write her characters so intimately that the reader feels close to and complicit in the action – not least in this unfalteringly thrilling and valuable book. The language is full of life and a simplicity that doesn't simplify or underestimate...a beautiful book of life's important questions for brave readers ages 8-9 and up." - Jan Hansson, BTJ

"An exciting, gently frightening page-turner that is beautifully written...all the characters are well fleshed-out...[Nilsson's] books deserve to be more widely known. She does not shy away from difficult subjects, but she places them within warmly and fully deleoped stories." - B.J. Epstein, Swedish Book Review

"'The Land of Lindworms' is a hair-raising read from start to finish.... The children's vulnerability, courage, and collaboration are depicted instinctively and in a confident tone. Gruesomely good! This is the narrative gem of the year! Nothing but enjoyment." Bokslukaren
Awards
White Ravens 2021

Frida Nilsson’s new novel has a fairy-tale- and legend-like feel to it. Peppered with intertextual references, it raises ethical, existential, and philosophical questions. »Lindormars land« consistently follows and logically extends the award-winning author’s previous work. This novel, too, is about loneliness and damaged childhoods, about wishes and longings, and about how far one is allowed to go to fulfil them. The book centres around reflections on the relationship and the difference between humans and animals, inextricably linked to the question of »good« and »evil«. This may sound like »a bit too much«, but Frida Nilsson conjures up words for essential questions of existence, and at the same time creates a very exciting, dramaturgically sophisticated story with a strong plot and multi-layered characters who have the readers hope and suffer with them. In short: »Lindormars land« is a children's novel that can’t be praised highly enough! (Age: 10+)