Actual rating: 3.5 stars ( )

I just read and reviewed The Coming of the Dragon. Mostly, I thought it was meh, not bad but not especially good either. At the end of my review, I mentioned that I still had hopes for Peaceweaver, because I liked Hild, the girl introduced and barely given any page time at the end of The Coming of the Dragon. Well, I do love it when I'm right.

Peaceweaver focuses on Hild, starting roughly at the same point as the first book. Hild, though, makes a much more interesting main character than Rune. Hild is full of ideas and big aspirations, and she will not let the judgment of others stop her from doing what she believes to be the right thing for herself and her community.

She lives in a society where, while women do perform traditional roles, they also have a bit of ability to make a difference because of the weak-minded King. The woman who performs the role of mead-bearer has a chance to help influence the King to make good decisions. The Queen, now abed with an illness used to keep the King from being to warlike, but after she left, the next mead-bearer, Hild's mother, did not think it her place to interfere in men's matters. In this vacuum, the King has turned to a male adviser, whose testosterone-soaked advice has lead to an increase in hatred for their rivals and more deaths of their warriors. Hild, as the new mead bearer, plans to stop these stupid men from ruining her home.

Of course, men don't much like powerful women, or at least they didn't in those times, so, by being too obvious about her plans, she gets branded as a possessed witch. At least they don't kill her, but they do send her off to the Geats as a Peaceweaver. She, of course, has no say in the matter.

Even if you didn't like The Coming of the Dragon, I would definitely recommend giving Peaceweaver a try. It is excellent high fantasy that ought to appeal to fans of authors like Julia Golding. The time span covered is precisely the same as that of the companion novel, so you can either read one or both without any confusion. I definitely recommend this one. ( )

Peaceweaver by Rebecca Barnhouse is the fantasy companion novel to The Coming of the Dragon but also works quite well as a stand-alone read. I’ve always loved Norse legends, which, along with the title, is what drew me to Peaceweaver. When I read the publisher’s brief description of this novel, and saw Beowolf and the Grendel mentioned, I was hooked immediately. Although this novel is written for a young teen and tween reader, I believe it will attract older and possibly younger readers as well. Read the rest of my review at http://popcornreads.com/?p=3438. ( )

5 STARS
I thought Hild was very couragous. She wanted to make a difference in her people's lives.even though she was only 16. Hild did what she thought was right even when it was harder path to take. I would like to know more about her and hope their will be more books.
Hild is the King's sister daughter. She is really excited because today was the day she held the horn filled with drink to the warriorers. She wanted to be more like her Aunt the Queen before she got ill in helping to bring peace to her people. Hild also enjoyed weaveing and could see her banner hanging in the great room. Her father taught her to use the sword before he was killed in battle. She practiced with her cousin Arinbjorn and helped him to get better at sword fighting.
One day she and Arinbjorn were out of the wall practicing and three men from a nearby land were visiting and they were on the way back. When Hild knew they were going to stab her cousin the next leader with a poison knife. Something over came her and to stop them she killed one of them.
Her mother told her that her grandmother and hers before were fareminded sometimes could see the future.
Her Uncle advisor convinced him that Hild was possessed and locked her up in her house with no visitors aloud. Then they hatched a plot to use her as a blind of peace but really attack the other kingdom and make sure she was killed too.
Hild was planning to escape with the help of her slave.
The story kept me interested in wanting to see was next. It was an easy fast read with 334 pages. It had conspiracy,dragons,monsters.and heroes set in Vikings era.
03/27/2012 Random House Children's Books Random house BFYR ( )

I got an eARC of this book through NetGalley(dot)com. This a wonderful historical fantasy about a young girl trying to find where she fits against insurrmoutable odds. It reminds me a bit of Robin McKinley's Hero and the Crown, Tamora Pierces books or Shannon Hale's books. I absolutely loved it. I didn't realize that this was the sequel to The Coming of the Dragon; the book stands well on its own but I really want to go back now and read The Coming of the Dragon (which is about the King of the neighboring kingdom Hild travels to).

Sixteen year old Hild is trying to step up and take on her responsibilities as a high ranking woman in a Norse Viking-like society. She is hoping she can offset the violent advice of the kings adviser and advise more political and less bloody solutions. When a strange intuition drives Hild to kill a visiting noble in an effort to save the life of the king's son, Hild expects the King to be grateful. She is stunned when she is accused of witchcraft and exiled to an enemy kingdom. She is sent their as a Peaceweaver, but knows that the King is planning war despite his offering of Hild to the enemy as a peace offering. Hild must do the best she can against not only the enemy and her home King, but also the dark monsters that haunt the woods.

I loved the historical fantasy setting of this book. It has a very Viking like/Norse feel to it. There is definitely some magic woven into the story; Hild is far-sighted and can predict certain events ahead of time...there are also mysterious dark creatures that haunt the forest Hild travels through. I enjoyed the setting a lot.

Hild is a wonderful character; she is fairly feminine and has many doubts and even moments of selfishness. Still she when push comes to shove she has a core of iron and is much tougher than she first seems. I enjoyed how realistic she was and enjoyed how she fought her self-doubt and really did what needed to be done.

The surrouding characters are equally realistic but not quite as well developed as Hild. The King of the neighboring kingdom has potential, but we never got to really know him well (probably because the first book in this series was all about him and I didn't read that one). There was also potential here for a wonderfully romantic romance between Hild and the enemy King, but that never really happens. In fact the book ends rather abruptly.

That is my only complaint about this book; just as the story is getting really good it quickly wraps up and ends. It made me sigh in frustration, we were just getting to the point where things we getting really awesome and the story ends! It doesn't end like there will be a sequel, it ends like the author needed to get it done and wrap things up as quick as possible.

Despite the hurried ending, the story is beautifully written and absolutely enchanting. I loved reading it and loved reading about Hild. I loved the characters and the Norse-like setting.

Overall this is a magical read and a very well done historical fantasy. I loved the beautiful writing and settings, and Hild was a wonderful heroine who was very realistic and easy to relate to. The only thing that I didn't like was the ending which was incredibly hurried and quickly wrapped up, it really didn't do the story justice. Still, it is a very good historical fantasy. I highly recommend to fans of historical fantasy; espeically those who love McKinley's The Hero and the Crown, Shannon Hale or Tamora Pierce. ( )