Today we have two blog reviews of Troll Valley.

First, from Will Duquette at The View From the Foothills:

They always tell aspiring writers that they should write what they know. As commonly understood, I think this is hogwash—a writer needs to be able to go beyond his personal experience to date. But there’s no denying that when it’s done well, the personal touch can bring an immediacy and a concreteness to a work. And that’s precisely what Lars has done here.

Then, from Loren Eaton, at I Saw Lightning Fall:

For the record, I hold little in common with the characters of Troll Valley. I’m not of Norwegian descent, I’m not Lutheran, and the closest I’ve come to even setting foot in Minnesota is a trip to friend’s wedding in Wisconsin. But I still found them engaging. Walker understands that literature is supposed about the stuff of universal human experience, and he uses his characters’ specific situations to touch on it. Alienation and belonging, love and lust, faith and doubt — all make appearances.

Thanks to both.