Bera, the One-Headed Troll
By Eric Orchard
First Second Books, 2016
126 pages
All Ages
Bera is the Troll King’s pumpkin gardener, and a skilled one at that. One day she rescues a human baby from some nasty mermaids, and receives a visit from the court’s (ex-) Head Witch looking for it so she can turn it into a mindless monster and thereby regain favor with the king. Of course, kind Bera chooses to take the baby to the nearest human to look after it rather than give it up to the witch, but this choice gradually leads to an entire adventure.
Orchard has a comfortable, engaging artistic style and a calming autumn color scheme that always draws me into his fantasy worlds. Maddie Kettle and the Thimble Witch is one of my favorite books because of Orchard’s unique, (dare I say Mignola influenced?) raw style and straight-forward, unconvoluted storytelling. My daughter has a picture of one of his floating frogs on her wall.
Winslowe the charming owl accompanies Bera to visit Wulf, the Dragon Masher (after escaping The Guardian,) using a hundred year old map. She gets assistance from the hedgehog wizards, but the heroes Bera seeks out all seem to come up short. So she takes on the challenge herself, exploring flooded caves and castles and ruined kitchens while avoiding cadres of goblins and that nasty Cloote the (ex-) Head Witch.
Bera shows us the strength that a pumpkin gardener truly grows inside as she rescues rats from root monsters (he’s named Vince) and goblins under attack by wolves (darn cute ones, too,) gaining powerful allies in her quest. The ending ties up nicely with a bit of a familiar twist that feels good and leaves the reader wanting more fantastic adventures in the Orchardverse.
