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The Queen of Pohjola
When the cold hand reaches southward,
reaches with its frozen fingers,
comes a child into the northland,
all the clans to bring together.
While Löhi, the Witch of the North, lays waste to the Far Northern Land town-by-town, Ulla’s power continues to grow. Strong, pitiless, and relentless, Ulla measures all others against her utter devotion to their seemingly doomed cause. Accompanied by Kaukomieli, the young wizard whose love for her conflicts with his sense of duty, she prowls the Marches ambushing Löhi’s servants and giving no quarter. Feared by all as much as she is loved, Ulla is now her people’s final hope.
In desperation, Ulla and Väinämöinen journey in spirit-form to hell to bargain with its lord for a weapon with which to slay the Witch. The quest takes them at last to Pohjola itself and a final confrontation with Löhi that powerfully evokes the Finnish heroic spirit and leads to a shocking, unexpected denouement.
THE QUEEN OF POHJOLA, Book III of the Far Northern Land Saga, goes where no epic fantasy has gone before—Finnish mythology and the world of the Kalevala, where legendary heroes like the wizard Väinämöinen mix with original characters like Ulla to create a unique mosaic wholly new to fantasy literature.
This discussion guide was shared and sponsored in partnership with DartFrog Books.
Book club questions for The Queen of Pohjola by David Allen Schlaefer
Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.
The mood and atmosphere of The Queen of Pohjola is very different than that of the first two books in the series. How does that affect the story's development? Did you find the change a natural evolution or more jarring?
Väinämöinen seems to almost withdraw from active opposition to Lōhi for some time. Why was this? How did Ulla overcome his melancholy?
Ulla is a changed person after Egan's death. She appears both more stern and proud, but also repeatedly states that she has little hope for victory and seemingly needs none. What is Ulla's motivation at this point? What moral or ethical framework does she use to make her own choices and judge those of others?
In one of the most dramatic scenes in the novel, Ulla slaps Kirsikka and accuses her of betrayal. Why does she do so?
Kaukomieli and Egan met one another only once prior to Egan's death, but are very much connected throughout The Queen of Pohjola. What is that connection? What similarities do they share? What differences set them apart?
Why does Pain Girl, the White Maiden of Tuonela with the cobwebbed face, accept karhu's tooth as toll for passage across the river of death? What do you think she did with it?
Lōhi and the Moonface appear to have an unusual and strange relationship. What do each want from the other? How do they use one another?
Who is the Queen of Pohjola?
Before Väinämöinen and Ulla begin the final descent to Sariola and the Witch's Keep, Väinämöinen says that no matter what happens, they have already won the victory. What does he mean by that? How does this relate to the main themes that Schlaefer weaves throughout the entire series?
How does the description of Tuonela, the Land of the Dead, compare with the depictions of Hades, Hell, Valhalla, etc., in other mythological systems?
The Queen of Pohjola Book Club Questions PDF
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