Whether or not you have read Lars Mytting’s The Bell in the Lake, you can enjoy The Reindeer Hunters. Mytting carefully fills in the background needed to follow this sequel, the middle volume in his Sister Bells trilogy.
In this English translation from the author’s native Norwegian, Mytting and translator Deborah Dawkins transport readers to the village of Butangen. “This was Butangen. These were its folks,” he writes.

Set primarily in the early years of the 20th century, the novel opens with “A Forgotten Event, 1611-1613.” Readers new to the trilogy meet Halfrid and Gunhild Hekne, conjoined twins known for their traditional weaving skills. By night, the sisters learn from an aunt steeped in pre-Christian traditions and weaving style, and by day they returned to weaving Biblical scenes. They also survive an invasion of Scottish mercenaries, an event that figures in the rest of the novel.

Much of the story focuses on the village pastor, Kai Schweigaard, who arrived in Butangen in 1879 and ordered the demolition of the medieval stave church, a decision that haunts him in the novel’s 1903 present. Home of the Sister Bells, commissioned by the deceased Hekne twins’ father to honor his beloved and talented daughters, the church’s ordered demolition had led to the vanishing of the twin bells, one taken to Germany and the other sent to the bottom of Lake Løsnes. Schweigaard has determined to look after Jehans, the orphan son of strong-willed Astrid Hekne and a descendant of the conjoined Hekne twins. Jehans has lost not only his mother, but also his German father and twin brother. Schweigaard has also promised Astrid Hekne to search for the missing Hekne Weave, the Hekne sister’s long-lost masterpiece believed to depict Doomsday and which their father donated to the stave church upon their deaths. Because of the Hekne Weave’s pagan style, an earlier pastor had ordered it burned, but Schweigaard determines to find the missing ancient tapestry to assuage his guilt.

Knowing that he should put his grief behind him, Schweigaard has made a promise to the dead, and such promises, he realizes, “have a habit of becoming an obsession.”

The story shifts between Kai Schweigaard and Jehans, whose childhood interest in sciences Schweigaard had nourished, eventually offering to pay Jehan’s way to study engineering at a university so that Jehans could forever leave Butangen for a modern, productive life. After a falling out took place between the two, Jehans falls back on local tradition, becoming a reindeer hunter, repeatedly encountering a mysterious foreign hunter, Victor Harrison.

Raising questions about tradition and change and painting a vivid picture of a fascinating culture and complex characters, The Reindeer Hunters is an historic novel to savor as the mystery of the Hekne Weave gradually resolves and the modern world unfolds

My thanks to NetGalley and Abrams/The Overlook Press for an advance reader copy of this highly recommended second Sister Bells volume.

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The Reindeer Hunters is the second novel of a trilogy, preceded by The Bell in the Lake, and translated by Deborah Dawkins. It is historical fiction, with elements of folk lore and Nordic mythology, set in 1903, in a small village in Norway but reflects back on activities in the 1880s as well as the story of conjoined sisters who foresaw future events and wove them into a tapestry back in 1613. Much of this earlier story, and the story of a descendant of those twins, is the subject of The Bell in the Lake, the preceding book. I found that it wasn’t necessary to have read the first to understand and enjoy this new book, but I do intend to read The Bell in the Lake in the future to clarify some points and simply to enjoy it.

In the story, in Butangen, the pastor Kai Schweigaard lives a lonely life with only his housekeeper for company most days. And his memories of Astrid Hekne who lies in his church’s cemetery. Astrid’s son Jehan once lived with Kai but no longer, after learning a truth that felt like betrayal. Now he prefers a solitary life. His mother died giving birth. His father also gone. But one bell is still in the lake, Gunhild while the second sister bell, Halfrid, was taken, to Dresden. These are very bare bones of a complex story that covers a society that is moving from social isolation into a new world of technology and transportation, where the power of old folk tales and myths still holds in a land where nature can control your destiny so quickly and easily.

This is my second book from Mytting, the first being The Sixteen Trees of the Somme. I will definitely look for more. I recommend reading this book, perhaps beginning with The Bell in the Lake if you have the opportunity to do so..

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This was amazing! I have loved my time spent in Butagen. This second one was much faster-paced than The Bell in the Lake, but still not TOO fast. I loved the dynamics between Jehans and pretty much everyone else, I thought the story was just really great. I can't wait to reread these ahead of the third installment.

This is the second book in a lovely series that is rich in detail and character development. At the close of book one, Astrid Hekne had just given birth to twin boys, but only Jehans was taken back to their small Norwegian village by the pastor, Kai Schweigaard. Now, it is 22 years later, and our beloved sister bells are still parted — one in Dresden and one in Butangen, but they are believed to still ring together, even with Gunnhild buried deep in the lake. Jehans is out hunting reindeer when he has an encounter with an Englishman that shakes the foundations of his life to this point. Kai becomes obsessed with uncovering the missing Hekne weave, which is purported to foretell the death of the town's pastor. Jehans has plenty of scores to settle, and he sets about determinedly doing so with the help of his clever and loyal new wife.

The story spans over a decade, from 1903 to 1919, and includes the impact of the first World War and the influenza pandemic of 1918. It is impactful and beautiful like the first, rich in all sorts of sensory prose. Reading these books is an experience, and I loved living for a handful of hours in a small Norwegian town. I also really enjoyed the less-common perspective on WWI, as so much historical fiction from this area is centered around the major players in the war — Germany, England, etc. This is not a fast-paced read, it is meant to be savored. I will most certainly be reading the third and final installment in this series!

Thank you to Lars Mytting, The Overlook Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC!

The Reindeer Hunters is a sequel to The Bell in the Lake as well as a stand-alone novel, and once again the masterful and spellbinding storytelling illuminates.

The roots of both stories go back to the conjoined twin sisters and their legendary tapestries, which were woven in accordance with the ancient Norse tradition and they used the rarest methods of plant-dyeing. There is one specific tapestry that was given to the church after the death of the sisters in 1613, but the tapestry is missing.

Pastor Kai Schweigaard feels bad about dismantling the stave church and in the process losing the church’s mystical sister bells. When he came to Butangen, fictional place in Norway, he was about modernization and putting end to the myths. But now, he feels differently. The new church lacks the atmosphere of the stave church. And finding the missing tapestry might bring him redemption, even though it’s woven with pre-Christian patterns, something he tried to eradicate.

In 1903, Jehans Hekne is a young man. He is the son of Astrid Hekne, who was the main heroine in the first book. She died giving birth to Jehans and his twin brother. Jehans wasn’t accepted by the Hekne family, thus was raised by foster parents. And now, enjoys his freedom on a homestead in the mountains outside Butangen, fishing and hunting for his livelihood. As he hunts, his path crosses with Victor Harrison, an Englishman, who is a regular hunter in Norway.

When Victor gets hurt while hunting, Jehans takes him to parsonage. There, the pastor sees something he hasn’t expected. The threads weaving the story are getting tighter, and even more fascinating.

As the pastor searches for tapestry, the story reveals history of weaving and its patterns. As men hunt, the story reveals the dangers of hunting, and what it takes to be a good hunter. Also, this story brilliantly explores the themes of love, courage, and redemption as well as what it takes to accept changes and embrace a new era.

The stories of three men are superbly merged, with each chapter having an enigmatic end – not wanting to end, but then instantly engrossing with the beginning of next chapter. The magnificently developed characters engaged with their stories, exploring the ups and downs that life throws at them.

The story begins with the mystery of the tapestry, then, its threads weave the stories of three men, and in the last part how they respond to changing times, and how they come to terms with what has happened in their lives. Beautifully explored themes of life.

Source: ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review originally posted at mysteryandsuspense.com