'Fenris & Mott' Book Club: Day 3 [end]

“Each moment is a choice. But we don’t always get to be the ones making it.”

Welcome to the final instalment of our book club read-along for OwlCrate Jr's November book, Fenris & Mott by Greg Van Eekhout! This month’s recap and discussion questions are written by the one and only Cheryl of And Other Tales, a fantastic book and lifestyle blog.

Just a reminder that this will be a SPOILER FILLED discussion for Chapters 13-17 of Fenris & Mott. Discussion questions are listed below, and anyone who participates in the comments by October 2, 2022 will be entered to win a free OwlCrate Jr box per post!

Take it away, Cheryl!

The Story Begins . . .

 Ragnarok is looking inevitable, the moon is hanging huge in the sky, the night is swelteringly hot, wildfires are spreading across California and raining down ash in LA. Earth’s weather is greatly concerning! 

Mott is thinking there is no way to keep her promise to protect Fenris, when suddenly the old homeless man from the ice cream store appears. It’s actually Odin, the All-Father, in disguise! He has been roaming the earth testing people’s goodness - if they are good he blesses them with small good fortune, if they’re not, then misfortune will follow. Because of her earlier kindness to him, Odin gifts Mott with … his eye! His all seeing eye. Which is admittedly, pretty gross. 

A frantic, sudden call from Mott’s mom warns her to go home immediately and to absolutely stay away from her work (at the Art History Museum). Ignoring her mother’s warning the girls race to the Museum to find that the mummy of Tutankhamen has come to life and is now chasing them! With no weapons to fight against the undead, the girls are out of options to defend themselves … until Fenris swallows King Tut as well!! With no time to dwell upon that, Hermod suddenly appears to tell Mott that her mother has been taken … to Helheim! 

 Okay, well apparently Hermod’s idea of Helheim is a shopping mall, where despite the raining ash and danger from approaching wildfires, people continue to shop!

Vidar is in the parking lot holding Mott’s mom hostage, paralyzed with strong magic, offering to trade her for Fenris. The scene is pretty bleak! Her mom is being held hostage by a god, Tew, god of war, has suddenly appeared, and now Fenris is howling at the moon, raking his teeth across its surface, and moon shards are falling to earth along with the ash from the fires. Mott makes a brave decision. Asking Thrudi to buy her time holding off Vidar, Mott is going to find the Annihilation Rune. She crouches in front of Fenris and allows him to swallow her! 

 It’s pretty dark in the belly of a legendary wolf. But luckily Odin gifted her with an all-seeing eye that lights up the dark like a flashlight. Mott finds herself surrounded by all manner of rubble - concrete slabs, parking meters, twisted bars of steel, and hey! Over there is Chris Hevans, and over there is Bev from the wolf rescue, and Gorm the Vicious, and even the hand of the dead man! Everything Fenris has swallowed exists in this dark place.

Everybody joins Mott in the search for the Annihilation stone, soon finding a small glow coming from under a huge pile of rubble, and all pitch in - even the dead man’s hand! - to clear the rubble. Mott picks up the small black stone and talking to Fenris (hoping he can hear her) asks him to barf up the rune … and everyone along with it! Ewww… but maybe this will work? 

 Next thing she knows she’s lying on the pavement outside the mall, (along with everyone else Fenris swallowed) … and some yucky barf bits we don’t need to mention. When Tew and Vidar realize she has the rune, they stop fighting an exhausted Thrudi, and turn their attention to Mott. They will take the rune and force it back down Fenris’ throat, but Mott eats the rune instead! 

Now in possession of great strength and power of destruction (her foot stomping is cracking the pavement after all) the gods realize they won’t be able to over power her, and really, they’d just like to “go home and rest and feast and prepare for the next final tomorrow,” and they leave. 

Our story ends somewhat happily - Ragnarok was prevented (this time) and Fenris returned to a regular wolf - but the earth is still in bad shape. Our climate is in trouble and much work is needed to be done in order to prevent the next Ragnarok! 

Close friends Thrudi and Mott watch some Chris Hevans movies together before Thrudi rides off on the Bifrost bridge back to Asgard. Not to worry, these close friends will see each other soon - Thrudi gifts Mott with a rune key that allows her access to the Bifrost whenever she wants! 

QUESTIONS:

1. Even though this was a short novel, it was definitely not short on heartfelt moments. What scene has stuck with you the most?
2. I was not expecting Greg to weave in such a powerful connection between Ragnarok and our own environmental climate challenges, what did you think of this conversation? What other aspects of the story/writing surprised you? 
3. How did you feel at the end of the novel? Hopeful? Worried?? Happy? Maybe, like me, a combination of all three?