Thor's Hammer

This book is a departure for a writer who has made a career of making departures, from the ultra-subtle fantastical memoir _Dogland_, to the Chandler-esque sf thriller _Chimera_ to the young adult novels (with elves) _Elsewhere_ and _Nevernever_. This, Shetterly's first children's book, concerns three boys from a fascinating milieu, turn of the century San Francisco. An Irish immigrant working in a realistically brutal factory, a black orphan with nothing left but his elderly dog, and a Chinese boy who dreams of being a pirate king end up in... the land of Norse Gods. The Gods have a mission for one of them, but they're not sure which. The answers as to which boy is important, and why none of them are Norse, are quite clever. It's true, little action actually takes place aboard the Basset, but as I found Asgard and 1895 San Francisco at least as interesting a venue, if not more, that didn't bother me. In fact, if Shetterly ever writes a book set solely in the historic San Francisco he recreates here so vividly, I'd buy it... even if it didn't involve elves, Norse Gods, magic, or the Basset.