Since I earlier talked about the Varjak Paw books I loved, I wanna talk more about books I've loved when I was younger and still do.
The Brothers Lionheart is a 1973 Swedish children's fantasy book written by the around-here very famous Swedish children's author Astrid Lindgren.
The story is about two brothers, one more young and timid and doesn't feel he can do much, while the older brother he admires is very beautiful, brave, charming, kind and popular–very much a hero and like a prince from a fairytale, deserving of the name Lionheart.
It's an interesting story, as most of it is spent in an afterlife that is like a world of its own where people live very much like they do in the living world, and where it turns out things aren't all happy and honky dory. This is another case of a children's book with dark stuff in it. It is even a bit controversial.
The story starts in Sweden during the early 20th century, in the house of a poor dressmaker whose husband was lost in the sea years ago, and now her young boy Karl Lion is bedridden and suffering from tuberculosis. One day, the customers talk and because they assume Karl is asleep, they mention that the boy will die soon.
Karl is obviously distraught, but is comforted by his older brother Jonathan Lion, who affectionally calls him Rusky, because he loves dry rusk biscuits and especially loves his younger brother, though Karl cannot really understand why as he considers himself quite ugly and dumb. Jonathan tells him stories about Nangijala, a world beyond death, a land of campfires, fairytales and adventures where his little brother can play free. He comforts Karl by reminding him that one day he will be with him in Nangijala and he wouldn't have to wait for long even if Jonathan lives super old, because time works differently in Nangijala, and the dead can visit from Nangijala in the form of white doves.
One day, there's a housefire and Jonathan saves his sick younger brother by lifting him on his back and jumping out of the high window, the older boy sadly dying from his wounds caused by the fall. Jonathan's mournful teacher writes about him on the newspaper, reminiscing how they had read about the brave Richard the Lionheart and how the boy deserves that name as well.
Quite soon afterwards, Rusky feels his death approaching fast and writes his mom a note "Don't cry, Mother. See you in Nangijala," the similar words he felt he had heard from Jonathan right before he had died from his wounds. That night he succumbs to his illness and dies, and arrives to Nangijala where he reunites with his brother (just try not to think about their poor mom losing all her children, husband and house.)
At first, the Cherry Valley of Nangijala seems like a beautiful paradise surrounded by mountains and filled with cherry blossoms, where people live in peace, kind of like an idealized version of an older time village and nature.
The two brothers do some cottagecore shit, fishing and living in a little house of their own (which even had the sign "The Lionheart Brothers" before they arrived.) Rusky is even able to swim and ride his very own horse despite not being able to do so in life and of course he's no longer ill. They have pet rabbits, too!
The villagers chat in the Golden Cockerel Inn and help and give to each other according to what each one needs. A woman named Sofia is very well-respected and seems like the leader of the village–she raises the special doves that can fly anywhere and borrow their feathery form for those who wish to visit their living relatives. How nice!
But turns out the neighboring Wild Rose Valley has been taken over by a cruel tyrant named Tengil of the Ancient Mountains, who wants to rule all of Nangijala. The people aren't free to leave the valley or even move outside their homes at certain times of the day, death sentences are very common and some are forced to hard work and slavery to death, so they obviously hate the guy. But they don't dare to oppose him–why?
Because he has an absolutely massive black dragoness on his side, who loves to snack on humans and weapons cannot harm her. If that wasn't bad enough, Katla the dragon's flames don't seem like your usual fire–her dark flames seem more like some sort of cursed poisonous fire that soon enough either kills or paralyzes everything it touches. People fear her so much that the words "Katla is coming" will make just about anyone lose their fighting spirit.
But a resistance is secretly growing and the brothers become a part of it...
There's also a movie made in 1977, which follows the story well, except for one character-specific scene I think they should've included and the ending portion with Katla that's sadly changed and didn't include the really cool scene in the book (likely because of budget reasons.)
Also, I'm now gonna talk about MAJOR SPOILERS regarding the ending of the book and what the author had to say about it:
