The Valkyrie by Kate Heartfield

Pages: 314 

Publisher: Harper Voyager 

Released: 30th of March 2023 

Brynhild is a Valkyrie: shieldmaiden of the All-Father, chooser of the slain. But now she too has fallen, flightless in her exile.

Gudrun is a princess of Burgundy, a daughter of the Rhine, a prize for an invading king – a king whose brother Attila has other plans, and a dragon to call upon.

And in the songs to be sung, there is another hero: Sigurd, a warrior with a sword sharper than the new moon.

As the legends tell, these names are destined to be rivals, fated as enemies. But here on Midgard, legends can be lies…

For not all heroes are heroic, nor all monsters monstrous. And a shieldmaiden may yet find that love is the greatest weapon of all.

From Sunday Times bestselling author Kate Heartfield comes a glorious, lyrical retelling of one of Norse mythology’s greatest epics.

What I Have to Say 

This was a good story but I found that I couldn't connect to the characters or the plot at all. Normally when I read, I feel like I'm in the head of the characters and seeing the action through their eyes, but for some reason with this one, I just didn't connect this way. I tried and tried to work out the reason why, but I honestly don't have one. This book just didn't hit home. 

I loved the author's version of the myth, probably a lot more than I'd have liked the original myth. She changed a lot to give Brynhild more agency and then to make it more gay, which is always an improvement. I loved the magic that Gudrun had as well. It was a really interesting way of doing magic. 

The ending felt a bit off though. It made sense that she set up loads of threads to make the story bigger. But it kind of felt like she got to the end of the myth and then panicked because the book was too short and so put in extra stuff to make it longer. It just didn't feel so connected to the original myth. 

If you're interested in Norse Mythology it might be worth a read. 

Stone by Finbar Hawkins

Pages: 308 

Publisher: Head of Zeus 

Released: 1st of September 2022 

A second novel from the bestselling author of Branford Boase-shortlisted and Carnegie-nominated Witch. An engrossing story of fathers and sons, death and grief, and unexpected bonds, new and old, forged by dark and benign magic.

When Sam, grieving the death of his father, finds a silver-flecked stone, ice-cold to the touch, strange and eerie things begin to happen. Myth, legend, magic and witchcraft mingle on the ancient hillside where the chalk white horse has galloped for centuries. Ravens wheel. Wolves prowl. As Halloween draws close, witches dance. Odin gathers brave, fallen warriors to his side.

Only the mysterious new girl, Oona, can heal Sam's heart, revealing tarot secrets with her bewitching ways.

What I Have to Say 

I'm in two minds about this book, the story itself was sweet, touching and emotional, but the writing fell a bit flat. It could have been an amazing book, it had so much potential, but it just left me completely unaffected. 

The main problem that I could see in it was the dialogue. It felt a bit stilted and unbelievable. Some of it could be the regional accents so I will allow that I could be wrong about this, but to me a lot of it just didn't felt like stuff that teenagers would say. And they kept using each others names in every sentence. 

I loved the stuff about witches and mythology though. I loved the descriptions of Odin and the way he seemed so present in the book. I loved Oona completely and how she brought in the paganism and magic. The mythology in this book did not disappoint. 

All in all, it just disappointed me. 

3.5 stars 

My thanks go to Head of Zeus for providing me with this copy for review. 

The Twisted Tree by Rachel Burge

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 180

Publisher: Hot Key Books 

Released: 27th of September 2018 

Martha can tell things about a person just by touching their clothes, as if their emotions and memories have been absorbed into the material. It started the day she fell from the tree at her grandma's cabin and became blind in one eye.

Determined to understand her strange ability, Martha sets off to visit her grandmother, Mormor - only to discover Mormor is dead, a peculiar boy is in her cabin and a terrifying creature is on the loose.

Then the spinning wheel starts creaking, books move around and terror creeps in . . .

What I Have to Say 

I loved the mythology in the book and the way the author weaved it into the story, how everything fitted in to the myths and legends of Norway. I loved Martha so much. She was an interesting character, I loved how she could read clothing. It seemed like such an interesting ability and one I hadn't come across before. 

The creepiness was a good level for me. I wasn't too scared by it but it did have a creepy atmosphere that sent shivers down my spine. The isolation and the storm made the whole thing feel so much more risky. I wanted so much for them all to survive, especially Gandalf, the dog. 

It was just a good story with a solid foundation of mythology adding to the story. I loved the way that it all worked perfectly as a story, the world of gods and norns fitting smoothly into a modern setting. 

Definitely great for mythology fans. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Hot Key Books for providing me with this copy for review. 

Runemarks by Joanne M. Harris

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 528

Publisher: Gollancz

Released: 24th of November 2016 

It's been five hundred years since the end of the world and society has rebuilt itself anew. The old Norse gods are no longer revered. Their tales have been banned. Magic is outlawed, and a new religion - the Order - has taken its place.

In a remote valley in the north, fourteen-year-old Maddy Smith is shunned for the ruinmark on her hand - a sign associated with the Bad Old Days. But what the villagers don't know is that Maddy has skills. According to One-Eye, the secretive Outlander who is Maddy's only real friend, her ruinmark - or runemark, as he calls it - is a sign of Chaos blood, magical powers and gods know what else...

Now, as the Order moves further north, threatening all the Worlds with conquest and Cleansing, Maddy must finally learn the truth to some unanswered questions about herself, her parentage, and her powers.

What I Have to Say 

This book dragged a little for me. It was a really interesting concept and I really enjoyed the first half of it, but then it just went on a bit to long and it got a bit too involved with all the Gods and factions. It may just be that I'm not so used to reading High Fantasy these days and I really wanted to enjoy it, but I think I just wasn't in the mood for such an involved plot. 

I loved the characters. Each of the gods was played up to almost caricature level of personality. Loki as always was a very complex and beautifully mean character who seemed to love pissing people off as much as he regretted having everyone hated him. Odin, the one who wanted to be the man behind the scenes and pulling all the strings, the general of the army, but weakened by Ragnarok. And then there was Maddy, stuck in the centre of all the politics and backstabbing of the gods and trying to make sense of everything and survive it all. 

I'll probably read the next one at some point, because I really think I could like this series. I just have to be in the right mood to read it. 

My thanks go to Gollancz for providing me with this copy for review