Hello everyone!
I think the site is one of the best sites out there for people to be able to read books prior to release or even after release without needing to spend so much money on an actual edition right off the bat, what if you don't like it?
This way, if you love the ARCs you're reading, you'll probably buy the book anyway and support the author like that!
Plus I mean ... Norse mythology.
Come ON we all love the Norse sagas, and with Santa Monica's God of War Ragnarok release almost right around the corner, this is getting a bit of an added boost if you ask me.
It's a great time to do anything Norse mythos related!
So make sure to bring warm clothes, because it's going to get cold before it gets hot.
The Last Daughter by Alexis L. Menard is up.
I have some Norse mythology related books in my arsenal so I'll be linking them down below - chief among them Rick Riordan's Magnus Chase trilogy, but I think there's some others, too.
Onwards!
Our story begins with Ailsa, a healer and daughter of the chieftain (or, Jarl, let's be politically correct here), fending off an unwanted suitor. She's sent her father and sisters off to their deaths at the hands of invaders who just popped up out of the blue and are slaughtering their way through the native inhabitants of the land.
She couldn't go with them because she's pestered by a sickness they call The Drowning, which afflicts the females of her line, and kills them young.
This sickness is connected to what the invaders are after, though, as we learn when our second protagonist, Vali, reveals himself to Ailsa's father - right before he kills everyone and makes for the village where he comes face to face with Ailsa herself during a celebration (also at the time when Ailsa is telling off the one of her suitors she actually WOULD have married, back in the day, if he hadn't taken off with his family).
Turns out, Ailsa's family has a secret regarding the magic they wield as shieldmages, and Vali's here for the Tether that is supposedly in their keeping.
Well, it is, and it latches itself onto Ailsa during a struggle on the beach, so Vali takes her, her wolven - a female who can shift into a wolf, Ivor - and his crew back the way they came, though he doesn't quite explain WHY he needs said Tether just yet.
He lets Ailsa stab him three times for the three family members he killed, but doesn't die because, SURPRISE! Davy Jones isn't the only heartless bloke running around. Vali has no heart either.
Now they're voyaging to the branches of the World Tree so they can make it back to Alfheim, where Vali's from, but naturally it's not smooth sailing because none other than Jormungandr shows up first to attack the ship - sensing the Tether - and then after they actually get to the branches and have to hoof it from there on foot, they're assaulted by the Vanir led by Njord, also drawn by the magic of the Tether.
At this point, most of Vali's company perish, except his shield-mate, Ivor, Ailsa and himself, and they regroup to press forward, though not before Vali explains a little bit of why he needs the Tether:
he was specifically created (born) to avenge the death of Baldur, Odin's favourite son, he lost his heart to a Volva witch who cut it out, and is hunting the Tether because Alfheim is falling prey to dark seid magic, and if he delivers the Tether to Odin, the All-Father will recall Frey from Alfheim where he'd installed him, and the seid which had come with Frey would leave with him.
Okay, Ailsa can get behind that. She doesn't hate Vali as much anymore, anyway. Which, thank GOODNESS because he gets zapped by a storm out of Jotunheim and is probably dead, but she uses the Tether magic to bring him back to life (if you've been paying attention, this means Odin could use it to bring BALDUR back to life).
Both of them had fallen into a nasty river though so they take refuge with the Frost Giants, only to be betrayed, Ailsa taken, and Vali sent to Asgard to steal Thor's hammer Mjolnir so one of the giants can use it as bargaining chip to marry the goddess Freya. Vali trudges off to do so, though at this point he's beginning to realize Ailsa is more than just the Tether holder to him, so he's not in the best of moods while dealing with Odin and the rest; he does, however, get a visit from one of the Norns, who explains that, while he thinks everyone else controls his fate, he simply needs to take control of it himself. Then MAYBE he'll find happiness.
So he goes to do just that, returning with Mjolnir and taking Ailsa, accepting the shirt she made him as a token of her affection and also sign she wants to make a life with him. They then press on as a group once more, with one final derailment when Ailsa starts literally cooking inside out.
See, the Tether is actually ancient, ancient magic, practiced by the Vanir Gullveig, and hidden from Odin when he had been initially looking for it. Vali also learns, while in Valhalla and speaking to Ailsa's father, that the dad totally knew about the bargain with the Volva - the men get Berserker blessings, while their women die young to continue the line and the "blessing".
Now, the magic wants to bind itself fully to Ailsa, but she needs to accept it, which at this point she doesn't, so they rush her to Alfheim and the healers, who help her sort of recover, then we get to spend some pleasant downtime in the beautiful realm as Vali shows it to her, and the two grow ever closer until, after a visit from Loki who offers to cure Ailsa of her illness if she forsakes Vali (she spits the cure in his face, mind), they finally acknowledge they're actually mates.
They perform the ritual right before Odin arrives to take the Tether, which naturally complicates things because if Ailsa dies, Vali dies too now, and vice versa, as it's how the mating bond works, something Ivor gets all hissy about, hissy enough to slash Ailsa across the face.
Remember Ivor? She's kind of a shadowy figure supposedly there to protect Ailsa, but it turns out - while Ailsa and Vali's mother are waiting for Vali - that she's actually been planted to help the wolven and the Volva regain the ancient magic, so to that effect she kidnaps Vali and drains him of his powers while she's at it.
Odin's pissed off when he finds out, but he wants the Tether more than anything else, and the only thing stopping him is the Frost Giants dropping a dome on his head when they come looking for a fight. Remember the whole, Mjolnir - Freya marriage fiasco? Well Thor went undercover as Freya and killed a bunch of giants, so now they're here for revenge.
Ailsa uses this to take off after Vali, and accepts the magic inside her to save his life once again after he's put to the torch at the order of ... Fenrir.
You didn't think the wolf destined to eat Odin wasn't close, did you? Naturally he's been the one behind this whole thing, him and the witch who initially took Vali's heart, and they want Ailsa on a leash controlled by them, but she and Vali hightail it out of there with the help of the Dark Elves, because actually, the Light of Alfheim hasn't been dying for the previously-stated reasons, but because Fenrir was there, so they also recognize Vali as their lord.
They open a portal to send Vali and Ailsa to Vanaheim, where they'll be seeking help from Njord to try and stop the day to end all days, and in the meantime, Ailsa's former lover (the one who sailed away, but turns out he was paid off by her dad, and she miscarried their child later as a result) makes a bargain with the Volva to track her down and "rescue" her from her captor.
So I mean ... the end, right?
HAH.
When can I read the sequel???
Ailsa and Vali start off as enemies, but graduate to something else entirely through the book. They also both change the other in the best way possible, and I LOVE the pattern of Norse mythology woven through the story, known and yet subtly unique.
The writing style is easy to get into, the characters are strong, and I hope we see more of the supporting cast in the next one.
I truly, really can't wait for the second book to see just how this union is tested, specifically after the epilogue with Erik.
And I swear I will cheer so hard when Ailsa burns all the naysayers and people telling her what to do to the ground.
Ailsa and Vali start off as enemies, but graduate to something else entirely through the book. They also both change the other in the best way possible, and I LOVE the pattern of Norse mythology woven through the story, known and yet subtly unique.
The writing style is easy to get into, the characters are strong, and I hope we see more of the supporting cast in the next one.
I truly, really can't wait for the second book to see just how this union is tested, specifically after the epilogue with Erik.
And I swear I will cheer so hard when Ailsa burns all the naysayers and people telling her what to do to the ground.
xx
*image not mine
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