The Valkyrie
- Author Kate Heartfield
- Narrator Eleanor Jackson, India Shaw-Smith
- Publisher HarperCollins Publishers
- Publish Date 30 March 2023
- Run Time 9 hours and 49 minutes
- Format x-book®
- Genre Epic fantasy / heroic fantasy, Fantasy romance, Historical fantasy, Myths and Legends, Norse religion and mythology.
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What to expect
*Winner of the Aurora Award for Best Novel*
From SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author Kate Heartfield comes a glorious, lyrical retelling of one of Norse mythology’s greatest epics
'With a brilliant heroine at the helm, this richly detailed, character-driven story renders epic mythological battles on a human scale' Publishers Weekly
Brynhild is a Valkyrie: shieldmaiden of the Allfather, 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 lovers, 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.
Critics Review
n Praise for The Valkyrien
n‘Reading THE VALKYRIE,I felt as if I were meeting old friends again for the first time. Kate Heartfield as taken a story I’ve read in many incarnations and still surprised and delighted me. Practically every sentence is a brilliant kenning, glittering brightly enough to match Fafnir’s hoard. This fierce and imaginative retelling, full of history and magic, does for the Ring Cycle what Atwood’s PENELOPIAD did for THE ODYSSEY’
Chadwick Ginther, the Aurora-winning author of THE THUNDER ROAD trilogy
‘THE VALKYRIE is a richly-told and deeply-felt tale about finding ones place in the world. A sharp, radiant book to fit the women whose stories it recounts. Kate Heartfield is one of those rare writers who always make me feel as if what they’re writing, no matter how fantastical, is true. Whatever she told me in a story, I would believe it. Gods, dragons and all.’
Natalia Theodoridou, winner of the World Fantasy Award
‘THE VALKYRIE sings, like the epic it is, without ever letting go of its groundedness, its bloodiedness. A secret history of the sagas, a story from behind the stories of old‒a war story, a love story that, once you see it emerge gleaming and gory from those bardic silences, seems like it was always there.’
Vajra Chandrasekera, author of THE SAINT OF THE BRIGHT DOORS
n Praise for Kate Heartfieldn
n‘Where fantasy and history meet…An entertaining and dark read’
STYLIST
‘An absorbing novel…a fine balance between history and fantasy’
GUARDIAN
‘Spellbinding’
JJA Harwood
‘Beautifully written’
Elizabeth Chadwick
User Reviews
| Author | Kate Heartfield |
|---|---|
| Narrator | Eleanor Jackson, India Shaw-Smith |
| Duration | 9 hours and 49 minutes |
| Release Date | |
| ISBN | 9780008567743 |
| Format | x-book® |
| Publisher | HarperCollins Publishers |
| Genre | Epic fantasy / heroic fantasy, Fantasy romance, Historical fantasy, Myths and Legends, Norse religion and mythology |
| Availability | AU, GB, IE, US |
| Rating |
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| Narration |
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