Review: Runes of Fate

Title: Runes of Fate
Author: Lena North
Type: Novel
Length: 320 pages (Kindle)
Publisher: Flat Out
Publication Date: June 24, 2016
Genres: Fantasy

Blurb

It's the annual midwinter gathering, and Sissa Raudulfsdatter is locked into a shed – bound, gagged and waiting to be led out to the altar where she will be sacrificed.

There has never been any human sacrifice in the village before, but this year Jarl Ingolf decided that the gods require one to give their good graces back. 

Sissa is determined to face her fate with dignity and courage but as she waits for them to bring her out to the altar, the herbs her mother has put in her final meal makes her dizzy and finally, she faints.

The morning after the sacrifice she wakes up, still alive and still in the shed. After shouting for help, Sissa's brother opens the door, but he's shocked to see her because they all thought Sissa was killed the evening before. It's soon discovered that another girl was sacrificed instead. The village is in uproar and Jarl Ingolf, who performed the sacrifice himself, is devastated. 

The Jarl’s brother, Einarr, is given the task to find out what has happened and because of her ability to figure things out, and since she's the only one clearly innocent, he asks Sissa to help him. One of the suspects is Einarr’s only son Josteinn, the boy Sissa has had her eyes on her whole life, but there are others who could be guilty, and as Sissa and Einarr learn more, things start to become dangerous.

When Josteinn starts to pay her attention, Sissa has to decide how she wants to live her life. Can she be content living her life in the village as Josteinn's thrall, his property? Or have the gods carved different runes of fate into the roots of Yggdrasil for her?

Review

Warming Up Nicely!

This was absolutely not what I expected. Going in I thought that I was going to get Norse gods interacting with our heroine. Thought that she was going to gain some sort of supernatural gift from the gods or she was going to complete some miraculous feat that only she could do. But as I read, this first installment of the Sissa Raudulfsdatter series (Runes of Fate) wasn't what I expected it to be.

Our heroine (Sissa) is a smarter than average slave girl (but not exactly a slave) who dreams of the possibility of freedom someday. Or at least to end up in a comfortable home with a owner that would be considerate of her. Those dreams are shattered when she is offered up as a sacrifice to the gods, but fate has a way of changing a person's destiny. Now, Sissa has to prove that her spared life was worth saving and find the individuals responsible for her still being alive.

Simply, this was a who done it that was executed nicely. There are twists and turns throughout this read but it never lost focus. The main characters are well developed and the secondary characters hold the readers interest as well. Now, Sissa didn't get any super powers but for the time period the story was set she had something better. She possessed courage and above average smarts. Looking forward to reading what happens next in this series.

~~ Thank you to ROCKSTAR LIT for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.~~

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