I warn you this book is full of riddles. Riddles from the gods, of fate and destiny. Signey Valbourn is training to become the first new Valkyrie in 100 years. But she is faced with a riddle. She must find her answer in order to become the Valkyrie she believes she is destined to be. In her search she will grow. She will love, she will lose and she will discover herself. This sequel to "Lost Sun" is another well written tale that satisfies. We meet again our favorite hero in Soren Bearstar and a new hero in Signey Valbourn, Valkyrie of the tree. ( )

MARRY ME SIGNY ( )

These stories take place in a modern world, similar to ours where cars, mobile phones, and reality TV exist, where religion is pervasive and broadcast to the masses, where the troll war is a recent memory, and where Norse gods and their children live among us.

I'd read the three novellas prior to reading the main trilogy, which meant that in places (in books 1 and 2) I was spoiled for characters or events. I found that actually heightened my excitement, especially with characters. (Glory fangirl forever.)

[b: The Lost Sun|13021366|The Lost Sun (The United States of Asgard, #1)|Tessa Gratton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1362068810s/13021366.jpg|18183974] is Soren Bearskin's story, his, Astrid Glyn's, and Baldur's. On Baldur's Day, the sun god who dies for half the year, doesn't rise. Fear and confusion grip the people, and Odin Alfather promises a boon to whomever finds the missing god. Both Soren the Berserker and Astrid the Seether want that boon. It's about making your destiny your own.

[b: The Strange Maid|18301603|The Strange Maid (The United States of Asgard, #2)|Tessa Gratton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1396739924s/18301603.jpg|25790139] is Signy Valborn's tale. She's the Valkyrie of the Tree, some say Odin's favorite, and for two years she's been unable to solve the riddle that keeps her from claiming her power and place among her sisters. Ned Unferth offers her a solution, one that will shake everything she knows about her sisters and the gods. It's about learning who you are and why, and about the choices you make that shape your fate.

[b: The Apple Throne|24602702|The Apple Throne (The United States of Asgard, #3)|Tessa Gratton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1421792891s/24602702.jpg|44211965] is the story of Idun of the Apples and the missing human man she loves. More than almost any other story it's about love, about defying your fate in favor of loving who you will, and about being a bridge between worlds.

The United States of Asgard series is marvelous, and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys meddling gods, amazing heroes, tales of destiny and defying that destiny, and love of all kinds. ( )

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: A Valkyrie, a mysterious man with an unholy sword, and berserker who serves a different a god are out to claim her destiny.

Opening Sentence: “I was born under a frenzied star, so our poets would say.”

The Review:

Signy Valborn was given a riddle to solve by Odin when he made her a Valkyrie, and Ned Unferth shows up years later to help her. Signy has been training to be a Valkyrie since she was seven. She ran from the Valkyrie council in order to bring glory to the Valkyries and solve her riddle. Along the way she meets Ned the spiritless who is also a poet. Half of the book takes place before book 1, The Lost Sun, and the other half of the book takes place during and after. Ned teaches Signy how to hunt and fight trolls.

In one massive troll attack Signy believes that Ned is killed and she realizes her quest is tied directly to the mother Troll. Signy ends up meeting the berserker group and Soren in quest to hunt the trolls. Soren and Signy become close friends while trying to figure out her dreams, and her destiny.

I am not going to go into too much more because of spoilers. However, I will say this book is packed with action, another weird love story and tons on Norse mythology. Signy is an interesting main character she is often rash, for example in the troll attack in the first book, you find out in this book she is the woman who charged into the group of trolls with nothing but a sword. I say weird love story because it’s like Astrid and Soren in the first book where they just kind of fall in love. Initially I thought this might be a standalone, I didn’t understand how she tied it in with the first book, but once you get about halfway through the book that becomes clearer. Signy and Soren are tied together because of the mother troll and Signy’s destiny. The gods work in mysterious ways.

I loved this book, although I admit I struggled in the beginning, she really wasn’t mentioned in the first book so I had no clue who she was and what she had to do with the story as whole. But despite that struggle, I really loved the whole Norse culture in the modern world. It’s so interesting and Tessa really incorporates some wonderful aspects of Norse culture and poetry in the book. I have to admit that I am total sucker for the Valkyries, Berserkers and Beowulf. You really can’t ask for more in a book, than that!

Notable Scene:

“Again and again it appears against the starry sky, weaving in and out of itself like a message for the entire world.”

“Death Chooser, Strange Maid, the binding rune scare says.”

“The Valkyrie of the tree will prove herself with a stone heart.”

“But a Valkyrie does not balk at death.”

“I make myself a mirror to understand the beast.”

FTC Advisory: Random House Books for Young Readers provided me with a copy of The Strange Maid. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )

Signy Valborn has fire in her veins. Anger over a devastating childhood incident led her to climb the New World Tree where she met and was claimed by the Alfather, Odin, for his own.

But being a Valkyrie in training is not what she expected. The current Valkyries are tame compared to their history. They are the consultants to kings and presidents, and Signy longs for, burns for, the old ways.

The final insult comes when she wakes to find a riddle on the day she is supposed to become a fully realized Valkyrie. It's a question she must answer. One she cannot find a solution to. It keeps her from rising to the full position of Alfather's fierce servant, and it sets her on a dark, dark journey to find herself.

~~
Dark, dark, dark. If you have read THE LOST SUN you will likely not be prepared for THE STRANGE MAID. This is a story about fate and death and longing. Its a story that explores 'the glory' of revenge and unlike the previous book, there is more truth to the world-building here. These people seem closer to what I would expect from those descended from Vikings, from those who live and worship the old gods. There are fewer Christian sensibilities in this book. We get new insight into the Berserker battle lust, and we get animal sacrifices.

I love this book because it's more adult (and possibly not YA any longer), and because there's less dancing around the violence.

I love this book because there's poetry in the writing. The use of words isn't frothy and light, but dense and evocative. And Tessa Gratton is afraid to let her characters take sex casually or lose themselves to what we might consider madness.

--review copy ( )