I'm just back from a weekend at Can*Con: a Canadian science fiction and fantasy writers’ convention in Ottawa. It was my first time at a literary conference, and Can*Con set the bar high. 

Every single person I met was a writer and incredibly nice. 

Whether they were writing short stories purely for their own amusement or had published a bestselling series, each person I spoke to was kind, curious, and eager to gush (or groan) together about our writing projects.

I met so many new writers, my already gigantic TBR pile doubled in size. It's the best kind of problem to have!

I started with Kate Heartfield's The Valkyrie, as she was one of this year's Guests of Honour. I devoured her mythical retelling in a handful of days, and I think you'll do the same.

This lyrical retelling of a Norse legend centres two women: Brynhild, who lived for centuries as a Valkyrie, a shieldmaiden to the god Odin, before she was exiled to the human realm of Midgard, and Gudrun, a princess of Burgundy and soon to be a prize for an invading king. 

While I haven’t read other versions of this story, it seems that they typically portray Brynhild and Gudrun as jealous enemies. But in this novel, Heartfield re-imagines the two women as reluctant allies, then friends, and eventually lovers. 

The Valkyrie is written as a conversation between Brynhild and Gudrun, the chapters moving from one to the other and back again, as they compare their versions of the events that brought them together and tore them apart. 

I wholly enjoyed this captivating mythical adventure and beautiful love story, and I think you will too.