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FindingJane
Mar 09, 2016FindingJane rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
“Valkyrie” is a bit of a jumbled mess. Is this a romance, a coming-of-age story, an action-adventure plot or a YA novel about the new girl fitting in at school? It’s supposed to be YA but comes off as being a tad juvenile, possibly because the heroine herself hasn’t been trained to restrain her emotions. She mostly says what she thinks, without censorship (although she does learn to practice deceit), and has no problem taking up arms and walloping the bad guys. For all that she’s supposed to maintain secrecy, Freya is too prone to letting mortals see her without her invisibility helmet or with her wings unfurled. In spite of her advanced years, Freya does seem too jejeune to handle human relationships and a bit too peeved that no one actually knows what a Valkyrie is. The book also plays merry hob with what Norse mythology tells us about the gods. (Since when do Valkyries have wings, anyway?) Loki’s trademark red hair is entirely absent, there are only five Valkyries instead of the traditional nine or twelve and each of them is spawned by a different mortal father instead of being aspects of Odin himself. Each Valkyrie has a raven but the pair that accompany Odin, Hugin and Munin, are entirely absent. The book also fails to ask any of the important questions. Freya wonders why the mortal warriors culled to be at Odin’s table want to spend all their time eating, drinking and fighting. She’s bored and annoyed by the repetitive behavior since it confirms her opinion that mortals are nasty, violent and stupid. She doesn’t ask why Odin is bothering to gather mortal warriors to begin with or why he encourages the fierce combat they engage in every single day. Certain mythology explains that Urd, a Norn goddess of Fate, had warned Odin about a terrible doom that would overtake the gods, a final war to end all wars that would see the destruction of Asgard and the deposition of Odin himself (he’s supposed to be eaten by Fenrir, a vast wolf). Odin then charged the Valkyrior to bring him the finest of Midgard’s warriors after their deaths. These slain warriors were to form a vast army, one that Odin hoped to use to battle hellish forces that would attack Asgard during Ragnarok, the supposed end of days. So all these warriors were basically pawns in Odin’s scheme to maintain control of Valhalla and the constant battling they did was to keep them in fighting trim for that far-off grim future. Whether the warriors were themselves aware of what Odin planned for them was uncertain. The fact remained that Odin cared little for human beings in general. Only the fate of warriors interested him. That’s why Valhalla was reserved for Earth’s soldiers. Nowhere else in it were there the souls of human poets, architects, writers, comics, cooks, musicians, etc. Does the book mention any of this? No, it does not. Perhaps this cunning scheme of Odin (which might piss off the slain warriors if they ever learned the truth) is something that will be revealed in upcoming sequels. But such complexity or adherence to Norse myth doesn’t seem likely. Loki is up to his usual tricks. He’s playing a deep game, one that involves Earthly destruction. But, without knowing anything about prophecy, his actions really don’t make any sense. But Freya fights like a badass; she’s like Xena with wings. She also comes to a gradual understanding and love of humanity. Her journey from contempt to compassion leavens the novel somewhat from its ungainly sprawl. In spite of its uncertain tone, this series entry has a tender heart. Read it for that and try to forgive the rest.