Nameless Queen by Marie Sinadjan
Genre: Norse Mythology, fantasy
Published: 30 November 2023
Length: 70 pages
Summary
All things end, and all must die.
But death is not always the end.
When Geiravor Lokisdottir was stripped of her name and cast out of Asgard, torn from her family and the life she had known, she thought she’d lost it all. But in the shadows of Niflheim she discovers the path to her destiny, and what it truly means to be queen.
This is a prequel to THE PROPHECIES OF RAGNAROK trilogy by Meri Benson and Marie Sinadjan, and a retelling of the myths involving Hel, the Norse goddess of death and the queen of the underworld.
I’ll be upfront in that I have some bias writing about Nameless Queen by Marie Sinadjan. For one, when Marie asked on Twitter if it could work as a standalone, I offered to beta read it since I’m not familiar with her other books (yet) so if I didn’t understand it, others might not either. She agreed to let me read it. At the same time, she also asked for volunteers to be killed off in the story. Again, I raised my hand. Reading through the story, I saw she picked me as one of the victims along with an other friend and a shout out to The Write Reads, a bookish community Marie and I are part of. So yes, I’m biased, but I honestly did enjoy the story very much.
Hel is my favourite Norse god and reading The Goddess of Nothing At All by Cat Rector earlier this year, my interest in Norse Mythology was reawakened. Reading Nameless Queen was lovely. Not only because finally Hel gets the spotlight, but also the tiny cross overs into the real world. Marie also knows how to write an engaging story, an epic long life contained in under a hundred pages. You won’t do wrong picking this up if you also love Norse Mythology and are interested in reading more about Hel’s life.
About the author
Marie Sinadjan is a Filipino fantasy author, singer-songwriter, and musical theatre actress. She is the co-author of The Prophecies of Ragnarok series, and her short stories have appeared in anthologies, magazines, and literary journals. She mainly writes fantasy of the mythology, fairytales, and folklore variety.
When not crunching numbers for her full-time job or spending time with her family, she’s traveling, drinking coffee, reading and reviewing books, dreaming up more worlds, writing more songs, or serenading vegetables. She currently lives in the United Kingdom with her husband.
You can find her online at @marienettist or at linktr.ee/mariesinadjan.
