Choosers of the Slain — Ann Chamberlin

Throughout the recited and recorded history of mankind in all cultures, a few women have gone to great lengths to rise above their inherent positions of obscurity. Often they have reached a position of recognition only through great sacrifice. Common history chooses to discount the efforts and contributions of these amazing women, but this more thorough telling strives to give due credit, even in the fantasy realm of fiction. This series, The Valkyries, is dedicated to the goal of telling the woman's side of history and life, predicated on the determination that not all myth and lore is reserved to celebrate men alone. The Valkyries tells the story of one such woman. As a young girl, Brynhild of the Peoples of the North, the tribe of the Angles, is doomed to die in the Spring Thaw ritual. However, she manages to skirt death, only to be marked as warriormaiden destined to ride with Odin. How she comes into her own as she suffers the trials and tribulations of the life thrust upon her is only part of the story. Throughout her life, she wrestles with questions that plague her. As a female, is it possible to claim glory and freedom only at the expense of denying one's womanhood? And the freedom from womanhood â€" is it truly freedom or some sham construct, a cruel trick played by the gods? Perhaps there are no answers, only the life she chooses to live, despite the glower of the god who chose her, One-Eye, Aesir of the Sky. Perhaps her destiny truly is what she has always tried to avoid â€" embracing the Vanir of the Earth and her role in the Wheel of Life.