The Weaver and the Witch Queen

stuffed into the pouch at her belt.

At twelve years old, Gunnhild was exactly between the sisters in age-Signy a winter older, Oddny a winter younger-and the girls rarely got to see one another except at gatherings, which made this day even sweeter.

"You're too fast," Signy complained as Gunnhild threw an arm around each of her friends and herded them up the hill toward her father's hall.

"Or maybe you're not fast enough," Gunnhild said, "because when I visit you I still win. I have a collection to prove it."

Oddny sniffed and picked at one of the furs in her bedroll, her thin shoulders hunched, her pinched face looking more so than usual. "Maybe we'd win every once in a while if Signy ever stopped daydreaming and paid attention."

"Hush, you. I pay attention," Signy said lightly, but her green eyes were brimming with mischief. Gunnhild appreciated that about her: Whether it was stealing oatcakes from the cookhouse or pulling a well-timed prank on the farmhands, Signy was always up for a little fun, whereas Oddny was more likely to sit back from whichever of her chores she was dutifully performing and give them a disapproving look. Oddny wasn't much fun, but at least she never tattled on them.

As they entered the longhouse, Gunnhild saw that preparations were well underway for the ritual and feast taking place that evening. Near her father's high seat at the far end of the hall, a small square platform had been raised for the visiting seeress to sit on, so she could look out over the crowd as she revealed their futures. It sat just under the wooden statues of the gods Odin, Thor, and Frey, which loomed beneath the jutting lintel above the entrance to the antechamber where Gunnhild's family slept.

Gunnhild had never seen her father's hall looking quite like this: buzzing with activity, the air charged with excitement. The seeress's impending arrival had turned the entire hous

Sangu Mandanna, national bestselling author of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

Gornichec presents a page-turner that gives readers a look into prejudices and what one can see when looking past them. It s a lesson in knowing someone truly to the core, creating bonds that cannot be broken. Friendship, love, power, and resilience reign in this historical fantasy full of witches, Vikings, raids, and braids.
Booklist

Entwines impeccable storytelling, fascinating historical detail and characters so nuanced and mercilessly human that I fell for every one of them and still can t let them go. Give me everything Gornichec writes I will devour it.
H.M. Long, author of Hall of Smoke

A saga of blood and magic and hardship that explores what we owe to those we love and what it costs to actually pay that debt.
BookPage

"Beautifully woven and achingly human a masterful tale about sisterhood, destiny, and what we're willing to do for the people we love. Gunnhild and Oddny's journeys cut to the heart of what it feels like to be right and wrong, together and alone, bold and afraid, all at once. I loved it."
Allison Epstein, author of A Tip for the Hangman

"They say your second book is the hardest one to write, but Genevieve Gornichec - leaning on her Norse mythology love yet again as with debut The Witch's Heart - performs a magic hat trick with her sophomore novel...The ingredients are there for a heroine's journey and the result is a delicious Christmas pudding - crunchy, sweet, rich and a little bit hot once you set it on fire."
Associated Press

"Gornichec's book takes the scant details about the historical Gunhild's life-her author's note has some helpful details about which specific sagas her story draws from-and spins them into a rich and magical tale of sisterhood and survival, revenge and sacrifice, with a satisfying dollop of enemies to lovers romance and trans representation on top. The historical world she constructs is rich and vivid, full of the sort of lived-in, careful details that make the setting come alive on the page."
Paste

A breathtaking saga of a novel that brims with page-turning tension and wit, impeccable historical and cultural detail, and heroines that are at once fierce and complex but also full of true heart and soul.
Olesya Salnikova Gilmore, author of The Witch and the Tsar

Filled with sea voyages, political intrigue, surprise betrayals, and tender love, this historical fantasy will thrill readers and capture their hearts.
Shelf Awareness