Book Talk: ‘Children of Ragnarok’ an epic tale of Norse mythology

Norse mythology is the foundation of “Children of Ragnarok,” a sweeping epic that is first in the announced Runestone Saga series for teens by Cinda Williams Chima.

Chima has created a world set after Ragnarok, the end-of-days battle between the gods, leaving only the Midlands where times are bad. The only productive farm is Sundgard, home of Eiric Halvorsen and his family, and that only since his father and grandfather had returned from a summer raid and returned with little other than a girl who proves to be Eiric’s half-sister Heidin.

Eiric’s mother Sylvi is outraged that her husband would bring home his outside child but agrees to accept her on the conditions that he not return to Heidin’s home and that the girl surrender her magical amulet. She is to be called Liv. From then on, Sundgard’s lands bear fruit while its neighbors lie barren.

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When Eiric and Liv are in their teens, their father dies and Sylvi remarries, to a savage, greedy drunk who wants only to wrest the farm and to father a son to inherit it. He is the only one in favor of this strategy, so Eiric and Liv take matters in hand, with mixed results. They get rid of Sten but to save the farm, Eiric takes on a mission from the new chieftain: Rikhard believes that the fruitlessness of the Midlands comes from the lack of magic that disappeared after Ragnarok. Few people now believe in or worship the old gods, and Rickhard wants Eirik to find a place called the Grove, where a temple trains the gifted.

Also bound for the Grove is Reginn, who has spent her young life traveling from one alehouse to the next, playing her flute, telling fortunes and selling healing potions. She is a thrall enslaved to Asger, a fire demon who bought her from her mother. The headmistress of the Grove offers her the chance to escape her bondage and train at the academy.

Chima goes back and forth between the suspenseful story lines as characters find that they have been duped and betrayed; there are themes of eugenics, gender identity and human sacrifice. As always, Chima’s masterful use of dialect boosts the immersive experience. Real Norse words like jarl (chieftain), vargr (exile) and volur (priestess) are used throughout; the meaning is understood from the context but a glossary would be helpful. There is a guide to the runes that Reginn uses at Chima’s website: cindachima.com.

The text evokes the visceral smell of Asger’s smolder, the voices of the dead calling to Reginn, the taste of sea salt of Eirik’s voyage.

Chima’s other books include the Heir series, set in a present-day town much like Oberlin, the wizard-rich Seven Realms series, in a Middle Earth kind of setting, and the Shattered Realms tetralogy, set in the same magical world. The first two series had been announced as trilogies and expanded to add extra books, all of them massive.

“Children of Ragnarok” (560 pages, hardcover) costs $18.99 from Balzer + Bray, an imprint of Harper Collins, and is recommended for readers 13 or older. The second book in the series, “Bane of Asgard,” has a probable publication date of winter 2024. Cinda Chima, a former resident of Chagrin Falls, lives in Asheville, North Carolina.

Events

Learned Owl Book Shop (204 N. Main St., Hudson): Steve Rapp talks about his “Suburban Detective” series and the upcoming “A Turkish Triangle,” set for release in May 2023, 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday.

Fireside Books (29 N. Franklin St., Chagrin Falls): Brandy Gleason talks about “100 Things to Do in Amish Country Before You Die,” 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday.

Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library: Geraldine Brooks, whose 2005 novel “March” won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, joins the Online Author Talk Series, discussing her historical novel “Horse,” about an 1850s thoroughbred and its effect on modern times, 7 p.m. Tuesday; at 2 p.m. Saturday, Swedish writer Fredrik Backman (“A Man Called Ove”) talks about “The Winners,” third installment in the Beartown series about a small-town hockey team. Register at smfpl.org.

Mandel Jewish Community Center: The Cleveland Jewish Book Festival continues with Jessica Nordell, author of “The End of Bias: A Beginning: The Science and Practice of Overcoming Unconscious Bias,” in a virtual presentation from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday. Free, but registration is required; go to mandeljcc.org.

Hudson Library & Historical Society: Richard Paul Evans (“The Christmas Box”) discusses “A Christmas Memory” in a Zoom event at 7 p.m. Wednesday.  Register at hudsonlibrary.org.

Cleveland Public Library: Naturalist Steve Ramirez talks about “Casting Onward: Fishing Adventures in Search of America’s Native Gamefish” in a Zoom event from 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.

Lakewood Public Library (15425 Detroit Ave.): Alan Dutka, author of “Christmas in Cleveland,” talks about Mr. Jingeling and other memories, 7 p.m. Wednesday.

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Mac’s Backs (1820 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights): Poets Adam Giannelli (“Tremulous Hinge”), Walt Hunter (“Forms of a World: Contemporary Poetry and the Making of Globalization”), Angel James (“Becoming Friends with Chaos”) and Virginia Konchan (“Bel Canto”) read from their work, 7:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesday.

H2 Wine Merchants (221 S. Court St., Medina): David Allen Edmonds, author of the mystery series about a teacher fighting drugs and corruption in small-town Ohio, launches his romantic comedy “Unexpected Love,” 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday.

Cuyahoga County Public Library (South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch, 1876 S. Green Road, South Euclid): The Cleveland Jewish Book Festival, in its last event until February, brings Scott Simon to launch “Scare Your Soul: 7 Powerful Principles for Harnessing Fear and Living Your Most Courageous Life,” 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday. Tickets are $25 and include a copy of the book. Register at mandeljcc.org.

Cleveland Public Library (325 Superior Ave. E.): WJW news anchor Wayne Dawson discusses “The Seeds of Greatness Within You: A Memoir,” noon to 2 p.m. Saturday. Register at cpl.org.

Barberton Public Library (602 W. Park Ave.): Green author Kathryn Long, who writes the Sierra Pines mystery series and, as Bailee Abbott, the Paint by Murder series, discusses her work and signs her books, including “Kill Them with Canvas,” 2:30 to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Visible Voice Books (2258 Professor Ave., Cleveland): Poet Siaara Freeman reads from “Urbanshee,” described as “retelling of fairy tales and mythological stories through a modern and urban lens,” 7 p.m. Saturday.

Wall of Books (7783 Ridgewood Drive, Parma): Mistletoe and Murder author event features Cari Dubiel ("All the Lonely People: Short Stories"), Jane Turzillo ("Wicked Cleveland"), Amanda Flower ("Because I Could Not Stop for Death," featured Nov. 27 in Book Talk), Bree Baker ("Partners in "Lime"), who also writes as Jacqueline Frost and Julie Ann Lindsey, Kylie Logan ("Trail of Lies"), who also writes as Lucy Ness and Mimi Granger, and Maureen Wise, who also writes as Irish March, 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday.

Email information about books of local interest, and event notices at least two weeks in advance to BeaconBookTalk@gmail.com and bjnews@thebeaconjournal.com. Barbara McIntyre tweets at @BarbaraMcI.

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This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: ‘Children of Ragnarok’ is new novel from Cinda Williams Chima