Princess Valkyrja is considered merely ornamental. She does not have the control over her blessed gift that her brother, the heir, and her sister, her greatest critic, have. Her father, the king of Fjordlandi depends on his two oldest children to maintain the order in the kingdom that makes the Fjordlandians the ruling class, and the Thanes, the peasant class. He also oppresses a hidden element of the community, the Daemons, whom he enslaves to control the geothermal forces below his kingdom. The king's carefully constructed hierarchy is literally blown apart by a terrorist bomb, and Valkyria finds herself as the new heir. In the aftermath of the explosion, she becomes acquainted with a Thane, Nick, who is a believer in The One. He begins to teach Valkyrja the faith that has been forbidden by her father, and she comes to see that her father, whose approval she always sought and never attained, was really a tyrant. Can she, the weakest of the royals, find the strength to undo all the wrongs her family had committed for centuries? Not without her new friends, and her new faith.
This is the second in the series that began with the Awakened. It occurs in the same world as the first book, but 150 years later. None of the characters from the first book play an active role in this one, though the characters refer to them at times. This book had some of the same problems that I complained about in the first book. The alpha-couple spend an inordinate amount of time encouraging each other. The religious elements are really heavy handed. And yet, by the end, I have to admit I was into the story. The final action sequence was intense, and the final resolution satisfying. White also included hints for what the next in the series will be. I will probably read it. (338 p. 2026)
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