by Matt Larkin
I use the term hero loosely as heroes within mythology in general, and in particular Norse mythology, rarely fit our modern definition of the word (not getting at all into the etymology of the word “hero,” which has nothing to do with said modern definition).
Likewise, Orvar-Oddr (literally “Arrow’s Point,” though within the context of the story, they’re two different names) is a wandering anti-hero with a great many stories about him. Some of these are loosely recounted here in the book.
The main adventure on Thule is more-or-less an original creation inspired from several independent stories in Norse and Inuit mythology.
Days of Endless Night takes place between The Shores of Vanaheim and The High Seat of Asgard. Fascinated by The Waking of Angantyr, I actually began this side project while working on The Shores of Vanaheim.
While Odin has his fingers in a lot of pies, it proved impractical to relate every cool story in Norse mythology within a single linear series. This meant, if I wanted to deal with the Tyrfing Cycle, I needed to create a spinoff. The only way I could do this was with a series that would read a bit faster than the main, longer, Ragnarok Era books. Thus was the Runeblade Saga born.
I kept vacillating on which series to release first and ultimately decided to temporarily delay release of the fifth book in the Ragnarok Era in order to get closer to chronological order on this story in the hopes that would provide the best overall reading experience.
I hope it proved an enjoyable read.
As usual, special thanks to my family for all their support. Also to Clark for helping me repeatedly work through these structural issues and to my cover designer for a truly amazing design. And of course, thanks to my editor for helping ensure the book is the best it can be.
Thank you for reading,
Matt
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Want to talk about the book? I’d love to hear from you. You can reach me at: [email protected]