The Songweaver's Vow

By: Laura VanArendonk Baugh

Narrated by: Liz Morey

Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

She tells Greek legends to entertain Norse gods until one of her stories leads to murder.

When Euthalia’s father trades her to Viking raiders, her best hope is to be made a wife instead of a slave. She gets her wish - sort of - when she is sacrificed as a bride to a god.

Her inhuman husband seems kind, but he visits only in the dark of night and will not allow her to look at him. By day, Euthalia becomes known as a storyteller, spinning ancient Greek tales to entertain Asgard’s gods and monsters.

When one of her stories precipitates a god’s murder and horrific retribution, Euthalia discovers there is a monster in her bed as well. Alone in a hostile Asgard, Euthalia must ally with a spiteful goddess to sway Odin himself before bloody tragedy opens Ragnarok, the prophesied end of the world.

With an epic cast of characters including Odin, Thor, Freyja, and Loki, and a magnificent harmony of Greek and Nordic mythology, this tale will appeal to readers of Neil Gaiman, Stephen Lawhead, and Mercedes Lackey.

The Songweaver's Vow is the winner of 2018 Realm Award, Best Fantasy and SPFBO's Best of 2017 Semifinalist.

©2017 Laura VanArendonk Baugh (P)2019 Laura VanArendonk Baugh

Great narration!

Liz Morey is an engaging narrator who brings the story to life. Excellent pacing and great, easily distinguishable voices for the characters.

A Wondrous Pairing

VanArendonk Baugh's writing is engaging and descriptive without being overly verbose, excellently setting scenes in view and feeling through the internal monologue of the narrator.
The writing is further brought to life by Morey's clear and captivating voice. Their ability to imbue emotion into every character makes it easy to fully immerse yourself in the story. I wouldn't recommend trying to multitask while listening to this one.

An amazing find

I came into this with no knowledge of what it was about- and ended up listening to the audiobook until early in the morning. It hooked me immediately, and every chapter made me want to continue. The characters were dynamic and grew on me within a few pages of their introduction.

I would absolutely- and am recommending this story to anyone with a love of greek or norse mythology. Or a love of good books in general!

Love, Forgiveness, Responsibility

You've met the gods of Asguard in Marvel movies, but what would it be like to enter their world? That's exactly what happens to Siguend, the protagonist of The Songweaver's Vow, when she is first traded into slavery and then "sacrificed" to become the wife of a god.

For starters, I loved the love story between Euthalia and Vidar. Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairy tale to read retellings of, and I got some of the same feelings from this love story. As an added bonus, Vidar is gentle and careful of Euthalia from the beginning, which dodges some of the Stolkholm Syndrom issues of Beauty and the Beast.

I also really enjoyed the themes in this story. Mythology is filled with selfish, bratty, childlike gods and goddesses. This story calls them out on it. Euthalia is a contrast to the Asguardian's disregard for the consequences their actions have on others, but even as Euthalia tries to help, she finds herself making mistakes and making it worse. Readers join her on a journey of love, trust, caution, forgiveness, compassion, and responsibility.

This was the first book I've read from Laura VanArendonk Baugh, and it won't be my last!

Content
Religion: Though many of the characters are gods and godesses of Norse mythology, the story treats them like regular, non-deific fantasy characters. They have magical abilities, fantastical roles, and are semi-immortal, yes. But they are not worshipped or deified.
Romance: The love scenes in this story are written for adult readers. Though by no means graphic, scenes go dark after some foreplay.
Language: At least one character swears at the main character.
Violence: Quite a lot of violence. If the gore of epic myths turns your stomach, you'll want to choose a different story or skip scenes here and there in this one.

A Legendary Love Story

VanArendonk Baugh, like her protagonist, weaves together Greek and Norse myths to creat a unique and engaging story. As a minor student of both myths I was delighted how this new myth she created felt like an old one from the Sagas.

This story has all the mystery, intruige, action, and (a bit more) romance of the old myths, told with contemporary excellence.