Freeze Warning

Midgard #0.5

by Susan Krinard

As a nearly immortal Valkyrie, Mist is the guardian of the greatest of the Norse god’s Treasures—Odin’s spear Gungnir. But Mist believes all the gods are dead, and she’s slowly settling into a normal life in San Francisco. Just when Mist is ready to give up the duty the All-father laid on her, she meets a mysterious woman, Bella Stratus, and a man who helps her save Bella’s life: Eric Larsson, the perfect embodiment of a Viking warrior. He’s charming, good-natured, and nearly her equal in strength; and for the first time in centuries Mist has found someone she might be able to love… and trust.

But even as Mist remembers the past she left behind and contemplates a new future with Eric, Bella warns her that she can’t fight her fate. No matter what happens, no matter how hard she tries, she’ll never be able to escape the destiny that awaits her.


At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Short Stories, Fantasy, Mythology, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Ebooks

32 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 23, 2013

About the author

Trained as an artist with a BFA in Illustration from the California College of Arts and Crafts, Susan Krinard became a writer in 1992 when a friend read a short story she'd written and suggested she try writing a romance novel. A long-time fan of science fiction and fantasy, Susan began reading romance -- and realized what she wanted to do was combine the two genres. Prince of Wolves, her first romance novel and one of the earliest to feature a werewolf hero, was the result. Within a year Susan had sold the manuscript to Bantam as part of a three-book contract, and the novel went on to make several bestseller lists.

Since then, she's written and published over fourteen paranormal and fantasy novels, and written stories for a number of anthologies, both fantasy and romance. Both the anthology Out of This World (which included Susan's "Kinsman") and the novel Lord of the Beasts appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List.

Susan makes her home in New Mexico, the "Land of Enchantment", with her husband Serge, their dogs Freya, Nahla and Cagney, and their cat Jefferson. In addition to writing, Susan's interests include music of almost every kind, old movies, reading, nature, baking, and collecting unique handmade jewelry and decorative crafts.

Reviews

[✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 46%. More or less. I think. Can't remember now. Oh well.

This should have been really cool. I mean, Valkyries + Odin + Norse mythology = really cool, right? Haha, you're so funny. That's what I initially thought, too. And then I started reading. Sigh. Double sigh. Triple sigh. Want to know why I'm sighing so much? Because despite this being a VERY short story (32 pages), the author manages to squeeze in ✘✘ Freaking Insta Lurrrrrve ✘✘ before the 40% mark. Now that must be the achievement of the century. Before this story there was Insta Lurrrrrve, now there is Step On It No Time To Lose Insta Lurrrrrve. Read 10 pages and BOOM, it's there! Yay!



What else? Apart the from the fact that there is no such thing as a plot you mean? And that this must be one of the most lackluster stories I was ever given to read? Let me think for a second there… Oh yes, there is something else! The flashbacks killed the plotless story. There are too many of them. They are poorly written. They add little to the narrative. Yay. In the end you're left with an uninteresting, incoherent, jumbled mess. Double yay.



And there you are, probably thinking I'm overexagerating again. You don't trust my judgement much, do you? You're thinking not ALL must be bad about this story. And you know what? You're right. It's not ALL bad. The cover is beautiful. Ha.

[Karlyflower *The Vampire Ninja, Luminescent Monster & Wendigo Nerd Goddess of Canada (according to The Hulk)* · Rating 3 out of 5]

k, is for Krinard.

2.5 Stars

Many moons ago when I was dreamy teenager I used to write stories, many of which are liners in drawers scattered about my home now or collecting dust in the closet, and my absolute favourite technique to play around with was “the flashback”. It’s interesting how one well-placed character memory can add texture and honestly to a story. However, flashbacks are like wasabi... they are VERY easy to overuse. The reason I mention this is because Krinard’s Freeze Warning has no control over the use of its flashbacks, and it left me with a feeling of being both jarred and disjointed from the story.

Freeze Warning is a short story about Mist, a Valkyrie charged with a most important task by Odin himself, living these days on Earth. One evening she and a fellow passerby save an old woman from a terrible fall off a bridge and an unlikely acquaintanceship is born.

In my opinion the flashbacks to Odin’s halls AND before Mist was brought to Odin’s hall were far more interesting than the current day story. Beyond simply being more interesting, they are also just better written. I found present-day Mist very trite. I’m not really sure how else to put it, this is a short which is trying to live in three places at once and ends up drowning in them all.

BUT that cover art? GORGEOUS!

[Prabhjot Kaur · Rating 1 out of 5]

“They remain in Asgard until the end. You will have but this one purpose. Do not fail.”

Mist is a Valkyrie and she finds herself on Earth in San Francisco. She knows that Asgard was no more and she will have to settle in San Francisco now. She meets a woman named Bella Stratus when Bella was attempting to jump off a bridge and Mist tries to save her life and she finds another person helping her save Bella's life too. The other person turns out to be a man named Eric Larsson and they start to spend their time together and she learns that Eric knows a bit about Norse mythology.

When I read the premise, I was very excited to read this but soon all my excitement faded away. This had so much potential but instead it was about a Valkyrie meeting a handsome guy on Earth and they both fall for each other instantly (eye roll). I kept on waiting for a twist or something or the other but literally nothing happens. She does rune magic and burns it away and no one notices? There was no plot, writing was very poor, nothing about this is worth remembering.

0 stars

[Badseedgirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Welcome to Day 4 of my 2021 25 Days of Short Stories Christmas Advent Calendar. Each day I will be reading a short story from the collection of over 600 short stories and novellas available for free on Tor.com. This is a collection of horror, sci-fi and fantasy. I will be letting fate (and the random number generator) decide what I read each day.

Day 1: The Art of Space Travel by Nina Allan
Day 2: These Deathless Bones by Cassandra Khaw
Day 3: Swift, Brutal Retaliation by Meghan McCarron> (Trigger warning: Emotional abuse of children and women)
Day 4: Freeze Warning by Susan Krinard

My knowledge of Norse mythology is limited to what I scraped together from the Marvel movies and what I read in American Gods. I have no idea how accurate any of those founts of knowledge are, but I suspect one is much more reliable than the other. I will leave it up to you to decide. I can now add Freeze Warning to that fount. I enjoyed this story about a Valkyrie living in San Francisco. It was very obvious that this was the start of a larger story and I suspect one of the characters is not who they seem just from the little I read. Again I am not a huge fan of fantasy but this story had a kind of Jim Butcher Codex Alera feel to it. If that interests you than you can read Freeze Warning for free here.

[Jassmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mist closed her eyes. So long ago since she’d been a child, staring in bewilderment at the golden halls of Asgard with its five hundred and forty doors, her small hand gripped in the much bigger one of the tall, fierce woman in her mail armor and winged helmet. No one had looked at them as they passed through gardens and arbors and pavilions open to the air. No one noticed them as she tried to make sense of the incredible scene before her: the thousands of feasting warriors clinking their silver ale cups, the gods and goddesses laughing at jests she couldn’t hear, the vast hearth roaring as the juicy carcasses of boar and deer turned on their spits.
But Mist hadn’t been her name then. She had forgotten it as soon as she set food in Asgard, just as she had forgotten who her Midgardian parents had been and where she had lived.

Once more, I simply don't know what do I think...? What is certain is that the cover is gorgeous... and the story is nonexistent. Mist is an interesting protagonist, but not so interesting as to outweigh the nonexistent story. The romance was alright, but nothing more and the worldbuilding was... also alright and nothing more. Now, where it does get interesting is the blurb of the next book, because... wow, I didn't see that one coming (though I probably should have). It doesn't really excuse the blandness of the story since it should work on its own, but it's adding some interesting layers. (And it certainly explains why the final punchline doesn't work.) I'm not quite sure whether I'll read the series, but I'm considering it.
There is also a few feminist takes on Norse mythology, which I appreciated.

https://www.tor.com/2013/10/23/freeze...

[iz · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
my only quip was that he should have known what Gungnir is lol

[Tiara · Rating 2 out of 5]

More like the lower side of 2.5 stars

[Louisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great short story, really enjoyed getting introduced to these characters and the world, and I can't wait to read more!

[Daniella · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short story advent utilising tordotcom free fiction 13/25.

[Kathy Davie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a freebie contracted for by TOR Books and is the prequel to Krinard's Midgard series revolving around Mist, a Valkyrie sent by Odin to Midgard to protect a treasure of the gods.

My Take
Okay, it's got a few issues, but I did like this introduction to Krinard's Midgard series. I'll definitely be looking for Mist , 1.

There's nothing particularly twisty about this intro to the Midgard series. Unless you count Norse mythology as "different", LOL. I certainly haven't encountered a lot of stories which incorporate Norse gods although many authors do like to use the threat of Ragnarök.

However, Krinard has left me with questions to which I want answers, including the whereabouts of Mist's fellow Valkyries: "Hild gripping the reins of Odin’s eight-legged steed, Sleipnir; Regin with mighty Mjollnir, Thor’s Hammer; Bryn with Freya’s cloak, which let its wearer fly like a falcon; Sigrun with Gleipnir, the chain that could not be broken, which had snapped when the world began to crumble and released the Great Wolf Fenrir upon Asgard"..."Kara with the Gjallarhorn, already sounded by Heimdall to mark the beginning of the end; Eir with the apples of Idunn, which kept the gods forever young; and, Horja, Olrun, Rota, Skuld, Hrist, each with her own Treasure".

Naturally, any story that begins with its heroine assuming that the need for care is over is simply a foreshadowing in itself of great danger to come. So I wanna know what form this will take.

With my fascination for history, I want to know more about the events in which Mist has participated---besides the WWII adventure in Norway! Yup, I also want to know what went wrong, dagnabit! Ah, the stories Mist could tell...

There's something Krinard isn't telling us about Eric or Bella either. And inquiring minds (mine!) want to know!

The Story
It's been too long, and "Mist believes all the gods are dead, and she’s slowly settling into a normal life in San Francisco. Just when Mist is ready to give up the duty the All-father laid on her, she meets a mysterious woman ... and a man who helps her save Bella’s life..."

The Characters
Mist Bjorgsen is one of the Valkyrie, a guardian appointed by Odin, the All-Father, to protect "the greatest of the Norse god’s treasures—Odin’s spear Gungnir. Kirby and Lee are her Norwegian Forest Cats.

Eric Larsson is a legal consultant who travels the world. And has a heart of gold.

Bella Stratus is a woman who has given up, and yet seems to know more than expected.

Asgard is the home of the gods while Midgard is Earth. The Einherjar are fallen warriors who were deemed worthy and collected by the Valkyries from battlefields to help battle the enemy at Ragnarök, the battle at the end of the world. The Aesir are the Norse gods; the Alfar are elves; and, the Jotunar are frost giants. Loki is the trickster god who will be freed from imprisonment when Ragnarök begins.

The Cover
The cover is certainly brilliant in its pinkness! I must confess that I never associated the Valkyrie with feathers (Freya's cloak?) nor with pink and both surround and engulf---along with bat wings and what appear to be spine chains of bone (Gleipnir?)---a jean-clad Mist holding Gungnir.

The title is a curiosity as well unless "Freeze Warning" is intended as a warning that Mist "stop" what she's thinking.

[Maggie Gordon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oy, that could have been better... Freeze Warning is about a Valkyrie in the modern world who tries to save a woman from committing suicide and meets a super hot guy who looks like Thor. I love urban fantasy, but it's a tough genre to do well. You have to introduce a lot of very dramatic changes into a space and time that people already know very well. It's hard to take shortcuts, and even tiny actions can have a lot of meaning. Let's take this tiny sample of writing from the middle of the story to illustrate what I mean.

"It didn’t take much Rune-magic to convince the charge nurse to let her see Bella. Just a little misdirection and a few Runes scribbled on a piece of paper Mist quickly burned with her lighter the moment the man looked away.

After that, no one paid any attention to a woman in her late twenties wearing very average boots, jeans, and a leather jacket. She’d hidden her knives, just to be on the safe side."

So... she can use rune magic to do things. Cool. Did she write out the runes in front of the dude? Or before? Why did she burn them? How the hell did she hide the whole burning of them anyway? Paper causes smoke! The dude is right there, even if he's not facing you, his nose still works. Also, if this the modern world, why even burn them? Who would recognise them? Do you have enemies, protagonist? You haven't mentioned any... Would they go through your pockets? Why even use runes if the hot dude was able to get in to visit the lady without any trouble? Was this just a "look, I has magic!" moment?

Also, unclear writing alert! You hid your knives as in you put them on even though you usually don't or you hid them as in you decided not to wear them hanging off your belt? Why are you so wary centuries later? (Okay, that might be from your weird encounter earlier that wasn't weird, but totally a set up for INSTANT BOYFRIEND). What made you bring knives to a hospital??

As I said, urban fantasy can be hard to pull off! These two paragraphs were meant to introduce readers to more magic, but ended up confusing things and making the narrative feel illogical. It was less "show us your world organically" and more "LOOK! MAGIC THINGS! BAD ASS PROTAGONIST! I DID NOT TELL! I TOTALLY SHOWED, RIGHT?!?!"

The rest of the short story doesn't fare much better. Mist, our protagonist, is angsting when she sees a woman try to commit suicide. She tries to save her, but ends up mysteriously needing help from a random modern viking warrior dude. He's instantly smitten with her. She angsts, they have sex, and that's about it. There's no actual plot here other than setting up Mist as a crabby Valkyrie who hated being treated as lesser when she was in Asgard and now hates... everything? This feels very much like a chapter of a book rather than a short story. It does not stand alone, has no real plot, and leaves readers in the middle of a scene. I am totally down for reading excerpts of books to get a sense of whether I want to commit, but warn readers in advance! (Though I am pretty sure this was just meant to be a standalone story despite not actually standing on its own).

Also, spoiler from the synopsis of the first book that follows this: Hot dude is Loki. How... completely unsurprising.

[Nathanael · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've enjoyed Norse mythology for a long time now, ever since I discovered some elderly books of mythology and folklore for children at my grandmother's house. Because of that, I've always been interested in modern twists on the mythology, whether it be Marvel's take on the characters or novels like the Iron Druid series where the Norse gods pop up from time to time. I spotted this short story on Tumblr and clicked on it, excited to see what a take on Valkyries living in the modern world would be like. While the concept was sound, the execution was somewhat lacking.

The central problem with this story is that there isn't much in the way of a plot or conflict and there is no true ending. It trails off, ending on something of an anticlimax. It feels like the first chapter of a novel; an intriguing first chapter, certainly, but not a self-contained entity. It isn't helped by the fact that the true identity of the man Mist begins dating is incredibly obvious, to the point that it makes the protagonist look a bit dim to have not realized who he was.

I would really only suggest reading this if you're interested in the series it serves as a sort of prequel to and want to get an idea of whether or not you'll enjoy it. Aside from that, it's a bit pointless.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute little beginner story to the series, filled with Norse legends and history, but I have no idea how the title fits in.

Relates Mist’s history from the beginning in Asgard and why she was sent to Midgard and why she ended up in San Francisco, Midgard.

Fave scenes: the woman on the bridge, Mist’s horse and Mist’s sword room.

[Nofuture · Rating 3 out of 5]

Valkýry a severskí bohovia v súčasnej Amerike. Nejaké tie artefakty, nejaka tá citová väzba, v podstate nič nového. Tento textík zapadá do sveta, ktorý autorka rozvíja v ďalších knihách. Ničím neprekvapí, ale ani nesklame. Možno by bolo zaujímavé prečítať si viac, ale obávam sa, že by to bolo narvané nejakými romancami a možno by sa tam aj niekto trblietal. Mne stačilo aj toto.

[Rachel-RN · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intro to the Midgard series. It definitely reads as a first chapter and not a novella. I'm on the fence about continuing. I do have "Mist," so we will see.