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So Sing the Barrows
Wytha Naemisdottir is a witch, banished to the frigid mainland for failing to save her king's newborn child. If she can find a gift worthy of the king's forgiveness, Wytha can return home alongside her warrior lover and misfit companions. But the mainland is contested territory, and its dense woods are haunted. A black-robed stranger watches them from the coastline, the fishermen who greet them have taken to worshipping a foreign god with ties to Wytha's southern heritage, and rumours abound of an invader whose vanguard is picking off villages one by one.
Worse still, a hidden enemy is summoning spectral barrow-wights that attack Wytha's people. Creatures straight out of myth, pitch-black and faceless, the wights can separate skin from bone with a touch. But unmasking the summoner raises a disturbing question: is a stranger responsible, or is the culprit one of Wytha’s cherished companions?
As the search for answers entangles Wytha in the sinister politics of mainland, it reveals an uncomfortable connection between the revival of an ancient blood rite known as the wild hunt, the sly tactics of the eastern invader, and Wytha's own ancestral past. The deeper Wytha and her friends are driven into the forest, the further into disputed territory they find themselves, and the thinner Wytha's grasp on her sanity becomes.
CONTENT WARNINGS CAN BE FOUND AT STEVEHUGHWESTENRA DOT COM.
Worse still, a hidden enemy is summoning spectral barrow-wights that attack Wytha's people. Creatures straight out of myth, pitch-black and faceless, the wights can separate skin from bone with a touch. But unmasking the summoner raises a disturbing question: is a stranger responsible, or is the culprit one of Wytha’s cherished companions?
As the search for answers entangles Wytha in the sinister politics of mainland, it reveals an uncomfortable connection between the revival of an ancient blood rite known as the wild hunt, the sly tactics of the eastern invader, and Wytha's own ancestral past. The deeper Wytha and her friends are driven into the forest, the further into disputed territory they find themselves, and the thinner Wytha's grasp on her sanity becomes.
CONTENT WARNINGS CAN BE FOUND AT STEVEHUGHWESTENRA DOT COM.
Unknown Binding
Published February 15, 2025
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About the author
Steve Hugh Westenra
4 books72 followersSteve is a trans author of fantasy, science fiction, and horror (basically, if it’s weird he writes it).
He grew up on the eldritch shores of Newfoundland, Canada, and currently lives and works in (the slightly less eldritch) Montreal. He holds advanced degrees in Russian Literature, Medieval Studies, and Religious Studies. His current academic work focuses on marginalized reclamations of monstrous figures. He teaches the History of Satan and Religion and its Monsters.
In 2018, Steve’s lesbian Viking novel, Ash, Oak, and Thorn, was selected for the Pitch Wars mentoring program and agent showcase. During Pitch Wars, Steve was lucky to receive mentorship from fellow queer author, K. A. Doore.
His queer horror comedy, The Erstwhile Tyler Kyle, was mentored by Mary Ann Marlowe in the inugural #Queeryfest class.
He is a SPFBO9 entrant.
Steve is passionate about queer representation, Late Antiquity, and spiders.
He grew up on the eldritch shores of Newfoundland, Canada, and currently lives and works in (the slightly less eldritch) Montreal. He holds advanced degrees in Russian Literature, Medieval Studies, and Religious Studies. His current academic work focuses on marginalized reclamations of monstrous figures. He teaches the History of Satan and Religion and its Monsters.
In 2018, Steve’s lesbian Viking novel, Ash, Oak, and Thorn, was selected for the Pitch Wars mentoring program and agent showcase. During Pitch Wars, Steve was lucky to receive mentorship from fellow queer author, K. A. Doore.
His queer horror comedy, The Erstwhile Tyler Kyle, was mentored by Mary Ann Marlowe in the inugural #Queeryfest class.
He is a SPFBO9 entrant.
Steve is passionate about queer representation, Late Antiquity, and spiders.
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