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At the Road's End
Toini tried to change the world for the better, but she went too far, and the world turned against her.
A terrorist, murderer, and heretic, they say.
A fallen paladin, rejected by her god.
Once the inquisitors catch up to her, it's all over.
In a bid for closure, Toini returns home, to Kul Viller in the far north.
To say her final farewell to Päivi, her sister, who was told Toini died sixteen years ago.
But Päivi will hear no farewells.
She can't accept what Toini has done or who she's become.
It's up to Toini alone to show her sister that the young woman Päivi once knew still lives on in her heart.
But Päivi won't listen, and time is running out.
Because, regardless of the truth, once the inquisitors catch up to her, Toini will be executed for her crimes.
...and though she might be a villain in everyone else's story, Toini does not want to die a monster in her sister's eyes.
A terrorist, murderer, and heretic, they say.
A fallen paladin, rejected by her god.
Once the inquisitors catch up to her, it's all over.
In a bid for closure, Toini returns home, to Kul Viller in the far north.
To say her final farewell to Päivi, her sister, who was told Toini died sixteen years ago.
But Päivi will hear no farewells.
She can't accept what Toini has done or who she's become.
It's up to Toini alone to show her sister that the young woman Päivi once knew still lives on in her heart.
But Päivi won't listen, and time is running out.
Because, regardless of the truth, once the inquisitors catch up to her, Toini will be executed for her crimes.
...and though she might be a villain in everyone else's story, Toini does not want to die a monster in her sister's eyes.
489 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 1, 2025
2 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 1, 2025
With Gone Home, Nils Ödlund starts a new series that takes place in the same world as his Lost Dogs-series that I really enjoyed. There are a few tie-ins and references to things that happened in Lost Dogs, but there is no need to read it beforehand, it works perfectly without any prior knowledge.
That said, I am truly glad to be back in this world the author has created, because I was always intrigued by the bits and pieces of the worldbuilding that we got and felt like there was still a lot more for us readers to discover. We follow Toini, a paladin – or rather former paladin. She was chosen to act and speak for her God, but then she took it upon herself to make the changes she thought necessary and acted preemptive. To the public, that made her a terrorist. An outcast. A fugitive. Now, Toini is on the run, hunted by the authorities. All she wants before turning herself in, is to see her sister Päivi one more time. Her sister, who thought her dead for the past sixteen years. When Toini gets her wish, she might consider if hiding from the authorities wasn’t the easier option.
This is a fantastic, but intense story about relationships, regret, consequences, about choosing one’s path. The author lets us in the sisters’ heads, their thoughts and feelings. It’s a character portrait or rather a character study within a fantasy story. The characters feel more alive and more realistic than many characters we get to follow in other books, because Nils Ödlund gives them and their thoughts a lot of room. The focus is more on inner monologue than on action and it works (at least for me), I got very invested in Toini and Päivi.
Then there is the worldbuilding I already mentioned above – it is really intriguing, and I want to explore this world a lot more.
Last, I need to mention Nils’ writing which is impeccable. He knows how to keep his readers engaged, how to play on the guitar of human emotions, and how to make us crave for more.
I was hooked from the very beginning. If you expect shallow popcorn action theater, this might not be your book. But if you are interested in characters, in people, their thoughts and feelings, then you might really enjoy At the Road’s End – I know I did.
That said, I am truly glad to be back in this world the author has created, because I was always intrigued by the bits and pieces of the worldbuilding that we got and felt like there was still a lot more for us readers to discover. We follow Toini, a paladin – or rather former paladin. She was chosen to act and speak for her God, but then she took it upon herself to make the changes she thought necessary and acted preemptive. To the public, that made her a terrorist. An outcast. A fugitive. Now, Toini is on the run, hunted by the authorities. All she wants before turning herself in, is to see her sister Päivi one more time. Her sister, who thought her dead for the past sixteen years. When Toini gets her wish, she might consider if hiding from the authorities wasn’t the easier option.
This is a fantastic, but intense story about relationships, regret, consequences, about choosing one’s path. The author lets us in the sisters’ heads, their thoughts and feelings. It’s a character portrait or rather a character study within a fantasy story. The characters feel more alive and more realistic than many characters we get to follow in other books, because Nils Ödlund gives them and their thoughts a lot of room. The focus is more on inner monologue than on action and it works (at least for me), I got very invested in Toini and Päivi.
Then there is the worldbuilding I already mentioned above – it is really intriguing, and I want to explore this world a lot more.
Last, I need to mention Nils’ writing which is impeccable. He knows how to keep his readers engaged, how to play on the guitar of human emotions, and how to make us crave for more.
I was hooked from the very beginning. If you expect shallow popcorn action theater, this might not be your book. But if you are interested in characters, in people, their thoughts and feelings, then you might really enjoy At the Road’s End – I know I did.
November 28, 2025
Having read Emma's Story by this author, and having been gobsmacked at his literary competence, it was with great delight that I opened this book. But heck, if I thought Emma's Story was outstanding, THIS one was spectacular reading! The richness of this author's prose is mindboggling, layered impeccable, like a sacher cake, every layer impeccable, decadent, sucking me in from sentence one, to the last sentence, I'm kept in his thrall. Yes, I'm convinced he's magic'd the pages... how else can I explain my reaction, my eyes that refused to let go of the text before me? The cascading emotions washing over me like a waterfall.... This is a story of two sisters. Equally strong, equally hurting, for very different reasons. Trying to reconnect, reacquaint themselves, find the familiar amongst what they had become. Striving for normalcy.
Toini is on the run, once a revered figure, once a paladin dedicated to her god, Ek, she's rejected by said god. Instead of the honour she deserved, she is branded a criminal, a murderer and hunted. She's tired of the running, she's tired of being pursued, she's just tired. Toini's wish is to spend some time with Paivi. Her only sibling, Paivi, who thinks she's been de*d the last 16 years, still mourning her loss, is gobsmacked, astounded and angry when Toini appears out of the blue. With a strange man, Raoul, her former chronicler, protector. With reconciliation and a need for understanding in her heart. Which Paivi is loathe to give, yet, at the same time, overjoyed her sister is alive. As Toini recounts what had happened, what she's been forced to endure, Raivi, first disbelieving, then astounded, then disbelief all over again. Meeting up with Lilac, the woman who'd brought both girls up and the disbelief at Toini's retelling is compounded 10 fold.
A young girl, who almost dies by the hand of her kidnappers, saved by her god, become his justice, his judge, his executioner, no questions asked. A girl who has a special affinity to plants, a forest,nature. The environment, nature, have to be protected, at all costs, at any cost. A girl who took her duties seriously. Which is what Tioni does. Until the cost was deemed excessive and "unpalatable". A girl who used her own initiative to achieve her god's goal. A girl who drew too much attention. A girl, once the hunter, who became the hunted. A very Greenpeace take on accountability for those who are damaging the planet, and the consequences of their actions. Except, the consequences are on Toini's shoulders to bear, and these consequences are like a vice, like an anvil, beating at her, threatening to crush her. The turmoil, the angst, the self recriminations, the hopelessness, the helplessness, cut through me like a knife through butter. By the same token, what Raivi was going through, what she had been through, what's going through her mind, OMG! Both sisters took up axes and swung them directly through my heart. The pain of abandonment is so rife, I can taste it. On both of them. The author's depiction of the despair, the desolution is tangibly palpable. His impressive storytelling wraps one up in all the emotions, the good, the bad and the ugly. The characters stand out immaculately, presenting a kaleidescope of colours, each one's light shines just as bright. The broody and uncertain ones, like Raivi and Toni, counterbalanced by the jovial, but intense Adrian, the non judgemental Lilac and the stoic Raoul.
Time changes everyone, the one constant is the love siblings have, always there, in a corner of their heart. It just needs the right motivation to surface. Which the author, quite frankly, floored me with the WHAT. He twisted it up spectacularly, knotting up my stomach with the unfolding events. This is not as simple a story as one might imagine, this is a story to extreme morals, of a deep conviction, of an unshakable faith, and one of love, acceptance and redemption. It's an incredibly clever account of real life issues, twisted into fiction. It's both simple in it's presentation and earthshattering in it's delivery. This author has, once again, delivered a unique tale, a unique perspective, blended uniquely and captured immaculately! This author's prose is exceptional! This author is exceptional! How powerful are these 2 "simple sentences? "She couldn’t stay here. She’d die. She couldn’t leave. She’d die." Or perhaps the utter desolution of this, "She was nothing nobody nowhere. It was all she could do just to sit there and stare. She couldn’t even give up, and giving up would change nothing." There are few authors who can infuse so much depth, personality, character into the characters as easily as he appears to. Nothing is forced, everything feels effortlessly. The flashes of hope in the story are like a soothing balm to my clenched gut. My insides warmed with these thoughts by Toini "She still lived, and she had so much to live for and she would never hide again." Everything FEELS, it becomes almost euphoric and that's a magic Mr Odlund possess, captivating, thrilling, emotional, heightened tension, self recriminations, it all feels real. And nothing could have prepared me for that ending.... OMG!
Toini is on the run, once a revered figure, once a paladin dedicated to her god, Ek, she's rejected by said god. Instead of the honour she deserved, she is branded a criminal, a murderer and hunted. She's tired of the running, she's tired of being pursued, she's just tired. Toini's wish is to spend some time with Paivi. Her only sibling, Paivi, who thinks she's been de*d the last 16 years, still mourning her loss, is gobsmacked, astounded and angry when Toini appears out of the blue. With a strange man, Raoul, her former chronicler, protector. With reconciliation and a need for understanding in her heart. Which Paivi is loathe to give, yet, at the same time, overjoyed her sister is alive. As Toini recounts what had happened, what she's been forced to endure, Raivi, first disbelieving, then astounded, then disbelief all over again. Meeting up with Lilac, the woman who'd brought both girls up and the disbelief at Toini's retelling is compounded 10 fold.
A young girl, who almost dies by the hand of her kidnappers, saved by her god, become his justice, his judge, his executioner, no questions asked. A girl who has a special affinity to plants, a forest,nature. The environment, nature, have to be protected, at all costs, at any cost. A girl who took her duties seriously. Which is what Tioni does. Until the cost was deemed excessive and "unpalatable". A girl who used her own initiative to achieve her god's goal. A girl who drew too much attention. A girl, once the hunter, who became the hunted. A very Greenpeace take on accountability for those who are damaging the planet, and the consequences of their actions. Except, the consequences are on Toini's shoulders to bear, and these consequences are like a vice, like an anvil, beating at her, threatening to crush her. The turmoil, the angst, the self recriminations, the hopelessness, the helplessness, cut through me like a knife through butter. By the same token, what Raivi was going through, what she had been through, what's going through her mind, OMG! Both sisters took up axes and swung them directly through my heart. The pain of abandonment is so rife, I can taste it. On both of them. The author's depiction of the despair, the desolution is tangibly palpable. His impressive storytelling wraps one up in all the emotions, the good, the bad and the ugly. The characters stand out immaculately, presenting a kaleidescope of colours, each one's light shines just as bright. The broody and uncertain ones, like Raivi and Toni, counterbalanced by the jovial, but intense Adrian, the non judgemental Lilac and the stoic Raoul.
Time changes everyone, the one constant is the love siblings have, always there, in a corner of their heart. It just needs the right motivation to surface. Which the author, quite frankly, floored me with the WHAT. He twisted it up spectacularly, knotting up my stomach with the unfolding events. This is not as simple a story as one might imagine, this is a story to extreme morals, of a deep conviction, of an unshakable faith, and one of love, acceptance and redemption. It's an incredibly clever account of real life issues, twisted into fiction. It's both simple in it's presentation and earthshattering in it's delivery. This author has, once again, delivered a unique tale, a unique perspective, blended uniquely and captured immaculately! This author's prose is exceptional! This author is exceptional! How powerful are these 2 "simple sentences? "She couldn’t stay here. She’d die. She couldn’t leave. She’d die." Or perhaps the utter desolution of this, "She was nothing nobody nowhere. It was all she could do just to sit there and stare. She couldn’t even give up, and giving up would change nothing." There are few authors who can infuse so much depth, personality, character into the characters as easily as he appears to. Nothing is forced, everything feels effortlessly. The flashes of hope in the story are like a soothing balm to my clenched gut. My insides warmed with these thoughts by Toini "She still lived, and she had so much to live for and she would never hide again." Everything FEELS, it becomes almost euphoric and that's a magic Mr Odlund possess, captivating, thrilling, emotional, heightened tension, self recriminations, it all feels real. And nothing could have prepared me for that ending.... OMG!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews