When Lightning Strikes

The Aesir #1

by Ellen Wind-van Strien

Sierida, a human, lives in the year 2045 and the world has changed considerably. Supernatural beings have taken over after a warlock opened up a doorway to Álfheimr and the Álf were introduced into the world. After a short but devastating war, humankind was almost decimated while trying to protect their way of living and their world. However, the Supernatural community had grown vast and numerous and were simply too great of a force to be stopped. Humans have been herded into communities set up in either new cities or old, excisting ones and rendered subservient to a new world order.

Sierida is a Runner for an Enforcer team in the city of Eathyrst. She and her team are specialized in crime scene investigation and are considered one of the best, but when they are called out to a murder scene that leaves even the supernatural community rattled, Sierida might seem the only one capable of solving the crime. This murder, however turns out to be only the first of several murders...

Why her? What is so special about Sierida? That she has to find out on top of catching a killer.

Genres: Fantasy

240 pages, Paperback

First published June 20, 2015

About the author

Ellen Wind-van Strien is a native-born Dutchie who teaches part-time at a graphic arts school when she’s not writing. She always had the aspiration to write when she was younger, but she kept it small by writing short stories. With plenty of imagination to spare, she finally made the leap into writing a novel and plans on writing many more. She currently resides in the Netherlands with her husband, daughter, dog and bunny and is already in the process of thinking up the second novel in the Aesir series.

Reviews

[Nicholas Nguyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I got to read this book in the early stages and have seen it become the awesome fantasy novel that it is now!

What I like about this is that the world's completely opposite of what you'd expect; supernatural creatures have taken all the power and dominance.There's vampires, warlocks, werewolves and elves with a heavy dose of Norse mythology.

Having read it a third (or is it fourth time now?) time, it's still as entertaining as it was the first time. I loved the snarky moments that Sierida and her warlock colleague Chauncy, and reading about how Sierida finally solves some mysteries about herself.

Without spoiling too much, there's magic involved, mystery and double crosses and even some time for romance for Sierida from an unlikely source. The action is fast-paced, and I couldn't believe that the end came so soon. Sure, Sierida's figured out a lot about herself at the end, but there's still so more questions and plenty of adventures in the next part of the series that I'm looking forward to!

[Aly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much! I like the character of Sierida. I like the story and the future with supernatural in it. This book was amazing! * I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review*

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love where it went in the end. Looking forward where it's going! The world is vast and I'm curious about what's in store next!