The Storm Beneath a Midnight Sun

Hrimland Saga #2

by Alexander Dan Vilhjálmsson

For fans of China Mieville and Neil Gaiman. A tale of revolution in a Reykjavik fuelled by industrialised magic, populated by humans, dimensional exiles, otherworldly creatures, psychoactive graffiti and demonic familiars.

A tale of revolution in a Reykjavik fuelled by industrialised magic, populated by humans, dimensional exiles, otherworldly creatures, psychoactive graffiti and demonic familiars.

HERE LIES A CITY...

FUELLED BY INDUSTRIALISED MAGIC.
RULED BY A DESPOTIC CROWN.
DEMANDING REVOLUTION.

WELCOME TO REYKJAVIK

Rebels and revolutionaries disappear into the infamous prison, the Nine, never to be heard from again. Masked police roam the streets, dark magic lurks in the shadows, and the implacable flying fortress casts its baleful eye over all below.

Sæmundur, addict and sorcerer, has been cast out from university, and forbidden to study magic. Dissident artist, Garún, is desperate for a just society and will do anything to achieve it.
Both seek revolution in their own ways. Both seek power.

Together, they will change Reykjavik forever.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Urban Fantasy

576 pages, Paperback

First published June 21, 2022

Reviews

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Shadow of the Short Days is one of my all time favourite fantasy books so I was eager to pick up this companion novel. As a companion series, this one is VERY loose. It follows different characters in a different setting. I realize this is common in companion series but I honestly struggled to find any significant connections for most of the novel.

The biggest change was the tone. This book felt much lighter than the first. I still found the characters and world to be interesting, but those elements fell pale in comparison to the perfection of the first. It was nice to spend more time in this world, but I was disappointed that this book added little to the series in terms of plot progression.

That being said, I still adore the author's worldbuilding and Icelandic cultural elements. I realize that the book is translated, but the English prose are wonderful. While I have a preference for more narrative driven fiction, I loved spending more time in this unique version of the world.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

[Jessie (Zombie_likes_cake) · Rating 3 out of 5]

So first and foremost, "Shadows of the Short Days" which I read in January is a high contender for my favorite book of the year, currently it's between that and another one. I am championing and recommending this underdog all the time. The other noteworthy thing is that I am not a Fantasy reader and while someone just yesterday said to me that that tells you how good a book is if an outsider to the genre loves it, I'd rather think it shows that the book in question is likely not your usual genre ambassador, and that is for sure true for the Hrimland saga.

Here are the unifying aspects for both books in the series: grim, dark, bleak, at times horrifying and disturbing. A bit reminiscent of steam punk without actually being steam punk, steeped in Icelandic mythology, language and culture, a unique magic system and political turmoil simmer in the background, and always the strong writing. For these things alone I can and do easily recommend both books. But sadly I found this second follow up not quite on the fantastic level the first one was to me. I still deeply love reading from this world, and I did enjoy a lot of elements in "Storm Beneath a Midnight Sun" but it is just not as strong. Starting with the two main characters and the two arcs we follow here. In the first book there is a similar set up but the two were always connected, especially emotionally. Here, the 2 don't know each other and the connections are distant and by the unfolding of events that effect the whole country. They are also both very passive characters with little own agency who mostly let things happen to them. And I think this set up is one of the reasons why this book doesn't hit as strong as the first one which was a rollercoaster. I additionally for a long time found each setting and the situations they find themselves in a lot less interesting than in the first book, this one requires a lot more build up and offers a lot less fascinating world building, the details here aren't as rich and fascinating, at least initially. I might have to admit that it piggybacks on my love for the first book for a long time before finding its own stride: I still adored it for letting me explore this unique world more, but I did not find the characters as complex or compelling. On the other hand, this one has some impressive body horror and generally some reminiscing on bodies and bodily autonomy that was definitely interesting and in appropriate times rather disgusting.
The storyline of Kári was worth the wait for me though, I really liked where he was headed and how things turned out, his connections to events from the first book; I feel like there is a lot here to treasure. For Elka not so much though. Kári is a Seiðskratti after all, a sorcerer, whereas Elka is an ex junkie working in a fish factory caring for her son trying to keep her head as low as possible. Her story really struggled to invest me, and in the end Vílhjálmsson uses a trope for her that I absolutely despise and rarely seen utilized well in SciFi/ Fantasy/ Horror ( the magical pregnancy, the only time I can recall liking this trope was with Daenerys in Game of Thrones, in most other cases it reduces women to vessels and here that is indeed the case ). No exception here, I found her arc in the end rather unsatisfying and too slow in the build up.

What I did like though was how this book loosely ties itself to the first one, I generally prefer the idea of following new characters in the same world. It is set a few years later and I loved how many connections only unfolded themselves later into the book. Without spoiling anything, it was great how the characters of Garún and Saemundur found a way into this story. The ending comes along rather unusual but I liked that, too. The big finale happens about 100 pages before the actual ending of the book and then we get a long epilogue set further in the future. A bit weird pacing wise and I thought not all featured in this epilogue needed to be there, but generally speaking I liked that choice and especially the very last pages within that. I also feel like that opened the story for a possible Vol 3 but could also stand as is which is always a good choice for an ending, me thinks.

There is of course the thing that I entered this book with extremely high expectations due to my love for the first one and I always had a feeling that it likely would not be able to repeat what the first one did for me. And true, it did not, nonetheless I think it is a very solid story and I will still recommend the whole series to anyone that is willing to listen (and some that I make listen no matter what). This world is so beyond amazing and unique within the landscape of Fantasy literature, I would love to see an adaptation but as it stands these books are still way too unknown for that to be a feasible option. So let's spread the word! Maybe book #2 was not as good as the first one but I think it is still better and a lot more intriguing than most of those generic Sanderson and Wheel of Time Fantasy books that are selling like hot cakes. This one deserves so much more.

[Emil · Rating 2 out of 5]

I find it strange that a traditionally published book did not have even one review here (almost two months after the release). Even if it is a sequel, one would think the publisher would commission at least a few reviews. It is unfair to the author, as publishing through a recognized publisher (and Gollancz at that) should come with a at least some marketing.

Anyway, this book is OK. I really like the setting and was excited for this release. I like this kind of New Weird in the style of China Mieville. The first book was very reminiscent of Perdido Street Station but with an Icelandic touch. In this sequel the author tries to expand the world and raising the stakes, but that fails in my opinion. The plot and tone are all over the place and the world ending themes skirts on cosmic horror but end up as a cliché save the world plot. There is a sub plot on a small island that is effective in building suspense but all that is wasted in the sudden resolution.

As with most stories where the main threat is the Unknown, once all cards are on the table all the horror and suspense is lost. I think that is why the conflict is resolved so quickly and instead the last quater of the book is an extended epilogue that feels tacked on.

The writing is clunky and could have done with some more editing, and here I think the fault is with the publisher again. There are several jarring inconsistencies such as the character “never even left the city” and a few pages after bemoans how much he hates sailing and tries to avoid it as much as possible. I don’t know how many times Kári decides that he won’t need the mask or that it is ruined beyond all recognition, just to have it back on working just fine in the next scene.

[Michael Burnam-Fink · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Storm Beneath the Sun is more likable and less ambitious than the first book in the series, and much of the charm is taken off, along with the flaws.

The story focuses on three main characters, with occasionally chapters from other points of view. Kari is a royal sorcerer, a specialist in biothamautury who joins an archeological dig bent on uncovering and harnessing the power of a dead god. Elka is an addict trying to get clean, moving to a offshore island and working in a fish processing plant while haunted by her past. Solvi is Elka's 10 year-old son, an artist and fabulist who wants to protect his mother.

The plots intersect around an ancient plan by a vanished pre-human civilization to birth something monstrous out of the moon. Kari realizes that the royal officials running the dig have secret ambitions that mean disaster, and defects to a terrorist group. Elka is brought into the Church of the Deep, a unique insular religion that is a front for the same ancient plan. And Solvi is the only person who seems to care that the Church of the Deep is a murderous fish cult and must be stopped.

There are some moments that really work. Kari is a survivor of Saemunder's fungal attack against the university, and only survived by fusing his mouth and nose shut with magic. He's restored a semblance of his old face, but it's a poor mask over a mutating monstrosity. Ingi is an ambassador from the beings behind the plot, a brain in a mechanical box, who is delightfully untrustworthy. The battle scenes are great, and Solvi has both real trauma and talent.

The issue is that even as the stakes are higher, the goals of the characters are so much lower. Garun and Saemunder from the first book were willing to burn the world in the flames of their ambition. Kari, Elka, and Solvi just want to get through to the next day, whether the threat is local bullies or the vengeance of ancient dead gods. The book tries to have its cake and eat it, triggering an apocalypse and then showing a world 10 years later where magic is returning, and the worst abuses of the old system are being stripped away. The final section feels like a novella length draft of a third book.

I enjoyed both of these books for what they were, but there's a lot in the New Weird that ranks higher.

[Rowdy Geirsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent follow-up to Shadows of the Short Days, which has been one of my most favorite recent reads. This one picks up seven years after the events at the end of Shadows of the Short Days, and maintains the same alternate-reality Icelandic theme infused with viking-style magic and the tyranny of mainland Scandinavia.

If you liked the first book, you'll like this one, too. As with the first book, the plot follows two main characters and their separate paths, though they don't intertwine quite so much as was the case in the first book. One of the main characters was a minor character in the first book (Kari, for anyone who remembers him--he was assaulted at the entrance to the dark magic school by Saemundur) and an entirely new character, Elka. Other figures from the first book enter the story at different points. Unlike like the first book, this one mostly takes place away from Reykjavik, in the hinterlands of eastern Iceland where a nefarious plot to unearth a long-dormant landvaettir is being put into action. Meanwhile, an ocean-obsessed cult is working its own machinations in the Westman Islands off Iceland/Hrimland's southwest coast.

Overall, another fantastically bizarre journey full of Icelandic oddities and other Nordic lore. As the follow-up to Shadows of the Short Days, it doesn't feature quite the same level of newness/originality (simply because it's not the first book in the series), but both of the main characters are quite a bit more likable.

[Benjamin Kahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book. I found it a little hard to get into in the beginning, then it picked up and I really became immersed in the story. The last section, set ten years later, kind of slowed again, and I did find that some of the threads didn't really make sense. I lost the plot a little. So I would say it was quite good, but a little slow in the beginning, and it couldn't quite stick the landing.

It appears to be a sequel to Shadows of the Short Days which I didn't realize. I think I would have got a little more our of it if I'd read them back to back, although I don't think that's necessary. I read the first one in September, so it's too much time and too many books between them to remember it very well. I remembered the stone giant and Garun vaguely, but none of the supporting cast of characters. I did think that one was a stand alone when I finished it, so I didn't look for a sequel.

[A.L. DeLeon · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the most interesting series I've read in a long time, The Storm Beneath A Midnight Sun was worth the time and effort it takes to read through it. In many ways, this second book in the series was easier to understand and be drawn into the story than the first because the groundwork was already laid in the first book. Original and satisfying in its complexities, if you're a fan of epic dark fantasies with a touch of sci-fi, you'll enjoy reading this as much as I did.

[Jacob Guy Segalov · Rating 5 out of 5]

In one word: Epic
This book has it all - mythology and gods, robots and aliens, monsters from the depths and mutations, Dan Cortez, several magic systems, dealing with addiction and a coming-of-age story, class struggle and differences between the countryside and the city, a kind of steampunk and more.
For those who are overloaded, you can skip the last chapter (ten years later). It has no significance to the plot, but rather as an introduction to a sequel

[Annarella · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been so long since I read Shadows of the Short Days that I had to go back and check it.
This an original and fascinating fantasy series and this second book met all my expectations and kept me turning pages.
Great world building and characters.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

[Marky Pekkala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cruel. Wonderful. Cold. Real. Absolutely beautiful, please channel more seidmagn and write more books

[Geof Sage · Rating 3 out of 5]

"OK, but hear me out. What if *Iron Council* was Icelandic?"

- ADV after writing Icelandic Perdido Street Station, probably.

[Sean Hannifin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Characters are more likable in this one.