Review Detail

The Valkyrie’s Daughter is the first book in a completed trilogy by Tiana Warner. As the name implies the world is steeped in Norse mythology with some creative liberties to make the world feel fully fleshed.
Sigrid was mysteriously found as a baby in a crib with a brown racing horse instead of the winged white mares of the Valkyries. She was raised an orphan and grew up to be a stable hand, always wishing to join the other Valkyries but being denied, excluded, and bullied.
A surprise attack gives her a chance to prove she can fight and defend Vanahalla as well as any Valkyrie. That proves a pivotal moment in her coming-of-age story when she sees a glorious destiny atop the legendary horse of Odin, Sleipnir, with the Valkyries flying in formation behind her plus one of the enemy Valkyries, Mariam, with them. When the seer tells her the vision will come to pass, she doesn’t look back before embarking on a journey to make it happen.
Along the way, she befriends a night elf, Frisk, and the former enemy, Mariam, making for a nice found family story arc. Through Mariam, she also discovers that she has romantic feelings that she is not quite able to put into words and certainly not actions. This makes a clean romance good for young YA readers or upper Middle-Grade readers with positive LBGTQ+ representation.
There is constant action and a swiftly moving plot which is a plus. However, for the sake of moving the plot forward, many parts don’t feel fully realized points of interaction, developing feelings, or self-reflection that could have made the characters feel more real. There are obstructions and dangers but they all get resolved a little too easily and conveniently which is part of the reason it fits so well with younger audiences. Then there is a vision that assures us everything will be amazing so there is never any doubt that everyone will be safe to get to that final glorious moment.
Overall, this book is full of action and adventure with a found family and coming-of-age arc that is appealing to Middle-grade and YA audiences. There is a resolution but also setup to extend the story for the next book in the trilogy. I do hope going forward there will be more time taken to delve into the character interactions.