The Fated Sky

An uninspiring cover and plodding blurb do scant justice to the excellence of this beautifully written novel about the eventful and often tragic life of Ran, a Viking girl. Henrietta Branford conveys a sense of rawness and danger as part of Ran's life and succeeds in making an ancient and alien culture seem utterly believable. The book is skilfully paced, starkly setting Ran's life with the blind musician, Toki, and their children against the brutal slaughter of an entire community by Vignit, Ran's great enemy. The author ensures that this story is not about a people lost in time from whom we feel distanced but about individuals with emotions, ambitions and tragedies similar to our own.