The Witch’s Heart

　　改編自北歐神話，獻給奇幻小說書迷最動人的處女作

 

　　當受罰的女巫碰上惡作劇之神並墜入愛河，她將冒險受天譴以避免最壞結果…

 

　　要說起女巫Angrboda的故事，啟始於其他女巫的故事結局—被綁在柱子上處以火刑。而且還是由眾神之父奧丁親自執行，為的是處罰她將未來的預言給透漏出去。儘管Angrboda已經習慣火燒之刑，但畢竟是來自天神的懲罰，她這次逃不掉重傷的結果，甚至還失去了預知未來的能力。身受重傷的她逃到了與世隔絕的森林裡，原本是想要從此以後躲在洞穴裡獨自生活，卻意外遇上了以惡作劇聞名之神－Loki。她對Loki一開始感到的敵意與懷疑，逐漸轉化為深厚的感情。

 

　　就這樣與世無爭地生下了三個天賦異稟的孩子，Angrboda原本希望就在這世界邊緣的角落裡，遠離奧丁無所不能的偵查之眼，安心撫養他們長大。然而隨著自己預知能力的恢復，她竟預見到了諸神的黃昏，以及自己孩子在其中所扮演的角色將如何影響他們一家人的平靜。接受命運安排、或是挺身而出插手改變，Angrboda將會如何抉擇？

 

　　(文／博客來編譯)

 

　　When a banished witch falls in love with the legendary trickster Loki, she risks the wrath of the gods in this fierce, subversive debut novel that reimagines Norse myth.

 

　　Angrboda's story begins where most witch tales end: with being burnt. A punishment from Odin for sharing her visions of the future with the wrong people, the fire leaves Angrboda injured and powerless, and she flees into the furthest reaches of a remote forest. There she is found by a man who reveals himself to be the trickster god Loki, and her initial distrust of him and any of his kind grows reluctantly into a deep and abiding love.

 

　　Their union produces the most important things in her long life: a trio of peculiar children, each with a secret destiny, whom she is keen to raise at the edge of the world, safely hidden from Odin's all-seeing eye. But as Angrboda slowly recovers her prophetic powers, she learns that her blissful life and possibly all of existence is in danger.

 

　　Angrboda must choose whether she'll accept the fate that she's foreseen for her beloved family or rise to remake it.