A Curse Carved in Bone

A Fate Inked in Blood (2024) is book one in Danielle L. Jensen’s Saga of the Unfated duology. It establishes the storyline, conflicts, character arcs, and themes that are continued and resolved in the second half of the series, A Curse Carved in Bone (2025). Freya, the protagonist, inhabits a fictional world inspired by medieval Scandinavia and Norse mythology. She is one of the rare children of the gods, humans endowed with a drop of immortal blood by one of the deities of Norse cosmology and imbued with magical abilities. Freya’s divine parentage by the goddess Hlin is a secret Freya has kept for her own safety. The inciting incident occurs when Freya’s protective magic is revealed and she’s identified as the prophesied shield maiden, destined to unite the people of Skaland under the one who controls her fate.

Snorri is a local ruler—called a jarl—who’s been looking for the shield maiden for 20 years. He believes he can be the one to control Freya’s fate and so become king of Skaland. He forces Freya to divorce her husband and become his second wife. To further cement Freya’s loyalty, Snorri binds her with a blood oath performed by his first wife, Ylva, an adept at runic magic. This oath, which plays a prominent role in A Curse Carved in Bone, compels Freya’s allegiance to Snorri and his sons.

Snorri’s eldest son, Bjorn, becomes Freya’s romantic interest. Their forbidden attraction establishes a conflict between duty and desire. Bjorn’s backstory sets the stage for the narrative arc of A Curse Carved in Bone and many of its conflicts. He was born to a woman named Saga as a result of Snorri’s unfaithfulness, for which Ylva holds a great deal of resentment. Saga, a child of Odin and a seer, was the source of the shield maiden prophecy. Bjorn tells Freya that Harald, the king of Nordeland, killed his mother, Saga, when he was a child, and then abducted Bjorn and kept him as a captive in Nordeland. Three years ago, Snorri managed to rescue Bjorn and bring him home. At the end of A Fate Inked in Blood, however, Bjorn admits that this story was a lie. It was actually Snorri who attempted to kill Saga, but he failed. She and Bjorn fled to Nordeland and lived under Harald’s protection. Bjorn came to revere Harald as a father, and together, they plotted to have Bjorn return to Skaland to kill or capture the shield maiden. Bjorn’s loyalty to Harald underlies a conflict between Skaland and Nordeland that appears to be merely about geopolitical power but becomes much more complex in book two.

As Snorri attempts to unite Skaland under his rule, his relationship with Freya illustrates the patriarchal and geopolitical aspects of Exploitation as a Means of Acquiring Power. Freya must decide whether she should cooperate and seek the unification of Skaland, revealed to be her destiny, or attempt to change her fate and take control of her own future. This question of who will control Freya’s fate—Snorri, other power-hungry men, the gods, or Freya herself—shapes the theme of The Tension Between Destiny and Autonomy. Part of this tension revolves around Freya’s internal struggle with The Consequences of Exercising Free Will. Fear of making the wrong choice or causing harm to those she cares about overwhelms her. She must confront her tendency to blame herself for the actions of others, accept her flaws, and trust in her moral values to guide her decisions.

Several plot points in A Fate Inked in Blood provide important context for a deeper understanding of the events in its sequel. An apparition that Freya describes as a specter appears to her several times. The figure is obscured by a hooded cloak but has deeply charred flesh that emanates ashes and glowing embers. Snorri tells Freya it must be the spirit of Saga, who died in the fire when Harald burned her cabin to the ground. A Curse Carved in Bone unravels the contradictions in the stories about Saga’s death and her connection to this specter. Another meaningful event occurs at the sacred site of Fjalltindr, where the gods appear and acknowledge Freya in front of a massive crowd. They allude to Freya being a child of two bloods, the true meaning of which only becomes apparent much later. During the narrative’s climax, Freya learns that Hlin isn’t her only immortal parent. Hel, goddess of the underworld, also gave Freya a drop of her blood and the power to claim the souls of the living and send them to Helheim.

A few other characters have secondary but relevant parts in both books. Steinnun, a skald, has the gift of revealing past events through her ballads, which recreate scenes so precisely that they transport listeners into the story. Snorri employs Steinnun to record and preserve his legacy and, more importantly, to bring other Skalanders to his cause by demonstrating the strength he wields with the shield maiden by his side. In the end, Freya learns Steinnun is Harald’s spy. Tora is a child of Thor who has the power to throw lightning bolts, making her formidable in battle. She opposed Snorri and Freya at the battle of Grindill and kills a close friend of Freya’s. Skade, who has a magic arrow that never misses its target, is Harald’s assassin. She murders Freya’s mother. Geir is Freya’s brother. Snorri takes advantage of Freya’s sense of duty to protect her family, threatening to harm Geir unless Freya does what he wants. Geir also exploits Freya’s sense of duty for personal gain, but he’ll have an opportunity to redeem himself in the sequel.