NorsePlay.

While the cover of this looks pretty mid, the provenance of this NorsePlay'd contemporary fantasy is not. Author Sally Magnusson is not only an accomplished BBC broadcasting personality for 30 years, and a multi-titled author, she grew up under her father Magnus Magnusson (1929-2007 CE), possibly the most famous Icelander outside of Iceland (well, pre- Björk ), who not only also was a longtime BBC broadcasting personality, but a prominent popular translator of many  Icelandic Sagas  and wrote a travel book about visiting the sagasteads which has been in NorsePlay's TBR pile for a long time now. From the blurb material about The Shapeshifter’s Daughter , both Hel and a terminal cancer patient converge and help each other realize who they really are. The book was just released last week on November 5th 2025 CE in Orkney, and doesn't seem available in North America yet. Have any of you Orcadian NorsePlayers already read this? If so, let us know what you think in the comments b...

NorsePlay recently reviewed the Vikingverse series , and I loved it so much, I've reached out to its author & creator  Ian Stuart Sharpe to bring you this Q&A interview filled with all the inquiries his brilliant what-if-the-Vikings-had-conquered-the-world masterwork compelled me to ask.  For background, Sharpe's  career as a published writer started with the first Vikingverse installment, The All Father Paradox (2018 CE), continued with sequel Loki's Wager (2020 CE), gained even more literal public support with his crowdfunded Vikingverse graphic novel,  The Jötunn War (2021 CE), and then an equally fan-supported  Vikingverse -adjacent phrasebook Old Norse For Modern Times (2021 CE).   Sharpe's from London, UK, did some growing up in East Anglia, and now lives in Oak Bay, British Columbia, Canada. His longer tech career includes working for the BBC, IMG, Atari, and Electronic Arts. [Note that this interview does contain spoilers. Now, ont...

The Vikingverse  series is a NorsePlay of stellar proportions, epic in scope & reframing, written in two books and one graphic novel by Ian Stuart Sharpe. [Marines at Iwo Jima? No,  Space Vikings  raising the Raven Banner!] The narrative involves alternative history , a few Stormpunk points-of-deviation, quantum physics, parallel timelines, entanglement, consciousness, intelligent design, imperial ambition, magic, and the endless Odinic search for knowledge. The only thing I can literarily compare this to is Kim Newman's Anno Dracula series, where a certain event changes the landscape of history to the present day, except instead vampires becoming societally dominant, it's Vikings instead. [Empress Trumba is based on a certain president ... !] The in-use of the Norse Lore is deep, and feels like it's been written for the Norse Lore hound by a Norse Lore hound , and at times I marveled at how much was drawn & woven into the Vikingverse by this, and conve...

Sweet bindrune of Sleipnir as chapter heading art from Joanne Harris ' Runelight . #    #    # Guillermo Maytorena IV knew there was something special in  the Norse Lore when he picked up a copy of the d'Aulaires'  Norse Gods and Giants  at age seven. Since t hen he's been fascinated by the truthful potency of Norse Mythology, passionately read & studied, embraced Ásatrú, launched the  Map of Midgard  project, and spearheaded the neologism/brand NorsePlay.   If you have e mployment/ opportunities in  investigative mythology,  field research, or product development to offer,  do contact him .