SHADOWS
OF THE SHORT DAYS
HERE LIES A CITY…
FUELLED BY INDUSTRIALISED MAGIC.
RULED BY A DESPOTIC CROWN.
DEMANDING REVOLUTION.
WELCOME TO REYKJAVÍK.
Rebels and revolutionaries disappear into the infamous prison, the Nine, never to be heard from again. Masked police roam the streets, dark magic lurks in the shadows, and the implacable flying fortress casts its baleful eye over all below.
Sæmundur, addict and sorcerer, has been cast out from university, and forbidden to study magic. Dissident artist, Garún, is desperate for a just society and will do anything to achieve it. Both seek revolution in their own ways. Both seek power.
Together, they will change Reykjavík forever.
Gollancz 2019 (UK), Titan Books 2020 (US), Forlagið 2020 (Iceland)
“Norse mythology like you’ve never seen it before, set in a Reykjavik that you never knew existed - SHADOWS OF THE SHORT DAYS is a new breed of fantasy.”
“A marvellous, quirky, original fantasy novel set in a magical steampunk version of Reykjavik: teeming with magic, dense with detail and with characters that not only leap off the page, but poke you in the eye as they do. Highly recommended.”
THE STORM BENEATH A MIDNIGHT SUN
CHANGE DOES NOT ALWAYS HAPPEN FOR THE BETTER
Returning to the world of SHADOWS OF THE SHORT DAYS, it's time to go beyond Reykjavík to Hrímland's remote islands…
War on the mainland is draining Reykjavík. For some, the remote islands off Hrímland's coast are their only hope of survival.
Elka, a recovering addict, has fled there with her son Sölvi. In their village they find a new life - all thanks to the Deep, a peculiar power their neighbours praise for the booming fishing industry. Everything seems perfect, but Sölvi does not trust the people who take his mother in.
Kri is a professor of sorcery, recruited for a career-making venture - an excavation of an ancient power. He must go deep into the magical wasteland, find what is buried there, and turn the tide of the war forever.
But the world might not be ready for the storm he will unearth…
Gollancz 2022 (UK), Titan Books 2022 (US), Forlagið 2022 (Iceland)
VÆTTIR
WE DO NOT KNOW HOW OR WHY THE WORLD IS CHANGING
WE ONLY KNOW THAT NOTHING WILL EVER BE THE SAME
Strange beings appear on every corner, descending from rooftops, crawling from sewers. An ancient tree appears overnight on a busy intersection. Knives rain down from the sky.
A young man in Reykjavík is plagued by a ceaseless headache. Struggling with anxiety and depression, he tries to cope with a world that is rapidly changing beyond the scope of human comprehension. He ignores the uncanny beings, the vættir, who are appearing everywhere. Although they are called nature-sprits, no one knows what they are or why they have appeared. Nature itself is undergoing a vast metamorphosis, and mankind is not exempt from its effects.
Benedikt, 2018 (Iceland)
About Alexander
Alexander Dan Vilhjálmsson is an Icelandic novelist who lives in Iceland. He explores the weird in all its multitudes in novels and black metal lyrics.
When referring to him by last name, please use Vilhjálmsson.
