In a world that is getting ever colder a little girl is being pursued by merciless wolves.
Author: Niilo Sevänen
Finnish original: Ikitalven polku
Publisher: Gummerus, 2024
Genre: fantasy
Number of pages: 398
Reading material: Finnish original, English sample, English synopsis
In autumn 1007, a blue star twinkles above Constantinople, and people who have been shivering in the grip of winter for seven years are filled with forebodings. When wedding celebrations at the Palace end in bloodshed, Orpheus, a lute player, assumes responsibility for his small niece Halla, who is for some reason being chased by a group of mercenaries. In her dreams, the wings of large birds stir up severe gusts. The pair embark on a perilous and bloodcurdling escape, which is accompanied by terrors and which stops them from trusting anyone. At the same time in Pavia, the widow Empress Theophana is trying to trace her son, missing in combat. An emaciated man of the North suffering from amnesia is discovered in a monastery; his story is intertwined with Halla’s. Gradually secrets locked behind many doors begin to be revealed – including what has caused eternal winter to descend on the world. The Path of Eternal Winter is one of the most interesting contemporary works of fantasy in Finnish literature. The adventure whisks the reader into a complex world that feels real and draws from medieval history, superbly combining mythologies from different regions. The story continues in The Chasm of Eternal Winter, due to come out in 2025.
About the author:
Niilo Sevänen