Description

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For fans of China Mieville and Neil Gaiman. A tale of revolution in a Reykjavik fuelled by industrialised magic, populated by humans, dimensional exiles, otherworldly creatures, psychoactive graffiti and demonic familiars.

A tale of revolution in a Reykjavik fuelled by industrialised magic, populated by humans, dimensional exiles, otherworldly creatures, psychoactive graffiti and demonic familiars.

HERE LIES A CITY...

FUELLED BY INDUSTRIALISED MAGIC.
RULED BY A DESPOTIC CROWN.
DEMANDING REVOLUTION.

WELCOME TO REYKJAVIK

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 Reykjavik forever.

About the Author

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Alexander Dan Vilhjálmsson is an Icelandic author who lives in Reykjavík. Shadows of the Short Days is his first novel. He writes in both Icelandic and English and is the founder and editor of Iceland's first SFF magazine, Furðusögur (Weird Stories). Alexander is also the vocalist and lyricist for Icelandic black metal band Carpe Noctem.

Praise For…

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"Set in a magical Reykjavik, with echoes of China Mieville and the New Weird" The Washington Post Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year)

‘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’ JOANNE HARRIS

‘A masterfully crafted dark tale...one of the most ambitious, intense, original and thrilling debuts I've read in a long time’ Grimdark Magazine

‘Shadows of the Short Days is fresh and exciting: full of dark, demonic, revolutionary shenanigans’ PETER NEWMAN

‘A heady mix of revolution, monsters and magic, this is a novel of alternative Reykjavik in which myth and religion are alive - and hungry’ ANNA STEPHENS

‘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’ EDWARD COX, author of The Relic Guild

‘Shadows of the Short Days is revolutionary fantasy fresher than a dip in a glacial stream. Definitely one for fans of Neil Gaiman and China Mieville’ GAVIN SMITH, author of The Bastard Legion

"Readers who enjoy urban fantasy writers like China Miéville should enjoy this dark saga" Booklist

"Dan Vilhjálmsson had me considering a concept I had not anticipated before starting this book: the personal price of revolution. The pain inflicted on those seeking change and the pain simply incurred by the effort of protest and agitation are central components of Garún and Sæmundur's experience. It seems a fitting meditation for today's world, when the seeking of change is both desperate and, yes, painful. If Shadows of the Short Days is any guide, it's the pain that makes the struggle worth fighting for." BookPage 

"In this first of a new series, Vihjálmsson’s well-developed future world will interest fantasy fans with a taste for dystopia, especially if they’re up for learning new vocabulary." - Library Journal

"A wonderfully written parable for our times..one of those books destined to become a classic, cult or otherwise." -The Frumious Consortium

“A unique setting and a fantasy world reminiscent of China Mieville” Den of Geek (Top New Fantasy Books)

"Vilhjálmsson virtuosically weaves together Icelandic folklore and fantasy/cosmic horror in order to create a unique reading experience that fuels the Anglophone world’s growing appreciation of international speculative fiction. Like fellow Icelandic speculative fiction authors Sjón and Andri Snaer Magnason, Vilhjálmsson offers us a fascinating window onto another literary tradition and tantalizes us with its evolution into the twenty-first century." - Strange Horizons

"A masterfully crafted dark tale that fuses elements of alternative history, steampunk, science fiction, urban fantasy, and grimdark...one of the most ambitious, intense, original and thrilling debuts that I’ve read in a long time." Grimdark Magazine