The Goddess of Nothing At All by Cat Rector

Series: Unwritten Runes (#1)

Published: October 1, 2021

Genre: Dark Fantasy, Norse Myth Retelling

Pages: 430

Summary:

Perhaps you know the myths.

Furious, benevolent Gods.

A tree that binds nine realms.

A hammer stronger than any weapon.

And someday, the end of everything.

But few have heard of me.

Looking back, it’s easy to know what choices I might have made differently. At least it feels that way. I might have given up on my title. Told my father he was useless, king of gods or no, and left Asgard. Made a life somewhere else.

Maybe I would never have let Loki cross my path. Never have fallen in love.

But there’s no going back.

We were happy once.

And the price for that happiness was the end of everything

CW: Vulgar language, Gratuitous violence and torture, Mental, emotional, and verbal abuse, Unhappy situations for LGBTQA+ characters, Mentions of sexual coercion and rape, Death and violence involving animals, Discrimination and fantasy slurs, Death. For more, see the author’s website.

Book Links

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58103841-the-goddess-of-nothing-at-all#

Buy Now: https://books2read.com/catrector

Author Bio:

Cat Rector grew up in a small Nova Scotian town and could often be found simultaneously reading a book and fighting off muskrats while walking home from school. She devours story in all its forms, loves messy, morally grey characters, and writes about the horrors that we inflict on each other. Currently, she lives in Belgium with her spouse. When she’s not writing, you can find her playing video games, spending time with loved ones, or staring at her To Be Read pile like it’s going to read itself.

The Goddess of Nothing At All is her debut novel.

Author Links:

Website: http://catrector.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Cat_Rector

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cat_rector/

Giveaway

Prize: A hardcover copy of The Goddess of Nothing At All by Cat Rector – International

Starts: September 29th, 2021 at 12:00am EST

Ends: October 6th, 2021 at 11:59pm EST

Enter Here!

Excerpt:

“If that settles it, we can begin with the ceremony.” Thrym rose from the table, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

A deep chuckle rose from the veiled bride. It sent a shiver down my spine as it built to a cackle. Thor stood and reached out for Mjolnir. With the hammer in hand, he ripped the veil from his head and turned on Thrym.

“What’s this?” Thrym cried out. “You aren’t Freya!”

Loki rolled her eyes. “Well obviously not.” She pulled the curved dagger from her belt and vaulted over the table, kicking Thrym’s sister to the ground.

I spat a string of runes under my breath, summoning a burst of wildfire and tossing it into the face of the woman across from me. She screamed and batted at her hair as I scrambled over the table. I snatched up a platter and smashed it into her face for good measure.

The room shook. Thor had thrown Mjolnir into Thrym, driving him across the room and into the wall. Thor caught the hammer as it rushed back to him, his scream of rage rising above all the clamour. He hurled himself at Thrym, hammer raised above his head—

Don’t get distracted.

My mark had fallen to the floor, using her own shirt to put out the wildfire. I leapt down from the table and kicked her in the jaw with all my strength. She stopped moving.

Loki climbed to her feet next to me. The sister’s body was a mess, gruesome bone and muscle peeking out from the slash across her throat. Red was splattered across Loki’s cheek and down her lips, blood dripping from the dagger in her grip. “Next.”

A pair of Thrym’s soldiers had cornered one of ours. Loki snared one from behind and twisted him around. With a nod, she tossed him at me, and the Jotun fell into my grip just as the current of electricity shot from my hands. He seized, the smell of charred flesh filling the air. His eyes rolled back into his head, and I let him go. He continued to writhe on the floor as I turned my attention to the next Jotun in line.

“Sig!”

I whipped around. A woman in a flour-covered apron was brandishing an iron pan and about to knock me out cold. I ducked as she swung and backed away from her, arms out. “You don’t need to do this. Stay out of the way, and everything will be fine.”

She screamed, shaking the pan but making no move towards me.

“Would you like to be the master of this keep?”

She blinked.

“Round up the rest of your people and keep them safe, and I’ll give it to you.”

“Liar!” She swung the pan in my direction, missing by miles.

Loki slid up behind her and set the edge of her blade against the woman’s throat. “That girl is my world, so test me, darling. Please do.”

She dropped the pan. Its clatter was loud enough to rise over the screaming and the metallic ring of weaponry. “I’ll go,” she said, her hands raised in the air.

Loki ruffled her hair and pushed her off. “That’s a good woman.” We didn’t bother to watch her leave.

Our soldiers seemed to have things under control. There was only one Jotun left standing. Thor was still in the corner, toying with Thrym. He had the poor man pressed up against the wall by his throat and was breaking his fingers one by one.

“Did you just give this place to a scullery maid?” Loki asked, slipping an arm around my waist.

“I might have.” A childish grin slipped out. “Father will be thrilled.”