Rise of a Valkyrie

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

NOTE: The Prelude is a male-led novella. The female-led story starts in Part 2.

Young colonist Kayla Barnes needs to become a super soldier if she is going to save her home. She would rather die than fail.

The Helvetic League’s rule over Earth’s thirty-seven colonies is failing. Desperate to hold onto power, its corrupt leaders send notorious terrorist Allana Rayker to the new world of Caldera, where she uncovers a horrifying weapon, as old as civilization itself.

After her father is killed in front of her, Kayla is rescued by a mysterious commando named Urtiga. She offers Kayla the chance to one day join Valkyrie; a secret force of enhanced female super soldiers that protect humanity from the abandoned war machines of an extinct alien race.

But until she is old enough, Kayla must attend a top girl’s school and earn her place in the elite training. She finds herself studying alongside some of the galaxies’ wealthiest aristocrats, like the beautiful and talented heiress Rose Djallen, who believe that colonists like Kayla should be subjugated by the ‘superior’ Helvetic culture.

To become Valkyrie, they both face a gut-wrenching selection course that forces most recruits to quit. As Kayla struggles to keep going, she finds that to succeed she will need not only courage, and humility, but also friendships so strong, she and her fellow warriors would die for each other as they prepare to face the most terrifying enemy imaginable.

*Illustration & Cover Design by Joshua Griffin

UPDATES: MON/WED/FRI

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2023
Author: MountainSkald

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.4/ 5.0
Followers: 486
Views: 195,147

Reviews

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Community Reviews(10)

BlackchibidonoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I have only read the first five chapters, but I intend to continue reading through as I have the time.
The author shows a masterful understanding of their genre and their tools, wasting no time immersing us in the status quo of the focus character and leaving us in enough uncertainty to resonate with his fears and struggles. We are given the broad strokes of the premise very effectively after plenty of effective atmosphere and while the end of the fifth chapter leaves us with as much uncertainty as the character we have traveled with to this point, It truly does feel like an organic development of the setting and series of events. Even gives solid life advice on top of it. Absolutely give this your time and see where the journey takes you.
DabossUnberogenRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story certainly isn't on genre for this site, but it was still good nonetheless. I generally find myself falling into the LitRPG line, so reading something else for a change is nice. It certainly is enjoyable and well written in any case. The bits fo it that I read were quite a breath of fresh air from the norm.
The style was normal for this site, with small paragraphs and quick, snappy dialogue. I liked how realistic the dialogue was, and it added to the story well. Other than that, there were few problems with it, and it was quite well done.
The grammer was clean, serviceable and had few errors. There's really not much to say here except a job well done.
The story was rich and layered, with effective worldbuilding, well created scenarios and a great plot. The science fiction aspect was well written, and it was nice to read. The story took itself seriously too, and everything was constructed to add to the realism.
The characters were well written and acted realistically. The dialogue between them was well written as well, which is always nice to see. Sometimes people end up writing NPC characters, but that is not a problem for this book.
Generally, a great read.
EiferRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I decided to write a completely fresh review after pushing through my initial frustrations and eventually buy the finished book.
I'm leaving the original in the spoiler tag for those interested.
Very interesting start, but the tags seem misleading or the author have decided to hide the MC in some obscure future chapter for whatever reason.
Colour me surprised when I started reading and the next 16 chapters featured what appears to be a male MC, which of course let me to check comments on chapters. Apparently the MC doesn't show up until chapter 19 after the prelude.
Feels like bait and switch to me. The story is interesting enough to continue despite that, so we'll see if I eat my words later and update the review to 4 stars. Sadly not going to hit 5. Way too late into a book to introduce the person you're supposed to get invested in.
Edit: We finally met the MC as promised. For like.. 5 chapters, 2 in which she featured more like a side character. Coupled with what appears to be recurrent PoV switches, I wonder how much we'll actually see the MC.
I'll stick with 3 stars, because while the story is fine and generally engaging, there's nothing in it to really hook me on the MC. At this point, I care more about a couple of side characters than the MC.. pretty tragic setup to be honest.
So. I remain less than impressed with the prelude. I feel it should either have been boiled down to something more concise, or put in as some type of flash-back.
The rest of the book, however, was amazing. There's some pretty damn good character development both from the MC but also some of the side characters we follow until the end.
Some of the author engineered situations during the bootcamp was a bit disappointing because they were rather unrealistic, but the majority of the training was satisfying. Comprehensive yet brief enough not to get boring.
I look forward to a book 2, especially to see more about what is revealed about the Jotnar and the Valkyries histories. I found that ver
LleayaaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Honestly I’m not a huge sci-fi person but HOLY, this story drew me in. So far I’ve read up to chapter 5 and i’m ecstatic. Honestly it’s a book i’d recommend to even fantasy-genre enjoyers based on how fluid it is.
Style
The pacing so far is really well done, nothing really feels rushed. The author has very good word choices as well as sentence creation. Each part of a scene flows smoothly and doesn’t feel clunky.
Story
The story and the idea around it is really fun and the premise is quite refreshing. There are a lot of books and other media that follow a similar “Big-bad versus small-good” idea but this story really personalizes it and makes it unique.
Grammar
It was really difficult to find any grammatical errors but the ones I could see didn’t impact the story heavily. If anything they just slightly made my immersion waver. Nothing too major.
Character
The characters are well designed(and i’m sure they only improve), and well rounded. Even the initial characters give you a feel for their emotions as well as their overall feel. Honestly if I could give 6 stars for character I would.
Overall I really enjoyed the direction of the book and i’m excited to continue its journey!
Nea TankoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I'm so glad I found these amazing novels because I think I may have found the new Honor Harrington
Part 1 is a prelude, a prequal that you could skip if you want but is a worthwhile short story about a man, a smuggler, regretting his life decisions and finally, maybe doing the right thing. It introduces the worlds of the novels (and we are definitely talking Novels, this is not really an ongoing web fiction imho) which the Mountain Skald definitely has fleshed out. Spies, criminals, spec ops, corrupt governments. You get the idea
It's good and I enjoyed it. 4 stars plus another half for actually having a start middle and an end :D
But Part 2? Part 2 is a classic mil sci novel. It covers the early years of our plucky, but probably not too wise heroine. Her humble background a contrast to the upper class world she ends up in, a move to boot camp and finally the best bit of ground combat I've ever read on this website.
The world he's creating here is one that is very reminiscent of many other novels, most famously I'd say those written in the vein of David Weber's Honorverse. He really goes to town in book 2. Secret wars, military heroes and villains, corrupt governments, colliding philosophies, intense combat, personal growth, high stakes and friendships forged in boot camp and beyond
I'm literally going to take a break before starting part 3 but everyone else needs to read it here for free before the author goes and makes a deserved profit over on Kindle.
I just hope to to spend the next 10 years following the military career of Kayla Barnes
Brilliant
ThatWriterGuyRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
It's not often that I find an amazing book on this site, but here it is. A Valkyrie's Saga is a hidden gem. It's clear this book had several revisions and edits because the quality jumps out at you. This may be a review swap, but my review is genuine. Note, I'm reviewing Part 2: Chapters 1-9. Part 1 is a prelude so the author gave me permission to skip it.
Style: 5/5. The story flows smoothly and with no issue. The word choices are on point and the sentences flow well. Pacing is good and looks to remain that way.
Story: 5/5. The story is set in a world where the Helvetic League, a tyrannical and elitist country, is attempting to establish dominion over the planet where the MC lives. The first two chapters, which are distinct from the rest, show how they started their attempts to make a powerful weapon and cow the planet into submission secretly. Kayla Barnes, after surviving an attack that killed her father, is sent to an academy to get the chance to be strong and defend her home.
Grammar: 5/5. Great grammar. Nothing wrong here.
Character: 5/5. All the characters are well-developed. Even the character we follow in the first two chapters, Owen, is well-developed. Of special note are Kayla Barnes and Rose. Kayla Barnes is a daughter of the colonies sent to an academy (but not the Academy at the point I'm at) to get into the Academy. She has a grudge against the League since they're secretly responsible for her father's death, even though he wasn't the main target. However, Rose is also daughter. Rose is the daughter of a billionaire who attempts to "civilize" the "backwater savage" that is Kayla, but gives up and becomes the meanest girl possible, trying to put the colonial girl "back in her place." Kayla, however, is strongheaded and refuses to quit even though Rose turned everyone in the academy against her (not a hard task since almost everyone else there is also rich and from the elite). Overall, I'm excited to see where the story goes.
storytopia07Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
You had me at Valkyrie but then it turned into a far more compelling story than I imagined.
There two things I really loved about this story, the characters and the world. Let me begin with the characters. I was a little hesitant by the more generic setup for book 2, however, with the help of good fast pacing and an introspection of the world itself, it setup the characters, their ideals, beliefs, and flaws very well, making the overall story very engaging.
Next comes the world, I always a good mix of politics in my story and this is no different. There are layers to the world that the story is set in and it doesn’t overcomplicate the setup either. This left me intrigued by how the story and characters will navigate through the well defined hurdles setup by the world.
Style – It is well paced. Fast where it needs to be and a good amount of description to immerse you in the story. The description of action is clean and crisp.
Grammar – Didn’t have trouble with comprehension. Excellent work.
Story – Intricate and well laid out. It has a good amount of suspense to keep you hooked.
Characters – The best part about the characters is how well they embody the world they come from. A good mix of conflicting ideals, ambition, and purpose, make them compelling and the drama, all the more fun to read.
Veriana RoseRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
I read the first 5 chapters of Part 2. However, I didn’t have any problems understanding the story’s background. Overall, the story is very well written.
Style: The story is written in third person and is very descriptive; it’s easy to visualize the scene based on the author’s choice of words. Despite that, there were a few times that the terms confused me—I originally thought this might have been written with British English, but later it seemed to be American English. That took me out of the story a little.
Story: The first two chapters focus on the POV, Owen, help another group find old tech—it sets the scene for when Kayla (the true main protagonist, based on the story description) takes over as POV. I have one main reason why I gave this section a 4 star.
Kayla is stated to be eight years old at the start of Chapter 3. In Chapter 5, her father is killed by a monster like the one Owen turns in to in Chapter 2; Kayla, as expected, is upset by this. I find it strange, though, that she swears revenge right then and there—someone that age is more likely to cry a bit more or sit in shock for a few minutes to process it. When she’s saved by two people who give her a school voucher, she’s excited—but her thoughts are along the lines of "think of the adventures I can have!" rather than "I can learn how to fight and kill monsters to avenge Dad." While the excitement of adventures is more age appropriate, it creates a small mood whiplash, as she goes from being distressed about her father’s death to cheerfully imagining how fun school would be.
Otherwise, the story has promise and I can see what direction it will go in.
Grammar: Very good. I didn’t spot any errors—if they were there, then they were minor.
Character: It’s a bit hard for me to describe the characters here. In terms of in-paragraph (or non-dialogue) text, no one really has a distinct voice—but a part of that is the style the story is written in. No character stands out, necessarily; at least for me, no chara
William FlattenerRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
"Ah, I see where this is going... nope! I was wrong." -- me, several times in the first 8 chapters or so. The introductory chapters are full of suspense, shady characters, and some major unexpected turns.
Style: This reads like a lot of the big-name spacefaring science fictions with a big military influence. It's lean and plot-heavy, and it really moves. It's written from numerous third person perspectives, and that's all I should say for now. :)
Grammar: Nothing distracting here--this is written with careful/professional grammar and punctuation.
Story: The pace is kinetic and occasionally throws a big plot curveball at the reader. Every chapter reveals big (and sometimes BIG-big) plot developments, and I am very interested to see where this one goes. There's also an intriguing future world order, and we get a drip of details painting the greater picture of factions in conflict, secretive schools, and the gulf between rustic colonists and elite urbanite cultures.
Character: The author is very good at rapidly fleshing out interesting characters who drive the story. You're quickly invested in the growing conflicts and motivations between them.
This story has a LOT going for it and I am looking forward to reading the rest of it.
Sable99Royal Road
★★★ 3.0
So, this story is *extremely* well written. The characterization is brilliant. Unfortunately... I find the story pretty boring. For a science fiction, the "science" is barely there. This is a story that could be taking place in the modern world. It's a boot camp story, which is itself very boring. Apparently, people still train and recruit soldiers in the future the same way they do today -- never mind that all signs point to A.I. and other technologies completely changing the way wars are fought and won, now and in the near future. There's just a large lack of imagination in what the future could be. I read science fiction to feel inspired about what the future could be, and this story just doesn't deliver on any aspect that I am looking for. Even if you come here to read about women kicking ass, this story does not deliver. The women involved are basically mundane soldiers, there doesn't seem to be anything special about them. I am really disappointed.