Ted Callan, war herald of the Nine Worlds, must build a cage from Surtur's bones, unearth the Bright Sword, and vanquish the fire giant once and for all.
But there's a catch.
Ted needs Surtur's bones to build the cage, to get the sword, to kill the giant. And Surtur is very attached to his bones.
Enlisting Manitoba's giants, dwarves, and elves to watch over Winnipeg, Ted takes advantage of a lull in Surtur's fires to hitch a ride back to Edmonton for his best friend's wedding and search for answers. While he's there he tries to mend fences with family and friends, dodges a legion of Surtur fanatics intent on setting the giant free, and learns he has three days left to live. Without Loki or the Norns to help, he won't solve the riddle and see another day.
It's the end of the world as Ted knows it -- time to face his doom.
Originally from Morden, Manitoba, Chadwick Ginther is the winner of The Mary Scorer Award for Best Book by a Manitoba Publisher, the winner of The Michael Van Rooy Award for Genre Fiction and twice nominated for the Prix Aurora Awards for Thunder Road and Tombstone Blues. His short stories have appeared in many speculative fiction publications, and he co-hosts the Winnipeg arm of the Chiaroscuro Reading Series. A bookseller for over a decade, Chadwick Ginther lives and writes in Winnipeg.