The Valkyries

A powerful exploration of one man's battle with self-doubt and fear.

A powerful exploration of one man's battle with self-doubt and fear.

This is a modern-day adventure story featuring Paulo's supernatural encounter with angels - who appear as warrior women and travel through the Mojave desert on their motorbikes. Haunted by a devastating curse, Paulo is instructed by his mysterious spiritual master to embark upon a journey - to find and speak to his guardian angel in an attempt to confront and overcome his dark past. The Valkyries is a compelling account of this forty day quest into the searing heat of the Mojave Desert, where Paulo and his wife, Chris, encounter the Valkyries - warrior women who travel the desert on motorcycles, spreading the word of angels. This exotic spiritual odyssey is a rare combination of truth, myth, imagination and inspiration. Ultimately it is a story about being able to forgive our past and believe in our future.

This is a modern-day adventure story featuring Paulo's supernatural encounter with angels - who appear as warrior women and travel through the Mojave desert on their motorbikes. Haunted by a devastating curse, Paulo is instructed by his mysterious spiritual master to embark upon a journey - to find and speak to his guardian angel in an attempt to confront and overcome his dark past. The Valkyries is a compelling account of this forty day quest into the searing heat of the Mojave Desert, where Paulo and his wife, Chris, encounter the Valkyries - warrior women who travel the desert on motorcycles, spreading the word of angels. This exotic spiritual odyssey is a rare combination of truth, myth, imagination and inspiration. Ultimately it is a story about being able to forgive our past and believe in our future.

A classic masterwork of spiritual tension and realization from Paulo Coelho, this powerful story of one man’s battle with self-doubt and fear is now available in a beautiful new package from HarperOne. An essential volume alongside Coelho’s other bestselling and influential books, such as The Alchemist , The Pilgrimage , Brida , and The Winner Stands Alone , the searing and unforgettable narrative in The Valkyries asks the questions most central to all literature—and all of humanity’s quest for understanding. Why is it that we destroy the things we love most? And how can we learn to let go of the past and believe in the future?

The Valkyries – fierce daughters of battle, riders of storm and shadow. They choose the slain and carry souls to glory, moving between mortal and divine. These fierce but angelic warrior goddesses escort half of those who have died in battle to Odin's hall of heroes: Valhalla. There they receive the heroes with horns of mead. But there is so much more to these heavily symbolic beings. The Valkyries are many and amorphous, some are named and famous – Brunhild (powerful and defiant), Gunnr (courageous in battle), Skuld (a Norn but also a Valkyrie) to name a few – while others exist in the shadows. This new collection features stories that tell the Valkyries’ own back stories, and echo their power: tales of fate, war, sacrifice and the mythic eternal. Stories selected from open submissions explore and expand on the classic tales and imagine completely new narratives. With an extensive new introduction to the ancient origins and stories, this powerful new title offers fresh perspectives on compelling characters. Introductory essay by Nancy Marie Brown, and foreword by Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir. The modern authors whose stories feature in this book are: Ryaan Akmal, Don Bisdorf, Kay Hanifen, Ikechukwu Henry, E.K. Larson-Burnett, JB Riley, Laura Shenton, Nina Shepardson, Zac Sherman, D.L. Stille, Susanna Fraser Stone, Deborah Tapper, Benjamin Thomas, M.M. Williams, Mae Wilmarth, Johanna Wittenberg and Ernie Xu. About the series: Discover the mythology of humankind through its heroes, characters, gods and immortal figures. Myths, Gods & Immortals brings together the new and the ancient, familiar stories with a fresh and imaginative twist. Each book brings back to life a legendary, mythological or folkloric figure, with new stories alongside a comprehensive introduction which tells the original tales and emphasizes ancient and modern connections, tracing history and stories across continents, cultures and peoples. New and emerging writers from open submissions reveal hidden themes, casting fresh perspectives on well known stories, complementing the specially commissioned story of the origins and the cultural background from the era. Existing titles are Medusa , Odin , Anansi , Circe , Achilles , Morgana le Fay , Aphrodite and Loki .