Amazon.com description: Product Description: When her father and brothers are killed in battle, Ran, a young Viking woman, has no one to protect her. And as she travels with her unloving mother and a cruel stranger to take part in a winter sacrifice, Ran's safety and future are uncertain. Now sixteen-year-old Ran must learn to fend for herself -- and discover that she has the ability to control her own destiny. Henrietta Branford, Guardian award-winning author of Fire, Bed, and Bone, brilliantly recreates the mysticism and the harsh realities of the Viking world in this tale of strength, romance, and thwarted fates.