Divine Rivals
romantic fantasy
Series · romantic fantasy
Saga of the Unfated
The Saga of the Unfated series by Danielle L. Jensen has 2 books and is best read in publication order, starting with A Fate Inked in Blood (2024).
- Books
- 2 books
- First published
- 2024
- Status
- completed
- Last checked
Start here: A Fate Inked in Blood (2024) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The order the books were released — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
A Fate Inked in Blood
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Fate Inked in Blood - Book 2:
A Curse Carved in Bone
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Curse Carved in Bone
About the Saga of the Unfated series
Freya has spent her marriage gutting fish and hiding what she is: a secret child of the goddess Hlin, forbidden the shield-maiden's life she actually wants. When a duel forces her dormant magic into the open -- a shield of pure light -- her husband's betrayal exposes her to Snorri, the local jarl, who believes an old prophecy about a shield-maiden destined to unite Skaland points straight at her. He claims Freya as his own, and assigns his son Bjorn, a battle-tested warrior and child of the war god Tyr, to train and protect her. What follows is a forced-proximity, enemies-adjacent romance under Norse-inspired myth: gods who claim mortal children, blood-inked tattoos that mark divine bloodlines, and a political landscape where Freya's power makes her a prize every ambitious jarl wants to control.
Danielle L. Jensen -- already known for The Bridge Kingdom's arranged-marriage romantasy -- brings the same instinct for slow-burn tension and escalating stakes to a fresh mythological backdrop, trading the earlier series' bridges and sea-kingdoms for Viking-age politics, warring jarls, and gods who meddle directly in mortal fate. A Fate Inked in Blood (2024) introduces Freya's awakening power and her uneasy alliance with Bjorn; A Curse Carved in Bone (2025) pushes further into what her divine heritage actually costs, as the seer's prophecy about her bloodline edges toward a war that could cost thousands of lives.
Conceived and marketed from the start as a two-book arc, the duology delivers a complete, self-contained story.
Frequently asked questions
How many books are in the Saga of the Unfated series?
Two: A Fate Inked in Blood (2024) and A Curse Carved in Bone (2025). It's a complete duology with no further books planned.
What order should I read Saga of the Unfated in?
Publication order: A Fate Inked in Blood, then A Curse Carved in Bone. The two books tell one continuous story.
Is Saga of the Unfated connected to The Bridge Kingdom or Jensen's other series?
No. It's a separate, Norse-inspired mythological world with no shared characters, though it's by the same author and appeals to similar romantasy readers.
Is the Saga of the Unfated duology finished?
Yes. It was always planned as a two-book arc and concluded with A Curse Carved in Bone in May 2025.
What's the mythology behind Saga of the Unfated?
It's built around Norse-inspired gods who father mortal children with hidden magical powers, marked by blood-ink tattoos -- and a prophecy that a shield-maiden's fate will determine the future of the fractured kingdom of Skaland.
If you like the Saga of the Unfated series
Reading order last verified .