Perfect Obedience

Everyone knows at least a little about Wagner's opera cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen. There's an evil ring, brooding viking gods, and it's over when the fat lady sings.

Buried under the sopranos and the weird helmets, though, there's the story of a young woman who commits her first act of disobedience against the father who created her entire world.

Stripped of her godhood and exiled from Valhalla just as it begins to crumble, Brunhilde marries and tries to settle into a mortal life. As the destruction of Valhalla accelerates, though, it becomes clear that her past isn't done with her. She alone has the power to bring redemption to the loved ones that exiled her; all it will cost her is her husband.