After finishing The Rising Flame, I found myself returning to the story through music. The tracks collected here aren’t what I listened to while writing, but what came afterward—a way of translating scenes, moods, and emotional beats into sound.
If you enjoy reading with music, you’re welcome to follow the suggested tracks alongside specific chapters or moments. If not, simply listen—or don’t. The story doesn’t depend on it.
Soundtrack
Fate’s Compass — Audiomachine
Suggested for: The prologues and Chapter 1
Creep — Radiohead
Suggested for: Chapters 2–3 — the tannery and the tavern
Sweet Dreams — Emily Browning
Suggested for: Chapter 4 — the dream of The Hazel-eyed man
Control — Halsey
Suggested for: Chapter 5 — dinner, when Irma tells Liv she wants to leave
Brave — Sara Bareilles
Suggested for: Chapter 7 — Åsa
Glory — The Score
Suggested for: Chapter 7 — Brand
Arsonist’s Lullaby — Hozier
Suggested for: Chapter 7 — Henrik
Járnblóm — Bjorth, Munknörr
Suggested for: Chapter 7 — the blot ritual
Every Breath You Take — Chase Holfelder
Suggested for: Chapter 13 — Liv
The Sound of Silence — Disturbed
Suggested for: Chapter 15 — Irma locked in her room
Blackheart — Thomas Bergersen, Two Steps from Hell
Suggested for: Chapter 16 — the elders’ dinner, when Irma has had enough
Way Down We Go — KALEO
Suggested for: Chapter 17 — Åsa and Brand
Ashes (from Deadpool 2) — Céline Dion
Suggested for: Chapter 18 — Irma fleeing through the forest and mountains toward Steinholl
Wayfaring Stranger — Johnny Cash
Suggested for: Chapter 19 — Irma becoming Sigrid Stenvid in Steinholl
I’m on My Way — The Proclaimers
Suggested for: Chapter 20 — Åsa, Brand, and Henrik nearing Steinholl after a month-long search
O’Death — Bobby Bass, Lauren Paley
Suggested for: Chapter 23 — The Shadow
Le Cygne — Camille Saint-Saëns
Suggested for: Chapter 28 — the Lake Spirit’s song
Survivor — 2WEI, Edda Hayes
Suggested for: Chapter 35 — Irma claiming her power and killing the draugrs
Skin — Rag’n’Bone Man
Suggested for: Chapter 36 — the aftermath
Love Is a Bitch — Two Feet
Suggested for: Chapter 37 — Irma and the “one bed” moment
When It All Falls Down — Audiomachine
Suggested for: Chapter 40 — Irma’s final dream/vision of the army, Åsa, and Henrik