“He picked up the bike and was off in a flash, the moment of freedom gone and perhaps never to return again. No more sun, no more earth or this feeling of being at one with it. A light breeze caressed his cheek. He was on his way to repetition, towards that to which he was bound and what must be done every day. He was on the way home. Total uncertainty ahead.”

Having found a dusty cassette tape filled with interesting material in his attic, Magni decides to use it as the basis for a novel. What follows are stories about his ancestors. The son of a local wholesaler who has a passion for cycling. His mother, who keeps a firm hand on everyone and everything. The young woman who travels the country in search of love. But the world doesn’t stop turning just because Magni’s head is stuck in the past. There’s still love and life all around him.

In Sacrifical Games, Alfrun Gunnlaugsdottir tells the story of five generations, poignantly revealing how decisions and coincidences can color relationships between husbands and wives, or parents and children.