Buckle up, baby, because author Katherine Arden roars to the conclusion of the Winternight Trilogy in The Winter of the Witch. Ms. Arden takes a no-holds-barred approach in a book that is in a state of constant climax. In spite of this relentless action, somehow the author is able to fill out the shadow areas in the story, answer questions, and grow Vasya into a woman in her own right. Vasya is oddly both strong and vulnerable as the heroine. Vasya’s siblings, Olga and Sasha, also get some welcome page time in this novel. Some unanticipated twists–which hang together amazingly well–coupled with some unconventional alliances, keep this tale fresh and unscripted.
This is truly one of the more satisfying trilogies in recent memory and a fantasy-lover’s dream. Highly recommended!
Review of a Digital Advance Reading Copy
This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Del Rey
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: 20 religious exclamations; 5 mild obscenities.
Violence/Gore: Multiple references to violence/injuries from previous book in the series; character purposefully opens a wound in order to smear blood on a fireplace as an offering to a house spirit; multi-page violent mob scene involving kicking, hitting, stoning, hair-pulling resulting in severe injuries and description of blood; verbal death threat (burning); death of an animal by decapitation, brief but upsetting scene; character kisses another violently and against their will and then is bit; woman kicks man hard between the legs; brief, descriptive scene in which character risen from the dead kills their parent by biting/ripping their throat, mention of blood; report of deaths by illness; character opens cut into water as offering to a water spirit; brief description of a character’s wounds; character throws a stick at a creature and hits it on the head; horse is injured; water spirit attempts to drown a character; undead characters approach to attack and character sets them afire by magic; men killed by magic-induced flood; man pushes girl against wall and gropes her and kisses against her will; brief knife fight resulting in a severe injury, blood mentioned/described; two characters fight; verbal threats; holding a character with knife to throat; extended battle scene between men and undead with descriptions of violence; character slits their own throat and blood pours out; demon character is bound; battle plans discussed; character knocked unconscious; character tortured; man slaps woman across face; extended, multi-page scene of pursuit w/ injuries, magic, hitting, arrows shot, chaos, etc.; character gives some of their blood to a demon creature to bind loyalty; character held hostage and threatened with knife; blood oath sworn with cutting of hand; character comes upon a pillaged village and mortally wounded pregnant woman who dies, mention of blood; demon is always encouraging a character to more violence; multi-page single combat scene between warriors, some description, resulting in deaths; extended major battle scene with many deaths and some detailed descriptions.
Sex/Nudity: Male character desires a female character; character kisses another violently and against their will; passing incident in which characters see women and intend to take sexual liberties with, but the women escape; devil/spirit in male form kisses a man on the mouth; character strips to bathe; man pushes girl against wall and gropes her and kisses against her will; reference to lust; innuendo; scene in bath house where female character strips and male character watches; character touches face of another on several occasions; 17-year-old female and older male have a sex in one scene ~2-3 pages, some light description and details; another brief sex scene, non-detailed; character thinks briefly back to making love with another; sisters discuss in very general terms the loss of younger sister’s virginity out of wedlock; character looks on another with desire; statement about rape; characters embrace and kiss.
Mature Subject Matter:
Death, war, superstition, religion, heresy, discrimination/persecution/gender-equality issues, witch.
Alcohol / Drug Use:
Characters drink alcohol with meals.
