Death was cold, colder than the deepest winter. And she sensed it edging its way into the cabin.
I snagged an advanced reader copy of Winter’s Maiden by Morgan L. Busse. Her books are always a good read, but this one’s a little special. It’s a prequel to her first trilogy: Follower of the Word, so fans will enjoy some nostalgia.
Unfolding the Story
Brighid, orphaned, clanless, and starving, can sense death when it is near, and it terrifies her. Then she discovers that despite no training, she outmatches everyone in her ability to fight. With her combat skills, she can provide for herself. But her sole means of survival threatens to unravel her.
That was the sum of her entire being. Fighting. Fighting for food. Fighting others. Fighting to live.
Kaeden is an Eldaran, one of a fabled race with hands that glow with power, but his light is faint and his magic gone. He returns home to serve humans, despite his bitterness against them for what they did to his parents. He can’t even stomach their touch.
The simmering hatred of his youth bubbled up and threatened to choke off any bit of common sense he had left.
In the grand scheme of things, as the Shadonae tear the land apart with war, Brighid and Kaeden have relatively small roles to play. Yet the Word seems to have great plans for them.
Exploring the Characters
As you might guess, Brighid and Kaeden are fun characters to watch. Especially Brighid. She’s got some cool abilities, but the combination creates a delightful conflict within her. Kaeden’s good too, but to be honest, whenever he came on the scene, I wanted to get back to Brighid.
The supporting characters mostly help Brighid and Kaeden shine, but a few stand out on their own.
- Armand plays a subtly ruthless bad guy, but it’s cool to see why he doesn’t think he’s evil.
- Selma definitely has more to her than she lets on, and I look forward to seeing her character deepen in a later book.
- Although Gurmund’s character isn’t particularly intriguing, his place in the story is. I think he’ll play more than one key role in the next book, and I look forward to seeing how that will unfold.
- Captain Bertin holds a bit part, and as such, he’s pretty straightforward. Still, he comes across as super evil—the kind of guy you love to hate.
- Mathias has a pure goodness to him that made me like him right away.
If there are Shadonae truly working with the Nordic forces, I have no choice but to hunt them down. —Mathias
Examining the Themes
Winter’s Maiden covers themes of:
- Death. Fearing it. Embracing it. Resisting it.
- Prejudice. The divide between the middle and upper classes, the rich and the poor.
- Corruption. The power of resentment, betrayal, and hypocrisy.
- Goodness. Doing the right thing even when it’s hard. Even when it’s bound to turn out badly.
- Freedom. To follow God’s call or turn away.
- Healing and forgiveness. Overcoming old wounds.
Do I really want to feel again? —Brighid
Reflections
I like strong female leads, but I don’t like perfect ones. Worse, I despise weak male leads. The culture we live in seems to think the way to make a woman strong is to (a) make her perfect, and (b) make all the men around her weak.
How is that a good approach? Perfection is unrealistic and gives the character no room to grow. A complete lack of inspiring men is equally unrealistic and paints a falsely negative portrait of a huge segment of our population. In our world, we need men and women that are both realistic enough to believe and virtuous enough to aspire to.
Here, Busse delivers yet another refreshing story with a good balance of leads. A man and a woman. Both strong. Both flawed. Both seeking to be better. These are the kinds of characters we wish we and our children could be more like.
Will You Like It?
This book is for you if you:
- Like strong leads, both male and female
- Enjoy characters with internal conflict
- Like clean fantasy that isn’t so whitewashed as to gloss over reality
- Are a fan of Morgan L. Busse’s other books
If that sounds good to you, check out Winter’s Maiden →