Morgan Sauer's Blog
January 30, 2025
The Tapestry: The Red Winter Book Review (by Henry H. Neff)
How to sum up a book filled with such calamity, tragedy, and sacrifice?
To start, this book easily portrays how people can choose to be a force for good, or a force for evil. Everyone has the ability to be one or the other, but it is by our own actions that we become who we are.
This book series has always fascinated me. The complexity of the magical world with Celtic, Egyptian, Christian, and more magic and rituals combined into one magical practice. I love how the antagonist isn't only a super-powered human or mystic, he is something else entirely. A demon. Which is far more terrifying.
The Red Winter, the fifth and final book in the series, shows how bad things can happen in life and there are real consequences to them. And even if you have the power, you can't just turn back time and erase it.
Endings, though sad, will come.
This was a beautifully written conclusion the The Tapestry series. One of the few final books in a series that imbue a sense of contentment in the reader. I'll shout to anyone who'll listen about how amazing this series is. There's nothing like it. It's truly in a league of its own.The Red Winter
To start, this book easily portrays how people can choose to be a force for good, or a force for evil. Everyone has the ability to be one or the other, but it is by our own actions that we become who we are.
This book series has always fascinated me. The complexity of the magical world with Celtic, Egyptian, Christian, and more magic and rituals combined into one magical practice. I love how the antagonist isn't only a super-powered human or mystic, he is something else entirely. A demon. Which is far more terrifying.
The Red Winter, the fifth and final book in the series, shows how bad things can happen in life and there are real consequences to them. And even if you have the power, you can't just turn back time and erase it.
Endings, though sad, will come.
This was a beautifully written conclusion the The Tapestry series. One of the few final books in a series that imbue a sense of contentment in the reader. I'll shout to anyone who'll listen about how amazing this series is. There's nothing like it. It's truly in a league of its own.The Red Winter
Why did I write The Hero Dies in the End?
I wrote “The Hero Dies in the End” for a handful of reasons.
One) I've always been obsessed with telling stories and how to tell stories. And then I had one of my own to tell.
Two) The characters of The Hero Dies in the End just sorta showed up one day and wouldn't leave me alone. There was a story there that needed to be told. I wanted to tell the story of a person that was resilient to the point of insanity. A person that attacked their problems head on without hesitating, which could then end in a good way or bad. Often bad. A person unafraid of a little risk. A person who seemed to not care about themselves or others, but through subtle actions observed that supposition would prove to be wrong.
Three) I wanted to write a story that showed the struggle between doing what is morally correct and doing what is necessary to stay alive. And how there are very real consequences for our actions. Many people go through these crossroads by living in this sinful world. It's not easy. But people are people, and sometimes the only choice to make is the one where they get to wake up the next morning. All this is mixed into the day-to-day life of a college student who simply wants to graduate and go home. A story that shoes how easy it is to be a danger. How slipping away from your faith and who you are can happen without even noticing.
Four) I wrote this story during a time when I wasn't doing so well physically or mentally. I had just been injured after a running a half marathon and was faced with the very real possibility that I would never run again. I could barely walk for months, even sitting was painful. There was a lot of pain and frustration and I had to figure out what to do with it all. So,The Hero Dies in the End in a way this story is a process of recovery. I was forced to discover who I was without things I thought had defined me.
-themesswrites
One) I've always been obsessed with telling stories and how to tell stories. And then I had one of my own to tell.
Two) The characters of The Hero Dies in the End just sorta showed up one day and wouldn't leave me alone. There was a story there that needed to be told. I wanted to tell the story of a person that was resilient to the point of insanity. A person that attacked their problems head on without hesitating, which could then end in a good way or bad. Often bad. A person unafraid of a little risk. A person who seemed to not care about themselves or others, but through subtle actions observed that supposition would prove to be wrong.
Three) I wanted to write a story that showed the struggle between doing what is morally correct and doing what is necessary to stay alive. And how there are very real consequences for our actions. Many people go through these crossroads by living in this sinful world. It's not easy. But people are people, and sometimes the only choice to make is the one where they get to wake up the next morning. All this is mixed into the day-to-day life of a college student who simply wants to graduate and go home. A story that shoes how easy it is to be a danger. How slipping away from your faith and who you are can happen without even noticing.
Four) I wrote this story during a time when I wasn't doing so well physically or mentally. I had just been injured after a running a half marathon and was faced with the very real possibility that I would never run again. I could barely walk for months, even sitting was painful. There was a lot of pain and frustration and I had to figure out what to do with it all. So,The Hero Dies in the End in a way this story is a process of recovery. I was forced to discover who I was without things I thought had defined me.
-themesswrites
