Winter's Reach

Revanche Cycle #1

by Craig Schaefer

Pope Benignus is dying, and the man who takes his throne will hold the reins of an empire. Conspiracies swirl like shadows around Livia, the pope's daughter, who refuses to be anyone's pawn: chasing the whispers of a deadly coup, she vows to expose the truth and save her church from disaster. Livia has secrets of her own, though, and one wrong move could cost her life and her soul.

Felix is the scion of a dying merchant house, a man with just one chance to save his family and the woman he loves. His last hope lies in the snowbound hell of Winter's Reach, a former prison colony turned "free city" under a brutal tyrant's reign.

Livia and Felix have never crossed paths, but they've both been snared in a far greater web than they can imagine. They -- along with a pair of veteran bounty hunters, an exiled politician, and a sadistic coven of witches -- are cogs in one man's apocalyptic plan for revenge. A plan which, if it succeeds, will leave an entire nation in flames.

Genres: Fantasy, Magic, High Fantasy, Audiobook, Fiction, Historical, Adult

357 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Craig Schaefer's books have taken readers to the seamy edge of a criminal underworld drenched in shadow (the Daniel Faust series), to a world torn by war, poison and witchcraft (the Revanche Cycle), and across a modern America mired in occult mysteries and a conspiracy of lies (the Harmony Black series).

Despite this, people say he's strangely normal. Suspiciously normal, in fact. His home on the Web is www.craigschaeferbooks.com.

Reviews

[✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) · Rating 5 out of 5]

➽ And the moral of this rereread is: Politics and blackmail and popes and witchcraft, oh my! Reading this series is like watchung the Machiavellian Olympics. And that is slightly amazing if you ask me.



👋 Until next time and stuff.



[April 2021]

➽ And the moral of this rereread is: it's been nearly five years. It's been nearly FIVE BLOODY SHRIMPING YEARS since I told you to READ THIS SERIES, but did you listen? Of course YOU DIDN'T. Did you waste your precious time reading crap instead? Of course YOU DID. So tell me, what's the issue here? Don't you trust my Impeccable Reading Taste (IRT™)? Are you just trying to be contrary? Or is it simply that you're naught but a bunch of depraved masochists who only read books with -12 average star ratings? So which one is it? Please do tell. Inquiring minds want to know.



Oh I sure am with you on that one, Friedrich Dear. Those puny humans are befuddling as fish, are they not?

➽ And the other moral of this rereread is: Revanche Cycle is one of the most underrated series in the history of most underrated series. And that, my Little Barnacles, is a scientifically proven fact.

➽ And the other, other moral of this rereread is: you better read this posthaste, or else...



👋 To be continued and stuff.



[November 2016]

🤩 Oooh Oooh Oooh Fantasy by Craig Schaefer Yum Yum Yum Buddy Read (OOOFbCSYYYBR™) with some of my slightly excellent BB&B colleagues 🤩

Friendly Warning: I'm slightly excited about this book. Remember what happens when I'm slightly excited about a book? Yep, that's right, GIFs tend to attack en masse. Sorry Enjoy.

First instalment in the series. BOOM. 5 stars. Just like that.

Damn. I already worship the ground Schaefer walks on, what am I supposed to do to prove my undying love for him now? Wait. I think I got it. I'll turn my Holy Trinity of Utter Awesomeness (HToUA™) Pippa DaCosta + Ilona Andrews + Glen Cook. Duh into a Holy Quadrinity of Utter Awesomeness (HQoUA™) Pippa DaCosta + Ilona Andrews + Glen Cook + Craig Schaefer. DUH. There, problem fixed. Now on to the fangirling. Just kidding. Then again, maybe not.



I know, right? I'm telling you, my Little Barnacles, Hitchcock is a total amateur compared to me.

Okay, so the first thing you need to know about this book is: it's slightly awesome ← this just in case you weren't paying attention. And hadn't noticed my rating. And hadn't read the previous paragraph. You're welcome. How and why is it slightly awesome, you ask? Now that's a very interesting question, and I shall be more than happy to satisfy your eager curiosity by kindly answering it I'm so awesome sometimes. Here goes.

① Schemers and scammers and liars, oh my!
Craig Schaefer, you make Glen Cook proud. Such glorious backstabbing. Such delicious double crossing. Conspiracies & contra-conspiracies. Treacherous everything and everyone. Cunning stuff galore. Foxes being outfoxed by the foxes they thought they were outfoxing while these foxes were outfoxing them. It's beautiful. Okay, so there's so much marvelous scheming going on here that you sometimes lose track of who is trying to screw whom over. But you know what? Ultimately, it doesn't matter. Because all that counts at the end of the day is that this book features one of the Mostest Exquisitest Collection of Machiavellian, Slippery Bastards & Bitches Ever (MECoMSB&BE™). And what do we say to that? We say YUM. Obviously.



② Mostest coolest world and stuff.
Some people have been foolishly reluctant to read this book because of the blurb and the world it depicts. I don't want to name names here, because I am not like that and things like these are just not done, but some people are slightly silly, if you ask me *waves at Gavin cheerfully* Yes, it is true that this world is a bit reminiscent of 15th/16th century Italy. What with the papacy stuff, Machiavellian everything, and Italian-sounding names. And yes, it is also true that, because of this, the world isn't that original. But who the shrimp cares?! As long as I get political machinations, blackmail, fucked up slightly screwed up bloodlines, revenge, lies and delightful betrayal, I'm happy. And if I'm happy, you're happy, right? Right.



③ Characterization heaven and stuff.
No wonder I somewhat worship Craig Schaefer. I mean, the guy is slightly talented when it comes to writing mostest excellentest complexest characters. Okay, so some poor Barnacles might feel kinda sorta overwhelmed here, because there are LOTS of characters in this story. BUT. They are ALL mostest excellentest and stuff, so problem solved and stuff. Besides, there's more character variety here than there are species at the San Diego Zoo, so I dare you to NOT find ten a couple of characters to your liking loving here. We've got mercenaries, bankers, popes, pirates, cardinals, bounty hunters, politicians, knight errands in disguise, confessors, sociopathic mayors, witches, barmaids, priests, assassins, spies, urchins…Aka every single character you've ever dreamed of reading about, right? Right. I know you so well, my Little Barnacles.



④ The Awesome Guuuuurl Power Display (AGPD™) .
Craig Schaefer. The only male author (along with Glen Cook I Worship Thee, of course) who truly knows how to write amazing female characters. Let me tell you, my Little Arthropods, the guy's got the whole guuuuurl power thing figured out. Okay, so I already knew that before reading this book, because, you know, Caitlin rocks and stuff. But I have to admit that Schaefer's Super Duper Revanche Chick Clique (SSDRCC™) is more than I could ever dream of finding in a book written by a lowly male (no offense to my Manly Barnacles). These gals are so yummy I'm kidnapping all of them and locking them away in my Cool Chicks Harem. Poof! Gone! One of them will get the special High Security treatment, too. Ah, Veruca…I think I might be totally in love have a certain fondness for you. You're batshit crazy, merciless, homicidal, and rule over a nation of criminals. Sounds to me like we're a match made in heaven.



But you know what makes the SSDRCC™ really wondrous? No matter how tough as nails, delightfully ruthless, beautifully devious and/or splendidly unhinged these babes are, they also have weaknesses. They can be fragile. They are not ALL badass ALL the time. They are delectably flawed, and that makes them feel real. And that, my Lovely Decapods, is bloody shrimping cool. Let's dance.



This ↑↑ officially marks the end of the Deadly GIF Attack (DGA™). You're welcome.

➽ And the moral of this It Took me so Long to Write this Crappy Non Review I Now Have Great Great Great Grandchildren Crappy Non Review (ITmsLtWtCNRINHGGGGCNR™) is: I have the best father in law ever. What do you mean this has nothing to do with this book? Of course it does! What? You didn't know Craig Schaefer was my father-in-law? I forget how clueless you sometimes are, my Little Barnacles. Craig Schaefer is my Daniel Faust's beloved daddy; ergo, he is my slightly awesome father in law. Ha.





· Book 2: The Instruments of Control ★★★★★
· Book 3: Terms of Surrender ★★★★★
· Book 4: Queen of the Night ★★★★★

[James Tivendale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Winter's Reach is Craig Schaefer's entry for this year's Self Published Fantasy Blog Off and is Fantasy Book Review's first semi-finalist. Although he is mostly known for the Daniel Faust series, this is Schaefer's foray into writing complex dark fantasy.

It starts by following a young nobleman called Felix who has a plan to go to Winter's Reach to make a deal to save his family's dwindling reputation. The problem is that Winter's Reach is controlled by barbaric criminals under the guiding hand of the notorious Mayor, Veruca Barrett. Making this deal might not be so straightforward. Against his father's advice, he goes through with the trip but, perhaps he has another motive for venturing to the infamous, blisteringly chaotic city.

Elsewhere, an ageing but thoroughly loved Pope is close to death. His son is a gambler, drunk and maybe unfit to succeed. This leads to political unrest, doubt, plots, divided factions, and evidently a great number of betrayals within the Church. Throughout this side of events the Italian-esque names of the Cardinals and the Council can be slightly confusing so I took a few notes and was fine.

This books greatest asset is it's brilliantly created characters. We are presented with such a wide, complex bunch and I didn't think there was one weak point of view perspective. The main people we follow are Felix, a pair of bounty hunters, a Cardinal, a villainous banker, and the Pope's daughter who is flirting with certain ancient arts which she really should not be doing. I analysed two types of characters in Winter's Reach. Firstly, those who change dramatically throughout the book due to the horrors of the world. Secondly, those individuals who are aware this world is a vile and corrupt place. The latter people don't change too much throughout yet we receive snippets from their past creating a truly three-dimensional world. The mixture of these types makes for great drama. My favourite characters were Felix, Armadeo and Mari. Notable mentions go to the assassin, Simon and to Veruca. She reminded me of a Batman villain, however, definitely not the kind from the comedy series.

From the beginning, it truly shines how well written this book is. It seems edited brilliantly and the narrative has an addictive pace that kept me engrossed, essentially being the reason why I finished this in 24-hours. The world building and descriptions aren't over the top or too detailed but for a character and plot focused book that isn't an issue. The descriptions of the environments and the cast are still deep though just not 10-pages worth when 1 would do, unlike some modern fantasy. Every character and event I had a perfectly painted picture of in my mind. The prose is fluid and poetic and surprisingly in fiction these days, I didn't notice a single spelling or grammatical error.

The book starts off quite hopeful with a few likeable characters in the first couple of chapters. Things don't stay that way for long. Although not Grimdark, this is still quite macabre. Mutilation, brutal murders, double-crossing, ginormous sea beasts and all the other good stuff those people who ride on the darker side of fantasy enjoy. The mask-wearing dark religious cult is extremely interesting, haunting and sometimes brutal. Towards the end of the story, I had no idea who was helping who and who was trustworthy and it was great. This book is the first of 4 completed stories in the Revanche Cycle saga. The finale here is pretty great but don't expect closure. It sets the sides and leads to a few gems of what may happen in The Instruments of Control. To conclude, a stunning dark fantasy narrative with all the double-crossing, deceit, blackmail and political chaos you could hope for. A great find in my #SPFBO group. It will take something truly stunning to beat this. Note- I'm pretty sure all 4 of these books cost a combined total of £8.00 on Amazon.

If you aren't familiar with the contest then check out this link
http://mark---lawrence.blogspot.co.uk...

[Mary ~Ravager of Tomes~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual Rating: 3.5 Stars

This one is tough for me to rate.

On one hand I really enjoyed the feel of this novel. It immediately jumps into the action, spinning a few different perspectives that quickly weave together into a larger, very political picture.

The story doesn't try to entangle you in a complicated mess of lore or class wars, two common elements of high fantasy. Though I adore both of those things, I found it refreshing to read a fantasy book without an overwhelming emphasis on them.

On the other hand, I don't know that I'm entirely satisfied with the journey if that makes sense. I only ever felt a vague interest in how things unfolded, and I faded in and out of being invested in the individual story lines. I didn't discover enough about any one character to feel connected to them on a personal level.

The writing, however, was one of my favorite aspects of Winter's Reach. Schaefer's style is descriptive but concise. In fact, the beautiful images in my head were a huge part of my enjoyment while reading this.

I do believe some of the sexually explicit scenes in this novel were unnecessary. At times I get the feeling they're tossed into adult novels as a way to say "This IS an adult book! Look! There's sex!! Just in case you were confused. Definitely a book for adults. *wink*"

Also... the phrase "water is wet" was used twice to say something was obvious. Unfortunately I could not stop myself from thinking of the following meme...

So needless to say I may have giggled when it was inappropriate to do so.

A pretty decent book, there are definitely things to appreciate here. I'm not sure though if I will continue on. The plot picked up near the end, & I am low-key curious to see where things go from here. It's on the "Maybe" list.

[Robin (Bridge Four) · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 "Survive now, talk later" Stars

Buddy Read at BB&B 8April19

How is this book not more read? It is a hidden gem whose book blurb doesn’t do it justice as it doesn’t mention some of the best characters in the book and makes it seem like this will be more religion based than fantasy. Well I’m here to tell you if you are a fan of fantasy in general this book should be in your tbr or read pile

Here let me help. READ THIS



Our story is told from multiple PoVs and in a way that everything is fast paced, intriguing and at times brutal. There are no punches held, no off page happenings it is right there seen from the right PoV to give the most impact to the story.

Even though this is a political intrigue it is not just that. This is a fantasy story encompassing a very large cast of characters and some you are rooting for and some you aren’t but none of them are boring. The thing I like about Schaefer’s works in general are the women in them. They are not all stabby, stabby kill them all or prince, come save me no, nothing that simple. Every female character in the cast is many things with both attributes and flaws.

Mari is a bounty hunter and want to be knight. She holds to the faith of her people who have been subjugated by the empire and it holds her in check most of the time. She is devout and when she isn’t training, she is praying. But there is violence just beneath her surface and when it comes out the target of her fury has a lot to worry about, since they will be dead or maimed soon. She was my favorite character in this since she is both broken and strong, and in the middle of a crisis when everyone else is talking about what happened or trying to explain something she is all business, ”Survive now, talk later.” I also love her views on religion in general.

“And that is the difference between a church and a god. How could I be angry at a god for something a church did?

But wait there is not just one awesome chick in this, there are others. Livia is the daughter of the dying Pope. He has tasked her with looking after her useless brother to make sure he inherits the post, even if he is the worst person for it. She is everything that her church probably needs, but since she is a woman, she is stuck in the shadows of the men who are trying to vie for power.

“I do not need,” she said, “to cry. My father is dying. My brother is a worthless glutton who’s leading this church, my church, down the road to ruin. And if I’d been born with a cock between my legs, I’d have the power to stop him, instead of being the useless daughter just waiting to be married off to some foreign aristocrat.”
“Livia, I—”
Livia held up her hand. “Have you ever considered, for even a moment, the list of things I’m not allowed to do because some bitter old men say so? I can’t lead a mass, can’t earn the greens of a priest, let alone claim my birthright. My entire life, from the cradle to the grave, is dictated by ‘traditions’ and rules that you aren’t subject to. My power was taken away from me the moment I was born a woman. So no, you do not get to give me permission to cry!”

Still with the help of a good friend she is going to do whatever it takes to make sure that her faith is not destroyed by the Church and she is dipping into some dark waters to make sure that happens.

There are more strong women from the leader or Winter’s Reach who is more brutal than most men, to the daughter of a crime lord who is looking to take over her father’s empire whether he wants her to or not, to the simple tavern wench that only wants to save the man she loves. So many wonderful women to root for or against and none of them simple.

The men in the story are good and again there are some great hero types and villains to be sure, but it is rare that I find so many strong women in straight up fantasy that I want to focus on them.

The overall plot of the story is a good one. The are plots and subplots, something is at Winter’s Reach that others are trying to protect, there are so many plans to take power of the church and betrayals happening that my head was spinning. I really thought that I’d see some of the double-crosses and betrayals coming but I totally missed a quite a few the smacked me on the back of my head, brutally I might add.

While reading this there didn’t seem like there was a ton of magic and lore and it is a lot less wordy than some of the other fantasy I read, but in a great way. I really loved the action, brutality and surprise of the story. It is a little darker than I normally read but I didn’t really mind that. The ending made me feel like in the next books we will definitely dive into more magic or lore history. We do get to see something akin to The Kraken in this and I think that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Will you like this? - I think that if you enjoy a good story that is fast paced and full of intrigues with strong three dimensional characters that this is exactly what you need. Think Game of Thrones with a few less characters and way less wordiness.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. This was fantastic! It reminds me a little of Michael Sullivan's writing, where it doesn't take itself too seriously (one of the villains is called Verruca) and where it has a friendly feel. A great cast of characters- heros and villains alike. It just misses 5 stars for me because there was nothing terribly new here. Nevertheless, very well done and very much enjoyed. Craig Schaefer proves he is a flexible author, moving from his urban fantasy Daniel Faust and Harmony Black series to a more traditional fantasy. I am thrilled to see there are several more books in this series just waiting for me. Happy days!

[Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a massive fan of Craig Schaefer's UF books. Both the Daniel Faust and Harmony Black series are fantastic! The blurb for this is a bit crappy sounding so I was hesitant to pick it up for a while but that was definitely a mistake as this was a good fantasy story.

This was a dark fantasy filled with a great mix of intrigue, action, and mystery. Schaefer switched from the familiar first person, single POV, narrative of his UF books to a third person multi-POV writing style. I'm generally fine with either writing style and can see why Schaefer chose to go with the third person style for this story as it let us keep track of a ton of different characters and that added a ton of depth to the story. The problem was I know Schaefer can write better in the first person than the third! I feel like the third person style created a distance from the characters in Winter's Reach that is not present in Schaefer's UF books and also limited his ability to deliver humor in the story.

The fantasy world was a fun one. It was a reminiscent of an alternate Italy. Pope Benignus is on the verge of death and all around him people are scheming to be next in line for the spot! It was not just the clergy in on the plotting as the wealthy nobility all had intrigues of their own going on to take advantage of the situation and even the Emperor had an interest in the outcome. The focus of the story was definitely on intrigue but we got enough personal stories thrown into the mix to give the story plenty of depth. There was also a focus on witchcraft which was the magic of the world.

I loved the story a lot! Schaefer has a super engaging writing style and Winter's Reach was packed with interesting characters and a great plot. The villains were a crazy bunch but they always had believable motivations for their actions as did the "good guys" be they hero or anti-hero. I think the villains were a fantastic and interesting bunch and every bit as good as the villains in Schaefer's other series. The same goes for the morally grey characters who land somewhere between hero and villain. The problem in Winter's Reach for me was the lack of likeable characters. It was not a problem in the early stages as we had Felix, Livia, and Amadeo to root for. The problem developed in the second half of the story when both Felix and Livia took a turn for the worse. That left Amadeo as the only truly likeable character in the story and he was just not enough on his own. It upset the balance of the story for me and left me feeling like this tale was lacking characters I could truly emotionally invest in and as a result the tone felt overly bleak and nihilistic at times. Likeable or not the one thing Schaefer did get spot on was that the story was always interesting and exciting. The villains were fun to follow as were the anti-heros. I just wish we had a few characters that I could like to make the story even better!

A few of the more brutal twists and turns caught me by surprise probably did just leave the tone a little dark and bleak for my liking but I do not feel like it was over the top dark so it was still just on the acceptable side of things.

I liked this overall as it had a lot of good things going for it. The world was good, the story was fun, the characters were a crazy bunch, and Schaefer's writing is as super engaging as always. I just feel like this could have been a fantastic 5 star read with a few tiny tweaks that would have gave the story a better balance.

Rating: 3.5 stars. This feels a super harsh rating but that is what happens when I start of loving something and then feel it takes a turn for the worse as the story develops. It always leaves me extra disappointed!

Audio Note: Susanna Jones did a decent job with the audio. Her character voices were good and she had a good general narration voice as well. I'm not sure if this series just lacks the humor of Schaefer's UF series or if it just seemed that way as Jones did not deliver any of it as well as Traister and Verner so it seemed that way.

[Nafeeza · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5 Stars*

[Zitong Ren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was lot darker and much more brutal than I had initially expected, and for an epic fantasy novel on this sort of scale involving multiple political factions, merchants, councils and multiple countries and unique religions, it’s also quite a short book. Very rarely is a fantasy book so jam packed which so much stuff going on right away, especially with the number of things that occurred in this book, which I found interesting. Normally in fantasy, I sort to get used to these slow burns, which I love, while this book really throws you right into so much action, yet it does manage to build the world up fairly well at the same time, so I can’t really complain about that all too much I suppose.

However, since it is quite short and there is a reasonably large cast of characters, it was sort of difficult to get sort of close with any of them, and there are loads of POV changes throughout the book, which, I’m perfectly fine with for my fantasy epics, yet since the book is quite short, I actually would have preferred it to have been a bit longer, just so that as a reader, I could have connected with the characters better and also give them more time to develop, instead of constant action scene after action scene. There was always so much going on at any one point, that while lots of people complain lots of fantasy have too much random and useless scenes and descriptions, this book has very little of that.

It was also darker than I expected, though, I wasn’t sure what I was going to expect since I did not know much about this book is the first place. It is quite a lot darker and more brutal than good chunk of even what is considered ‘adult’ epic fantasy and the author is not afraid of seriously tormenting everyone, which I suppose I’m glad, since it makes the events seem more real and justified, given the context in the book.

None of the characters are particularly loveable, and they all have their own motives, which while sweet for them, is potentially disastrous for lots of other people. I did find it a bit odd with Felix’s character development, since after a point in the book, everyone notes at how much he has changed so quickly, and that part did not really work for me. Yes, we saw the events that caused this change to occur within him, yet at the same time, as a reader, we didn’t actually see this transformation itself within his character. Additionally, I would have liked the change to have been a bit more gradually than just, kabam, he’s a changed man. I suppose his love for Renata is real enough, though it is a bit odd normally for an author to have two characters to already be in love before the start of the book, though it is due to this that make certain events in the book make sense.

There’s also no map, which is fine, though I personally like my secondary world fantasy books to have a map, but that’s really just a preference thing. For now, I will read the second book, and will probably take a break after that before coming back to finish the rest of this Cycle, since although I’m not the most invested in these characters, I still am intrigued by the plot and I want to see how all of this will end up playing out. 7/10

[Mihir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review over at Fantasy Book Critic

ANALYSIS: This is the first volume of the Revanche cycle and is set in a world that's very reminiscent of medieval Italy. The story features a multitude of POVs and is an epic fantasy that slowly introduces the world and magic system. One of the first POV characters we come across is Felix Rossini who is the second scion of a house in financial tatters. Felix has plans to rescue his house's worth and fortunes however he has to be taciturn as he has a secret worth protecting. The next POVs are Werner Holst and Mari Renault, a pair of mercenaries who are horrified by their last job, which resulted in the burning of an (alleged) teenage witch.

Lodovico Marchetti is a merchant lord who is planning quite a few things in the city of Mirenze and has things in motion that will unsettle things across the lands. Simon Koertig is his accountant who also doubles up as an assassin who likes to kill in numerous ways. Amadeo Lagorio is a priest who serves as confidant and confessor to the dying Pope Benignus. Lastly there's Livia who is the first born papal child who is forced to abandon her leadership credentials simply because of the patriarchal society.

These are the major POV characters and there are a few more introduced but basically the plot hinges around the actions of the afore-mentioned characters as well as the plot twists that have been set by the author. The primary draw of the story is the strong characterization, beginning with both male and female characters, as well as the antagonists and protagonists. The author absolutely nails down these characters and as each chapter focuses upon a new one we get a very multi-faceted view of the world within. This approach was very reminiscent of George R.R. Martin’s ASOIAF, while Craig Schaefer cannot claim the same high level prose, he does emulate GRRM’s ability to make the reader invested in the POV of the character they are currently reading.

My favorite characters were Mari, Livia, Felix and Simon. Mari is a person suffering from a severe form of PTSD due to her family dying in a horrible manner. Livia bristles against the patriarchal traps set by the society and is forced to watch her father's crown pass own to her drunken sot of a brother. Felix is an honest person forced to take gargantuan risks to save his family, marry the love of his life and possibly make the Rossinni clan a successful one again. Lastly there's also Simon who while being a murderer is very intriguing with his narrow-minded focus and multi-variate ways to kill people. These characters and others truly make the story that much more shining. I thoroughly enjoyed this aspect of the story wherein we truly get a 360-degree view into the happenings of the story.

The next positive factor is the top-notch plot pace as frequently we end a chapter and the next chapter easily shifts the focus on to a new person thereby amping up the tension as well as intrigue. The overall plot while seemingly predictable has plenty of plot twists to keep readers guessing and ultimately take quite an unorthodox route to the climax. I enjoyed how the author explored the various roles especially vis-a-vis the female characters stuck in a patriarchal society. Both Livia and Mari are quite fierce, capable characters who strive to make the best of their sordid situations. I believe the author has special plans for both of them and I'm very excited to see what arcs they end up taking.

While expecting a medieval epic fantasy, the author certainly undercuts expectations by providing a very fast-paced character driven story that while being fantasy has magic in very small amounts (This was very GRRM-esque). Of course there are hints provided about the true nature of the world, also there's a fantastic sequence over water that features a creature that is sure to provide terrify readers. Also there's a certain sound associated with the creature and I can't wait to read how the author imagines it to be.

The storyline is also not without its flaws, the background history of the world isn’t really explored and only hints are strewn through. The magic system also seems to be a tad confusing and I hope the author shines a light on it in the sequel volumes. Lastly as with any fantasy series, a map is always a plus. This series doesn't have one and as a cartophile, I was disappointed.

CONCLUSION: Overall this story ends on a strong note and leaves almost all characters in certain places because of which readers will be compelled to pick up the second volume The Instruments Of Control. I believe this is book one on a series of four books and I started reading the second book almost immediately after I finished this one. Winter' Reach is the start of a fascinating political fantasy that will be sure to find its fans. Make sure you grab a copy and enjoy Craig Schaefer's magnificent skills.

[Esme · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plot:

A merchant house is dying off, and they need to save themselves. The father of the family has decided that his son, Felix, is going to marry the daughter of another house to secure their business and trade. The problem is that Felix is already in love with someone else, but she’s just a bar maid and his father said he would rather Felix be dead than have him marry so low.

Felix has decided he doesn’t care, and he’s going to go to Winter’s Reach in search of old mines that could be re-purposed and used for profit for his family. If he can do that he can secure his father and brothers future, and run away with his love and abandon his inheritance and family business.

Going to Winter’s Reach is a risky business though, it’s an old prison colony that formed into it’s own thing – like Australia 😀 Scary place full of scary people, or so he’s always been told.

He gets there and runs into problems, and the rest of his plotline is trying to fix things so he doesn’t have to marry someone he doesn’t want.

There’s another grouping of characters that are bounty hunters, but they seem like decent people, especially the woman Marie. She’s devout and agonizes over mistakes that have hurt people in the past, she’s haunted by them and strives to do better in the future. Her relationship with her partner isn’t all that it seems, and secrets pour out over the course of the book.

There’s another grouping of POV’s surrounding this worlds pope, he has two children a son and a daughter. The son is set to rule after he passes because in this world women can’t hold that kind of office. The son is inept and cruel at times, and the daughter is kind and helpful to the people. She’s trying to find a way where she can be more of an influence on the world, but is finding her gender hindering.

There are lots of smaller sublots going on, but so much of this book is murder, mystery and intrigue to go into much more would be spoilery.

Characters:

Felix – a headstrong good person who just wants to marry someone he loves and run away from it all. But, he also has a strong sense of family duty, and won’t run away until he can secure his families business. He gets in over his head quickly trying to make it all work, and there are multiple forces working against him.

Marie – a quieter spiritual person who’s suffered unbelievable tragedy. A war struck when the empire wanted her home land to submit to their rule, but they rebelled and suffered the consequences. There were atrocities on both sides of the war, but for a girl who witnessed her parents gruesome deaths she has a ton of resentment for those responsible.

Vernon – Maries partner in bounty hunting. He seems to be a decent person but as you go through the book you find out more and more of his past which turns him into a very grey character.

The owl – creeeeeppppyyy fucking witch character who does unspeakable horrors to people. She murdered an entire house full of people to get to one guy, people choking as cockroaches pour out of their mouths and other horrible ways to die. She’s ruthless and evil and in charge of a coven of witches.

World Building:

There’s a lot going on with House politics and trading/economy. The house that Felix’s father wants him to marry into is an underground crime family and the father is extremely dangerous.

There’s lots of mysterious magic going on in this book, it’s not explained how the Owl does what she does, it’s just dark magic that’s very messed up. There are bone masks that the witches wear that are illegal contraband, the Owl has been tracking these down and is searching for a book as well that holds secrets to their order.

There’s a decent amount of religion in the book as well, with the Empire supporting the Mother Church who worships the Gardener. But, Marie has a different religion of the goddess of 500 faces, she believes that one of the faces is the Gardener, but that the goddess does so much more than just garden.

Giant squids are a thing in this book, and referred to as an “elder”, it took down an entire ship.

Pacing/Prose/Tone:

This one went by pretty quickly for me, but not because it was super action filled. I just wanted to know what was going on, with so many people betraying each other and plotting against each other it was fun to see what was going to happen next.

I’d say the tone was kind of bleaker, the main character keeps getting thwarted and the consequences of failure are high on a personal level – it’s not a high stakes “the world is ending” kind of book.

Audience

multi pov
murder mystery
creepy witch covens
betrayal, backstabbing and plotting
mysterious magic
slower burn without as much action
crime bosses/underground crime

[Lukasz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Craig Schaeffer is mostly known for the Daniel Faust series, however he’s also written dark fantasy series that starts with Winter’s Reach. The book participates in this year’s SPFBO.

Story follows a young nobleman - Felix Rossini who, against his father’s advice, plans to go to Winter's Reach to make a deal to secure his family's wealth and position. His father wants to achieve the same goal other way – by marrying him to a daughter of powerful banker. Thing is, Felix already has a loved one, albeit not from his social class. With enough money though forced marriage may be avoided. The problem is that Winter's Reach is controlled by barbaric criminals controlled by cruel Mayor Veruca Barrett.

That’s the first plot but there’s more plot lines that start to intersect later in the book.

An ageing Pope is dying. His only son - a natural successor - is a gambler and drunkard. And in church there are at least few divided factions. Some are really power hungry and prepared to do anything to win.

Elsewhere two bounty hunters with troubled past go to Winter’s Reach as well. They’re supposed to bring important figure to safety. But thins are often more complicated than they seem.
There are few more plotlines – some political, some focused on vengeance and one focuses on faith and witchcraft. Let me tease that pope’s only daughter will be exposed to witchcraft – in what way? You’ll have to read the book to know that.

The novel immediately jumps into the action. The pacing is excellent and different perspectives soon start to weave together into larger picture. Even though the book isn’t very long, there’s plenty of interesting characters. There’s Felix, pope’s daughter Livia, a villainous banker, a witch, a psychotic killer who has quotable lines:

Simon Koertig took no pleasure from the act of murder.

That wasn’t true, exactly. He took tremendous pleasure from the art of murder. Of honing his skills, refining his craft, pursuing his quarry, and staging their perfect and elegant demise. Some murders were quick and brutally simple, others long and drawn-out affairs, but they were all handcrafted and beautiful acts. The relationship between executioner and victim, he believed, was more sacred than the bond between lovers.

I must admit I don’t particularly like Felix as a character. Maybe he’ll grow on me if I decide to read sequels. I really enjoyed Simon’s perspective – he’s a total psycho, but he’s written in a great way. I think Livia and Mari are interesting. Also I’m really interested in Owl plotline. She’s a witch. She can be cruel but I believe there’s much more to her than that.

The tone of the book changes a lot. I would say in the beginning it feels rather hopeful. But just for a while. Soon things turn bad for many characters. There’s violence, murder, double-crosiing. Near the end blood flows from the pages. There are two graphic sex scenes and quite a bit of cruelty. So be prepared.

The prose is concise and flows effortlessly making this book really fast read. I finished it in one day. Why then I gave it only 3.9/5 you may ask?

Well, there are some issues. First Italian-esque names can be confusing. Taking notes may be indicated to follow the plot. That’s part of the lore though and as such it’s not really a problem. The main thing is the book is unsatisfying as a standalone novel. It’s first book in finished series and can be treated as great introduction to the world. Sadly it can’t be read as a standalone. The ending is simply unsatisfying and most plotlines remain open. It’s fine when you plan to read all the books. If however you’re not sure and expect some kind of closure, you won’t find it here. I prefer series in which each installment offers some satisfying closure, even if it finishes with cliffhanger. Here though, while we don’t have a strong cliffhanger, most plots remain open. I guess readers should be compelled to pick up the second volume The Instruments Of Control.

While I really enjoyed the book I don’t feel the urge to pick up next installment right now. I guess I’ll do that in the future but for today I’ll start another book from this year’s SPFBO.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10

A buddy read with Robin at BB&B group.

I’d not had any intention of picking this up but when it got mentioned in another buddy read and Craig Schaefer had been on my radar for a long time I thought I’d take the plunge. I’m sure glad I did as this was a fun fantasy romp which doesn’t take itself too seriously but has plenty going on in an enjoyable writing style. Add in to that the short length (in comparison to most fantasy series these days) meant it didn't over stay it's welcome and left me desperate for more.

There are some really strong characters in this book and not necessarily where I thought they would come from. The women are larger than life and made for the more interesting of the characters even though I was sure in the early chapters this would be a story more focused on Felix. I was happy for this not to be the case as it could have been just another predictable fantasy.

The setting is similar to Renaissance Italy with added scheming and plotting but an extra of the fantastical in there too. It's fresher than the usual medieval Europe setting seen in a lot of fantasy.

The only downside I would say to this novel is that there was no resolution to anything as it's clearly set up for the rest of the series. Plenty happened and will lead on to more so I'm glad that they're all readily available and I won't need to wait a year or two to find out what happens next.

This is fun read and I can't wait to continue the series. I think the buddy read increased my enjoyment so I'm really glad I did this one (and thanks to Robin for her great thoughts and opinions) and am excited to read the rest. The amount of ratings is criminally low on Goodreads and should be picked up by more people. Don't read the blurb and just give it a go.

[Ashley Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars, likely going up to 5 on a reread.
It's been a Week. Don't look at me Barnacled One, this means you.

Women in this book:



Me by the end, trying to make sure I'm following EVERY SINGLE character thread:



I mentioned this in a status update, but if you're a GOT fan and you haven't read this: What are you waiting for?? Fast-paced, plenty of intrigue, and it's a COMPLETE four-book series. Yes. It's finished. Thank me later.

MacHalo BR!

[Rob Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating 3.5 stars.

Winter's Reach is the first book in the Revanche Cycle by Craig Schaefer. It is also one of the #SPFBO 2017(Self Published Fantasy Blog Off) contestants in Fantasy Book Review's group... that is to say, in the same group as Where Loyalties Lie. That's right! I'm checking out my direct competition, but I do so on the recommendation of a couple of trusted bloggers who assured me I would enjoy it.

Winter's Reach follows a whole bunch of characters as they either plot to undermine a regime, plot to stabilise a regime, plot to bring their families bank balance back to the black, plot to do witchy things, plot to start a war, or plot to make a bit of easy cash. Yup, this book is plots on top of plots on top of schemes. Everyone has an angle, everyone has secrets, and everyone wants something. In some ways it's a bit like Game of Thrones in that there are tons of characters to follow and each one is some kind of bastard or another. Well, all except Felix the erstwhile nobleman, and Mari the knight aspirant. I don't think those two have a bastard bone to share between them.

The title (Winter's Reach) refers to a town up north in the arse end of cold nowhere. It's an interesting concept of a ex slave colony turned free city and it's run by a woman who seems very much like a mistress from a wild west town... only with more knives up her skirts. Unfortunately it barely features in the story. It's a kick off point for Felix Nobleman's quest to save his family coffers, but by about a third of the way in we've left the city never to return. It was a bit of a shame in many ways as I thought there could have been a lot more said about the town and its shaky politics.

The book has some real stand out scenes. One of these is early on and features a sea monster ripping a ship apart as the people on board attempt to flee through frozen waters to reach the relative safety of frozen tundra. It's a really tense scene full of vivid imagery, and saved what was a fairly slow first quarter.

I struggled a little with the number of characters whose PoV (point of view) we ride along with. There are about a dozen, and it's not exactly a long book. I kept finding myself having to remember who a certain character was because we left them behind a long time ago and suddenly we're back in their head. This large number of characters also meant we didn't get to spend too long with each one, so I struggled to connect with many of them. They were well fleshed out with aspirations and motives, but it felt like a bit of a whirlwind of PoVs and it rarely stopped on any one of them long enough for my liking. That being said, it's a complicated plot so most of those PoVs were required. There was also a measure of head-hopping going on throughout chapters and as a personal taste, I really dislike head-hopping.

One last thing I do want to mention is the witches. I'm a fairly big fan of witches done well and they definitely are in Winter's Reach. They operate in a coven of sorts that stretches far and wide. Each witch takes on an animal name and wears a mask depicting the face of that animal. Their magic too is a cool concept that seems to be focused through blood (and occasionally other bodily fluids). And one witch in particular, who we come to know as Owl, is a wonderfully dangerous character as intriguing as she is terrifying.

This all boils down to me really quite enjoying Winter's Reach, but finding some flaws which kept me from loving it. I'm giving it 3.5 stars and rounding up to 4 for the purposes of Goodreads and Amazon.

[Kira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Epic fantasies are not my favorite. Unlike most epic fantasies, this wasn't weighed down with overly complex world building, which made it easier to get into. It did have a lot of characters, but not so many that it was hard to keep track of who they were and how they were related. However it didn't grab me from the start. I had tried to read this 3 other times and never got more than a few chapters in. I'm not sure why it interested me this time. Maybe I needed to be in the right mood for it.

The pope is dying and wants his worthless son to take over when he dies. The other clergymen weren't blind to the son's faults and knew letting him be in charge would be disastrous. Many other powerful men and ones wanting to get more power were taking advantage of the situation in the church and playing their own manipulative games.

I didn't love any of the characters. Some are definitely better than others, but I have the feeling we've only scratched the surface in regards to what these characters are capable of. It doesn't appear that this is a series with clearly defined good and bad guys; these people have varying shades of gray. I am curious to see how all of this plays out because knowing Craig Schaefer, things are bound to take a few unexpected turns.

[Fares · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I read the 5th book of Harry Potter about a week ago and one of the things I didn't like is that the book was big to keep reading just one POV and I really wanted to get to know the other characters more.
This book did the exact opposite 😐

It was not a bad thing but this book had many characters and shifting between POVs that I found myself really not caring for any of them, which is a shame cuz this book delivered on plot, I loved the world, the schemes, the betrayals and the romance, plus Italian Renaissance! Need I say more?!
All that is good but this question kept going in my head after finishing, would I read book 2 or not? And the answer is probably not. I'd love to know what happens but I do not care enough to invest more time in these characters to find out.

While I complain about some books being big and not interesting enough, I think this could've added an extra 100 pages and I wouldn't have been bored, it was fun. Fun still doesn't mean I care for the characters tho, so I think cutting some off and focusing on a couple of leading MCs with an interesting past would absolutely make this a book to remember.
For now tho, it's not a book to forget but I wouldn't be sad if I did.

[Bart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating: 4.50

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars

Winter's Reach is the first book in the Revanche Cycle by Craig Schaefer. It takes place in the same universe as the other two amazing series of Schaefer's, Harmony Black and Daniel Faust. Faust is one of my favorite fictional characters and his series is also a favorite of mine. The FBI Witch series that is Harmony Black is awesome just not up to the level of the anti hero Daniel Faust.

This series centers on the pope and is much more dialed down in tone and scope. It has very minimal supernatural. The characters are all small compared with Faust and Black. Thankfully, this is still a Schafer novel and his writing does not disappoint.

I am a huge Craig Schaefer fan and if you enjoy urban fantasy than he is an author not to be missed.

[Sad Sunday (Books? Me?!? NEVER!!!) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Game Of Thrones goes to Italia!



I am not sure how I feel about basing the fantasy on real life country/religion/traditions. Yes, it might be fun to rediscover the things you know in a new light, but all that papal drama is a little too much. Also, I am not big fan of all the Italian names, surnames, places and etc. The concept of witches and their magic was cool, but mixing it with papal regime and witch burning it had a very medieval vibe to it which is already too common in fantasy. Let's celebrate witches, not burn them!

And, damn, they call the book Winter's Reach, they sped half the book getting there, they get their ass kicked in two second, and goes home? Awkward...

The book is not complicated - C. Schaefer has an easy, flowing style that turns the book into a page turner. Did I want something stronger and deeper? Yup, but all The Long Way Down and Daniel Faust fans can rejoice - C. Schaefer is still C. Schaefer. Plot is full of action, twists and turns, but somehow I, as a reader, didn't feel moved by it. All characters are drama-mammas so it makes them all a little the same and the real drama-mammas that were supposed to be dramas, can't stand out properly (looking at you Sheriff-Girl-Circus-Cruel-Queen Of Winter's reach). I had a feeling, that events didn't have much impact on the characters, since there was tons of action and there was no time for proper development since it was smashed by a train of action. It's not a bad thing if you like action but everything else remains a little meaningless.

Some review claimed, "Read THIS while waiting for GOT" (emphasis on waiting forever for GOT to turn about). And while the fact that C.Schaefer manages to write his books very fast and very often can be celebrated, in my humble opinion it's the diluted vine, very diluted, compared to GOT. And I hate comparing, it's bad. Never do it.

[Elena Linville-Abdo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stars: 4.5 out of 5.

This is an interesting start of a new (to me) series with nice worldbuilding and depth. The world is reminiscent of Renaissance Europe with it's domination of the Church, the Holy City and byzantine political intrigue. Everyone has an ulterior motive, there are plans within plans, and conspiracies abound.

I liked all the characters, which is an important criteria of just how much I will enjoy the book. They aren't all good people. In fact, I would argue that most of them aren't particularly good, and all of them are out of their own personal gain in some shape or form. But they feel real, with their own good qualities and flaws. And I understand their motivations. Which made me invested in their struggles.

I especially liked Felix who went through a crucible of fire in Winter's Reach and emerged stronger, but also more ruthless. And Amadeo, the dying Pope's confessor and oldest friend, who is thorn between trying to fulfil a promise he made to his old friend and the realization that putting his the Pope's son on the throne will be the end of, well, everything. 

I loved that there are plots within plots, and some plots are thwarted, and others succeed... but not exactly in a manner the organizers expected. And nobody is safe. Bad things happen to seemingly good characters, and death can come in an instant. Seemingly good people can be forced to do horrible things and bargain with powers they barely understand. Nothing is black and white, but all different shades of gray instead. This makes the book interesting, and the stakes ever so high for our characters. 

My only complaint about this book is that there are a lot of plotlines left unresolved. This book just sets the stage for the series, so don't expect a nifty little conclusion at the end of it. We are introduced to the world and the characters. The lines are drawn and the armies are gathering, but you will have to read the following books to understand how it all gets resolved. Which I am more than happy to do, by the way, because this series seems amazing, and I want to know what happens to my favorite characters... and whether or not the villains in this story get their just desserts.

[Julia Sarene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Going with 3,5 stars for this one.
I really liked a lot about this story, but overall it didn't manage to hook me completely.
The best part about this book are the characters - albeit there are a lot of them to keep track of in a book that isn't actually that big. The chapters felt a bit short to me, and I would have liked to stay with the characters longer at most character breaks. But they were well fleshed out, and even though there's all kinds of backstabbing and scheming going on, it was not to hard to keep them apart.

The plot on the other hand could have done more for me. It felt a bit like the long intro into the actual main story, which kicked off at the end off book one. I'm sure the next book in the series will therefore have more of an actual plot, and less of setting up all the different strings and simply journeying around.

The prose was really fluent and well done! Definitely one of the strong points of the series, even in book one.

I like the worldbuilding, and hope that further books will show us more than the two cities and the way between them that we spent most of our time in in book one. I especially liked the different aspects - witches, religion, mafia, politics, bounty hunters, a lost order of knights... It had a lot of things, and it pulled them all off nicely, without feeling overburdened, chaotic or infodumpy.

All in all a really enjoyable read, and a good start for a new series, with lots of potential for sequels to be even better!

[Beige · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow! What a great read with my MacHalo buddies! For a review worthy of this work check out Elena's review

I love an epic fantasy now and then, but this is something else entirely. It has all of the twisty plot and grimness that I love in an epic but it feels lean, like the 100s of pages of heavy prose have been superbly edited out leaving a highly readable and entertaining tale of Renaissance Italy filled with plotting Cardinals, sightseers, pirates and murderous witches. It would make for a fabulous radio serial or tv show.

Its filled with dry dark humour, it even succeeded in making me laugh during a particularly gruesome murder scene. All of the characters, including the women and villians, are richly drawn. This isn't a world of black and white, but grey, lots and lots of glorious grey!!!

[Fiona Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

How this book only has 400ish ratings, I cannot imagine - one of the most compulsive reads I've read in a long time. Craig Schaefer writes the most phenomenally real and three dimensional charachters I've ever read, and while this more fantastical setting is quite a step away from his usual, it never feels like urban fantasy set in the past and labelled "fantasy".
An absolute stunner of a book.

[The Tattooed Book Geek (Drew). · Rating 4 out of 5]

Winter's Reach is the first book in The Revanche Cycle. I got this book for free on the Kindle and really didn't expect much from it but after finishing it, I can say it really surprised me and I found it to be a real gem of a book.

It's well written and easy to read, the world building is of a high quality and the cast of characters are all well developed and thought out.

It's very much standard fantasy with most of the usual genre tropes but it also features an added emphasis on religion which plays a large part in the overall story.

I picked this up for free and as I write this review, the book is currently priced at £0.99p on Amazon and I would have gladly paid that or more for it.

If your looking for a good, fun, interesting read that really pulls you in then I'd definitely recommend this highly enjoyable fantasy.

On a side note, I'd have liked to have seen a map included in the book, most fantasy books have them and it seemed strange not having one.

[༶ Laura ༶ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Viel build-up für das, was noch kommt aber trotzdem bin ich sehr interessiert, wie es weiter geht. Die verschiedenen Erzählstränge lassen viel Raum für Intrigen und backstabbing...genauso wie ich es liebe.

[Kerstin Rosero · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun fantasy read that was well written and imaginative, but didn't take itself too seriously. A lot of books try to reach that sweet balance between dark and light-hearted, either swerving completely into grimdark (with cringe jokes) or comedy (that loses the magic of its fantasy world). Winter's Reach keeps that in check, creating a magical world with fun, relatable characters. Real, but not grimdark. Light-hearted, but not ridiculous.

Each character starts out as a trope/archetype—you have the ruffian adventurer, the rich nobleman, the reluctant hero, etc.—but the more time you spend with them, the more layers they shed, and the more you appreciate just how skillfully they were crafted and worked into the story. The POVs were different from one another, but they worked together to propel the story forward. It is a very subtle and underrated author flex.

That said, there were a lot of characters, and I didn't feel like I got the chance to get to know any of them in depth. Still, I don't have to love them. I just have to care about them (despite where their moral compass stands, lol), so this didn't really work against my overall impression of the book.

All in all, I enjoyed reading Winter's Reach and look forward to the sequels.

[Desinka · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very strange book. I couldn’t recognise Shaefer’s writing. The book was engaging but lacked an enjoyable plot or characters I could root for. All in all there were too many villains and too much bad luck for my liking. This was a rather morose world with rather morose characters.

[Shoshana Hathaway · Rating 2 out of 5]

Truly fine fantasy fiction requires many elements. World building is one of the most important, because in Fantasy fiction, the emphasis is as much on the Universe the author creates as it is on the story being told. Such authors as Stephen A. Donaldson, with is Land, George R. R. Martin with his intricate world in A Song of Ice and Fire, and Stephen King in his Dark Tower series have set the bar for our expectations of world building extremely high. It is no longer enough to take a historical period or a mythological work and simply reproduce it, with cosmetic changes. This reader, at least sees through them quickly, and shoddy world building can ruin any fantasy especially epic fantasy, no matter how good other elements are. The world building in this book is generic, derivative and lacking in creativity or originality. It took me less than 3 chapters to recognize the historical inspiration, and the mixing of the history of the Medieval Church with the military conquests of the Ancient Roman Empire didn’t produce anything unique or interesting. Even the names of the countries were easily recognizable, and the cosmetic changes to the State religion were very nearly transparent. I finished this book primarily because of a few of the characters, who were of some interest, and because the presentation of Machiavellian political conspiracies held enough interest for me to see how well the author managed them. In that respect, this author did a good job, but intricate political plots can be handled effectively in almost any fictional genre. I cannot recommend this book to anyone who enjoys really good fantasy, because I think it will prove a disappointment, as it did to me.

The narrator did a very competent job, and showed skill especially in making each character (and there is a very large cast of them) unique, without using obvious pitch changes with her voice. Instead, she used tone and inflection to excellent effect, and one of her characters, the Mayor of Winter’s Reach, was stunningly perfect and absolutely chilling.

I must give this book 2 out of 5 stars, and the narrator 4 out of 5 stars.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for this unbiased review via AudioBookBlast dot com.

[kartik narayanan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read the full review at my site https://wp.me/p89tYT-fU

“A man who scorns weeping,” she said, “is a man who knows that no one will weep for him”.

The “Revanche Cycle”, written by Craig Schaefer, is a low fantasy quadrilogy. It consists of the following books – “Winter’s Reach”, “The Instruments of Control”, “Terms of Surrender” and “Queen of the Night”. The series weaves a complex tapestry of magic, politics, religion, intrigue and action ranging across multiple characters and lands. I will be reviewing the entire series instead of each book since that gives a more complete perspective on whether you ought to read this series.

I have not seen such brilliant low fantasy since A Song of Ice and Fire (or Game of Thrones for you heathens out there). There have been many high fantasy series which are good like Shadows of the Apt or The Malazan Book of the Fallen, but not so much on the low fantasy side. The Revanche Cycle blows everything else I have read out of the water, in its coming together of various elements of low fantasy, story, plot, writing and character development. I will explore these elements one by one.

Read the full review at my site https://wp.me/p89tYT-fU

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting start to a new series and a new-to-me author. You can tell that this was the beginning of a much wider story arc. The multiple povs were sometimes a bit distracting, but overall, I think Schaefer succeeded in developing a complex world. However, I'm not really a fan of alternate realities or worlds that very nearly align with our own. The differences, unless they're very clever or satirical, stick out in a bad way, and this story just skims that boundary. I much prefer a world like that one of Game of Thrones, where there are similarities to actual history, but the names of people and places, the cultures, and the language are all strange to me. It somehow lends authenticity to the story. So when Carlo tells another character to "c'mon and have some wine" with him, I didn't like it. It's just a personal preference, so if that kind of thing doesn't bother you, and you enjoy fantasy with a touch of magic, you might enjoy this.