Winter Road

by Adrian Selby

A gritty and epic adventure to appeal to fans of Mark Lawrence, Andrzej Sapkowski and Joe Abercrombie – The Winter Road is a fantasy novel which remembers that battles leave all kinds of scars.

The greatest empire of them all began with a road.

The Circle – a thousand miles of perilous forests and warring clans. No one has ever tamed such treacherous territory before, but ex-soldier Teyr Amondsen, veteran of a hundred battles, is determined to try.

With a merchant caravan protected by a crew of skilled mercenaries, Amondsen embarks on a dangerous mission to forge a road across the untamed wilderness that was once her home. But a warlord rises in the wilds of the Circle, uniting its clans and terrorising its people. Teyr’s battles may not be over yet . . .

All roads lead back to war.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Epic Fantasy, Audiobook, Adult, High Fantasy, Adventure

497 pages, Paperback

First published November 13, 2018

About the author

I studied Creative Writing and Philosophy at university before going on to do a variety of jobs including teaching and running my own business before I got into videogames as a Producer for most of my career since.

Snakewood is my debut and is the first novel I've written!

I live in the southeast of England, though I grew up in Barry, South Wales.

Reviews

[Sean Barrs · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Winter Road is one of the strongest standalone fantasy novels I have ever read. It has all the depth of a fully fleshed out series in just one volume and it really does pack a hefty punch. I’m impressed with everything Selby has done here, and I shall certainly be reading anything else he may write in the future.

The cleverest device he wields is language because it reflects his characters and world perfectly. There are made up words, rough colloquialisms and harsh sounding dialogue. It sets the tone for the book as it brings his protagonist (Teyr Amondsen) to life. He has a real talent for it, for using language to reflect personality, and it’s quite impressive. I’ve seen it done before in fiction plenty of times, but never this well in a fantasy novel. It’s left a real distinct impression on me because I could hear the voice of Amondsen and I could see the world through her eyes. And for that reason alone, the book deserves high praise.

However, that is only one element of this finely crafted novel. Central to the workings of this world is a highly developed system of alchemy. Potions, poisons and brews change the outcome of a fight and have the potential to send a character into a blood-filled rage or an early death if they’re not mixed correctly. Fightbrews can allow the user to defeat twenty opponents and remain standing. Poison can debilitate and kill instantly. These are all concepts rarely explored in fantasy fiction because they are less flashy than magic, perhaps even less exciting, but this isn’t a flashy world: it’s pure Grimdark, so it has all the nastiness associated with that word.

“Nobody takes a brew for pure pleasure, no matter how strong it makes you feel, how it changes you. Helsen will stick to a strong dayer, he’s never done a brew, and without work it’ll kill you.”

Amondsen is not your typical protagonist. She’s a middle-aged warrior and her best days really are gone. Her man in quite weak physically. He is no warrior. And I know many readers will applaud the reversal of roles here, as it counters atypical representations of gender in such a setting. Aude needs protection because he can’t swing a sword or shoot a bow, so she’s got to watch his back constantly. She’s also got so much more shit to trudge through to reach her end game. She wants to build a road to connect all the outlying settlements in the circle thus boosting trade and improving the quality of life for its common folk. It’s a noble aim, and one that will also see a hefty pile of coin land in her purse. Khiese is the problem, a warlord who wants to dominate everything and become king. He’s ruthless and cunning, a terrible enemy to have for sure, and he doesn’t want Amondsen anywhere near the circle. What follows is a brutal plot that didn’t hold anything back.

This story grabbed me from the first page and completely hooked me until the last. The plot never stopped moving forward. It’s a brilliantly well-balanced story with an ending that was electric in all its dramatic intensity.

Bravo Mr Selby!

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You can connect with me on social media via My Linktree.
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[John Gwynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve just finished reading Adrian Shelby’s THE WINTER ROAD. It’s flipping brilliant. This book took me on an emotional rollercoaster. It’s adult and grim, but instead of the nihilism and bleakness of much Grimdark these days it has a streak of love and hope running through the heart of it. Most of that is to be found in the central character, Teyr Amondsen. She's flawed, vulnerable and also as hard as nails. I loved her, I loved this book. Highly recommended.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have been on pins and needles breathlessly anticipating a warm-hearted adventure filled with talking dragons, sugarplums, and fairies 🧚‍♀️, then Selby’s The Winter Road probably isn’t what you’ve been waiting for. It’s a fantasy adventure but one that would make all Cimmerians proud.

It features a battle-hardened aging mercenary battling against impossible odds. It’s grim, gritty, dark, foreboding, and filled with nasty sword fights with bloody consequences. Indeed, it’s a world where the warriors don’t only give it their all, but they ingest fighting brews made from all manner of plant and herb that make them raging beserkers. And, spores are thrown into battle. It’s not for the faint of heart. Not for the queasy among us.

The lead character, Teyr Amondson, is a fantastic creation whose spirit is undaunting and prowess unmatched. Remarkably, Teyr, who battles, rampages, and celebrates with the best of them, is a woman and that in the land where this takes place, it’s not even worth commenting on.

Teyr has a dream of building a road through the wilderness to unite the clans. But on the way the caravan takes on foes such as bandit warlords and is betrayed and backstabbed. There is a map of this world at the start of the book, but much of the geography is a bit mysterious and cloaked in mist.

There are several timelines at work here, which might at first be a little confusing, but it will all make sense. As will Teyr’s way of speaking.

Altogether, a very satisfying gritty dark fantasy read.

[Marielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need a while to let this book sink in. What an intense story it is, it blew me away... Teyr is such a remarkable, strong woman or rather force of nature... And yes, it made me cry a little too... I will write more once I get my thoughts together again.

Two days later and I feel like I'm ready to say some more. This was one of my most anticipated books this year and my expectations were high, to say the least...
It's the story of one woman trying to fulfill a dream, to make life a little better and easier for her people. A strong, badass woman who loves how she lives and fights, fierce and fully. (I love her!)
The story is told in three parts, then, now and after. I loved how I was just thrown in as a reader and had to figure stuff out by myself while reading.
I always enjoy stories told in different timelines so I loved the first part where the two timelines are mixed. In the second part where one timeline is left to follow the pace really picks up and there's a rollercoaster of action and fighting scenes. I couldn't put the book down...
But... what got me to tears was the last part, the after, where we learn what happens to the characters. It was beautiful and gave the story the perfect ending.

This book is brutal, intense and beautiful! And I know I'll read it again at some point. Anything Adrian Selby writes, I'll be reading!

"Love is speaking the truth because it hurts, and it is hiding it to avoid hurt, and choosing right never comes easy or often."

[Edward Gwynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE BROTHERS GWYNNE (aka me and my brother) interviewed Adrian Selby. Check out the video here! YouTube It was a lot of fun!

Woah...Selby is a gutsy writer, no denying that. Incredibly original and intense.

[Mogsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2019/01/10/...

I feel like 2018 was the year of second chances. When I finished The Winter Road, I had a hard time believing this was by the same author as Snakewood, a debut that…well, I thought was okay, but didn’t exactly love. But whether it was the change in protagonist or Adrian Selby has just seriously upped his game (to be honest, it’s probably both), this book worked much better for me than his first one.

The Winter Road actually takes place in the same world as Snakewood, but you don’t need to have read the former as a prerequisite to jump right in. Granted, some prior knowledge of the unique magic system might be helpful, but it is not required, since Selby does an exemplary job easing new readers into this strange new world of fight brews and weird chemistry without being unpleasantly forceful with all the details. Much of the story takes place in a region known as the Circle, aptly named because it is miles of sprawling forest and wilderness, inhabited by various warring clans arranged in a roughly circular pattern around a central area known as the Almet. No one has ever tried to unite the clans before, but that isn’t stopping Teyr Amondsen, a retired mercenary who is determined to lead a merchant caravan through treacherous territory she used to call home, forging a trade road which she believes will benefit all those who live in the Circle.

However, not everyone shares Teyr’s grand vision. An ambitious warlord named Khiese has risen to power, and he’s not interested in unification as much as he is in subjugation, ordering his army to use brutal force against anyone who doesn’t capitulate to his rule. To build her road, Teyr and her caravan which includes her family and friends will need to cross a key area of the Almet, which Khiese has claimed for himself. As their two groups clash, Teyr is not about to back down in the face of Khiese’s threats, causing the warlord to become even more violent and bloodthirsty in his attacks.

For me, the highlight of this book was Teyr Amondsen. Leaving aside the fact she’s awesome and one tough cookie, Adrian Selby also did an incredible job of writing her character. Looking back at my review of Snakewood, one of my biggest criticisms was the huge number of characters and the need for frequent switches between points-of-view, which caused no small amount of confusion and pacing issues. In contrast though, The Winter Road was handled much more smoothly, in large part because we got to concentrate mostly on Teyr’s journey and development. She’s also got an amazing voice, which probably isn’t too surprising, since from reading Snakewood, I gathered that being able to create an authentic, “in-character” persona is one of Selby’s strongest talents.

Not only did we get an interesting protagonist in Teyr, we also got an in-depth exploration of who she really is. I liked that her character was a study of dualities: a former mercenary, her body having been ravaged and ruined by effects of the fight brews, she is resilient, strong and tenacious, and yet she also has a soft and caring side that comes through when she is with her lover Aude and their son. I think that’s why this book got me so hard in the feels. Because things don’t really go well for Teyr. Some truly horrible, gut-wrenching things happen to her and her family. And seeing such a courageous, strong-willed and strong-minded individual brought so low, only to watch her get up again and refuse to be cowed, it was an emotional roller coaster that was rough and difficult—but oh so worth it. By the time I was through to the epilogue, after reading about the aftermath through a series of letters from Teyr to Aude, I’m not ashamed to admit I was practically in tears.

I also loved that this book took place in the same world as Snakewood, as it meant bringing back some of my favorite world-building elements, like the concept of “paying the color”—a euphemism used to describe the terrible physiological costs of using brews. These alchemical mixtures can enhance the user’s abilities, but the powerful effects they grant are fleeting, and like a drug, coming off the high can also give you one hell of a crash. Brew-using mercs like Teyr must live with the consequences of their choices for the rest of their lives, an aspect that adds another layer of complexity to her character.

There were, of course, a few hitches. For the most part, Selby has improved on his storytelling by keeping things simple and streamlining the process, though his handling of the dual timeline was still on the shaky side, and once or twice, I lost track of when we were supposed to be. The nonlinear narrative could also explain why I felt the main story took a little too long to get off the ground, but that’s the extent of my complaints.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Winter Road. When I think about how I feel about this book versus how I felt about Snakewood, the difference is like night and day. One big reason for this is the uniqueness of Teyr Amondsen and her strength of personality. Because she was such an interesting protagonist, Adrian Selby was also able to inject a lot of emotional depth and nuance into her story, and the attention to her character development was bar none my favorite aspect of this novel. Teyr’s incredible saga about conquering the wilderness and taking on impossible odds in the face of a merciless enemy is the perfect canvas to create this grimdark fantasy masterpiece, and I loved every moment of it.

[Holly (The GrimDragon) · Rating 5 out of 5]

"He falls and I get down on his chest and my good hand seeks his face, shoving it into the earth to stop its writhing, drive my one good thumb through an eye far as it'll go. A shout behind me, I twist to jump clear but the spear goes through me. Out my front it comes, clean out of my guts."

Oh, my heart.

This is one of those books that I held to my chest while tears poured down my face once I had finished. It was such a beautifully brutal story. I was both emotionally exhausted and physically drained when I was done, as though I were knifed and had my guts spilled all over the floor. The Winter Road was the exact-right book at the exact-right moment for me. I was left completely and utterly smitten!

The story takes place primarily set against the backdrop of a savage forest, known as The Circle, which spans a thousand miles. It focuses on the irrepressible clan wars that take part throughout this wilderness, which one woman wants to overcome. Teyr Amondsen, a former mercenary, is on a mission to lead a rag-tag crew of mercenaries in a merchant caravan across these dense forests. She wants to build roads and other outposts, which will aid in uniting them all and producing a more prosperous land. 

The Winter Road was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and I have to say.. I was astonished by this story. It's fucking masterful! Adrian Selby has written a fully-realized standalone saga that is crackling with energy. 

Much like life, it was achingly bittersweet.

"There's a stillness only snow makes with the air, brings a hush. It falls on the trees above me."

Teyr is one of the most remarkable characters I've ever read. These are the type of characters that matter. Characters that leave a lasting impact on a readers soul. Within a few pages into this, I knew that she was going to become one of my FAVORITE CHARACTERS OF EVER! She's this gloriously flawed badass with a big heart. Well-rounded, passionate, intelligent, ambitious, broken, hopeful. She has faced incredible obstacles throughout her life and she has made mistakes. She is just.. she's everything I adore in a character & more. I love her so fucking much!

The Winter Road is a luminous tale. Vivid and powerful, gritty and emotional. It's astounding that this is only Selby's second novel. The world he has created within a thousand miles of claustrophobic forest is vast and immersive. 

You guys.. truly. This book is made of magic.

The Winter Road is out today and I honestly can't recommend it highly enough!

(Massive thanks to Orbit Books for sending me a copy in advance to flail over!)

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

This review can also be found on my blog The Tattooed Book Geek: https://thetattooedbookgeek.wordpress...

I started reading The Winter Road the day before Red Dead Redemption 2 came out. To say that I had been eagerly awaiting the release of that game would be a massive understatement! I have waited years to get my cowboy and Old West fix, years!🤠 Saying that, however, I played some of the game (it has a slow start but it’s good. Alas, only time will tell if it is as good as the first RDR game) but found myself inexplicably drawn back to Selby’s book. Given the opportunity over the past weekend to either play RDR 2 or read The Winter Road. At every opportunity I chose to read. So, yeah, the biggest endorsement I can give The Winter Road is that I chose the book over the game (that I’ve been absolutely dying for) and that my friends should tell you how fucking amazing this book is.

I have to admit to having a few issues with Selby’s previous book and his debut Snakewood. I thought that as an author Selby had some good ideas, a great cast of grizzled old mercenaries and that the story that he was telling was interesting but, I also struggled with the book finding the writing style hard going particularly at the beginning (though I did become accustomed to it later in the book). One thing that I did take away from my time spent reading Snakewood though was that I thought Selby had plenty of potential. Now, after finishing The Winter Road I’m pleased to see that Selby has lived up to that potential as, honestly, I’m struggling to find fault with the book. For me, in The Winter Road, Selby has created a bleak, dark and gritty yet emotional tale that sits firmly in the ‘must read‘ category of grimdark books.

At the start of The Winter Road, there are duel timelines (then and now). Both timelines do a good job of bringing the story that Selby is telling together. Giving you the whole picture on the events that transpire. Inevitably and as is the wont with duel narratives you get to the point where the past (then) timeline gets to the starting point of the present (now) timeline and the two converge into a single present-day storyline.

Then, where Teyr Amondson a former mercenary turned merchant sets out with a large caravan (including her lover and his son, other merchants, Crogan Othbutter, the Chief’s younger brother and mercenary crews for protection) from Hillfast, the capital of the Circle to bring her dream to fruition of a connected Circle. Using her accumulated wealth to build roads and outposts and establishing a trade route across the Circle connecting the various settlements, clans and bloodlands (including her own) together. Building relationships between them all, making the clans thrive and forging a prosperous future for the area.

At the same time as Teyr and her caravan embark on their journey from Hillfast, the warlord, Samma Khiese (the youngest son of one of the clan families) has risen in power in the Circle. Khiese along with his army of whiteboys (they have their faces painted with a white chalk paste) is out to bring the clans of the Circle and their sworn families to heel, asserting his order and rule over them. Turning them away (through sadistic threats and the use of brutal violence if they don’t swear loyalty to or stand against him) from the fealty that they have sworn to Chief Othbutter (who apart from collecting tithes doesn’t do anything for the clans or the Circle) and Hillfast. The caravan crosses paths with the Warlord and Teyr falls foul of Khiese and his demands.

Now, after Teyr has been attacked and left for dead. She struggles to carry on, to find a will to live and to survive. She has endured more heartbreak, grief, loss, sorrow and trauma than any single person should. I won’t go into detail (it’s not my style) but a short time after the narratives merge Teyr is given a choice. She can either go to the gallows and choose death. Or, she can choose life and vengeance by attempting to take her revenge on Khiese who’s grip on the Circle is widening. Joining a small crew (that includes members from Teyr’s former crew that was once rife with broken bonds and betrayals) who have taken on a crossroads (you have to fulfil the obligations and terms of the purse or die trying) purse to kill Khiese and rid the Circle of the Warlord.

I loved the use of plants in The Winter Road. They were a tremendous idea in Snakewood and this time around they are implemented to perfection by Selby. Various leaves, plants, seeds and bark are used individually or mixed together to form different pastes, poisons, spore bags, brews and rubs which are all concocted and made by a Drudha (a plant mixer, each mercenary crew has their own and they have their own recipes). Brews enhance your abilities and heighten your senses (strength, endurance, you can see in the dark, smell, hearing, muscles grow, time seems to slow). Plants are also used in poisons and antidotes, to bind and heal wounds and in medicine.

The use of plants, however, is not without a cost and there is a price to pay. Day brews give you an edge but are not as potent as the fight brews that the mercenaries take to aid them in battle but all leave an indelible mark. The colour of your eyes, skin and veins will permanently change (the colour depending on what plants are used in the brew). You can become addicted to the plant and women are left barren by the fight brews they take. And, after every brew there is a coming down period, you suffer from the shakes, weakness, you can’t defend yourself or do anything. There’s a reason that taking brews is called ‘paying the colour‘ and you have to pay the colour after taking a brew.

I found The Winter Road to be both story-driven and character-driven and for me, Selby got the balance just right. The first part of the book is quite slow-paced and Selby gives his characters and his story plenty of time to settle in both of the narratives. Without rushing, he allows the reader the chance to become acquainted with the characters, the setting and the story that is taking place and unfolding.

There’s some action in The Winter Road but it’s not until the two timelines come together and the pacing quickens that the action (Selby is great at writing visceral action scenes) is ramped up and finally comes to the fore.

Selby’s writing draws you in and Teyr, herself is a remarkable main character, damaged and scarred both inside and out with her own voice and personality. She’s been through so much yet still, somehow, manages to keep going. Plenty of the other characters also have stellar characterisation too.

The world-building is rich and on point and the Circle is a tremendous setting for The Winter Road to take place that comes to life and is well-realised by Selby. Various clans and their lands dotted around and spread throughout a harsh location that is hard to traverse and in the centre, The Almet, the heart of the Circle and the forest where the mysterious Oskoro reside.

For the last fifty pages, The Winter Road ends with a series of letters sent over a span of years. Correspondence between Teyr and Aude that document their lives, Teyr’s plans, her travels, her business interests and her work as she sets about fulfilling her dream and realising her goal of establishing a trade route and road across the Circle. The letters are a fantastic way to finish the book adding extra depth to both the characters lives and the world.

There is a darkness to The Winter Road and the story that Selby is telling. It is a tale fermented in misery and steeped in pain with Selby putting his characters through many a hardship. There is suffering aplenty handed out for many involved and the world is savage. The journeys undertaken are fraught with peril and the Circle is a cruel mistress for those who inhabit it.

I was drawn to the darkness in The Winter Road and I absolutely loved it!

[Dustin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Winter Road by Adrian Selby absolutely gripped me, start to finish. Teyr Amondsen is one of the best characters I’ve ever read. She’s an absolute force of nature, a stone-cold badass, but with a fierce ambition to prove herself while making life better for people in and around The Circle.
I won’t add to the book’s blurb, but I’ll just put down what made me love The Winter Road. The writing and crafting of this book is beautiful, from the bloody start to the bittersweet end. I found the style more accessible than Snakewood, a book I also admire. The final 20 percent or so is in the form of letters between two characters that absolutely shattered me.
This book is full of action, suspense, violent skirmishes and the aftermath of said blood-letting. I love the plant and “brews” that are so integral to the world Selby has created.
I find the best books are those that impact me emotionally and leave a mark, so to speak. In that sense The Winter Road is the best read I’ve had this year.

[Nick Borrelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars

Adrian Selby's name has been on the tongues of many readers lately and it's mostly glowing in nature. THE WINTER ROAD is the Welsh author's second full-length novel (the first being Snakewood, set in the same world as this one). It was with a great deal of excitement that I was able to procure an advance copy of his latest novel just as the aforementioned buzz was reaching its pinnacle. The story of THE WINTER ROAD takes place in an area of land known as "The Circle". The Circle is structured just as it sounds, with various clan territories laid out in a circular arrangement on the map surrounding a dense forest patch in the middle called The Almet. The story is told in the form of a dual timeline of then and now, which lends a nice flow to the narrative in that we get to see how things progressed to their current situation through alternating chapters. I enjoy reading books that use this technique a lot so I was encouraged right from the start that I would probably be sucked into this story. Main character Teyr Amondsen was once a mercenary but is now a merchant trying to build a life for herself with her husband and young son. She also has another important desire though, and that is to unite the fractured clans of The Circle by building a trade road that cuts straight through from one end to the other. Teyr believes by constructing this road that it will not only open up trade among the clans, but also open communication that will be vital to bringing peace to the land once and for all. The problem is that the road will have to cut through the volatile area of The Almet where a ruthless warlord named Khiese has staked his claim. Khiese and his warrior Whiteboys (named for the white chalk that they use to paint their face and bodies) have been extending their attacks beyond the central Almet to the outer clan villages, which proves more than problematic for Teyr's plans. Khiese's goal is to bring everyone under his heel and for the clans to swear fealty to him as the supreme leader of the region.

So it is against this tumultuous background that Teyr and her caravan must set out to begin making plans for the road. It doesn't take long however for Teyr and her cohorts to stumble upon the first ravaged clan settlement, and it becomes quickly evident that she must deal with the immediate threat posed by the barbarous Khiese before any hope of uniting the clans in peace can take place. What follows are some incredibly intense battles, both physical and emotional, which test Teyr's will to its absolute fullest. Teyr is put through the ringer and tested mightily as she struggles with her desire to fulfill her dream plus keep her family together, against merely surviving the relentless and brutal attacks of the Whiteboys. As she travels from clan settlement to clan settlement she comes across a mostly beaten populace, many of whom have been forced to follow Khiese and his twisted campaign of annihilation. There is hope though as Teyr is armed with both the knowledge and instincts that she acquired in her past life as a mercenary and also the medicinal/magical properties of special plants which can be brewed to bestow certain strengths and attributes. Will that be enough to repel the growing menace of Khiese and the Whiteboys, or will Teyr, her family, and her people also eventually bow to the oppressive tyranny that is taking hold across The Circle? One thing is certain: it won't be easy, not by a long shot.

THE WINTER ROAD had me hooked from the very first pages. My initial impression was that this was going to be an incredibly violent and brutal book. Oh and that it is! In fact there are sections that are extremely difficult to get through because of the savage violence. Having said that, it never made me want to stop reading because the violence is a product of the setting and the characters. The Circle ain't a very nice place and these characters have been hardened by it to the point where the only way to survive in this harshest of environments is to kill first and ask questions later. The weak do not survive very long in The Circle to be sure. I was also quite fascinated and connected to the main character Teyr in a way that I haven't been to any character in some of my recent reads. Teyr is one of the strongest female characters you will ever come across and this was incredibly refreshing and a joy to experience. There's no Mary Sue in Teyr Amondsen, that's for darn sure. Strong female characters should be celebrated and Selby has given us one here in Teyr. Read this book if only for that reason, but luckily for us there are many more reasons than that. The dual timeline storyline worked amazingly well for me as I had a feeling that it would. Selby makes effective use of this technique and throughout the book as we go back in time, we get snippets and hints of the eventual conflict to come which is handled beautifully. Then there's the world-building which I thought was some of the best I've ever encountered. The Circle is a complex and mysterious place and the central forest holds even further mysteries, which really gives the story a sense of foreboding and suspense that just raises it far above your ordinary fantasy book. I thoroughly enjoyed THE WINTER ROAD by Adrian Selby and recommend it to anyone who loves their fantasy with a lot of Grimdark but also with a lot of emotion. I heard someone else describe this book as "Grimdark with heart" and I think that is a very accurate description in many ways. My advice is to try not to be put off by the violence in the beginning of the book because if you stick with it, you will be so richly rewarded with a tremendous story that checks off all the required boxes. Pick it up and read it soon, you won't regret it.

[Chris Berko · Rating 5 out of 5]

The more things change the more they stay the same. This book reminded me that things happen to us all the time, terrible or joyous, happy or sad, and we get through them because on a long enough timeline we are who we are.
The writing took me a minute to get used to, and I had to reread certain sentences in the beginning but once it clicked I was hooked. Overall I think it led to the story as it felt like I was sitting there listening to someone I didn't know from somewhere I have never been tell me their tale. The whole idea of fightbrews is amazing and cool AF and there was just enough time spent developing the characters that I actually cared about them when the shit started hitting the fan. I did not read this guy's first book but I may need to rethink that after loving this one so much.

[Esme · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had seen a few blogger friends of mine rate this book highly so I decided to check it out. I went into it cold, I had no idea what the book was going to be about or even what genre it was – what I got was a darker high fantasy

Teyr was once a mercenary, but has since found love and adopted her husband’s son, treating the boy like her own. I found her to be a very different kind of militant, humanized by her love, passion, and a desire to have a do-over at life. She kills when she needs to, but her real purpose is to try and make the world a better place. She’s trying to build a trade route through The Circle, a tumultuous where the neighboring clans are often times at each other’s throats. She believes that building a road would help every clan in the Circle and is trying to unite them under this cause. It’s not made easy, there’s a ruthless warlord who’s standing in her way, demanding loyalty from smaller clans or face destruction. His forces move swiftly and without mercy. When Teyr encounters some villages who have suffered his wrath she knows that the only way this unification will happen is if she gets the warlord out of the way first.

I found Teyr to be a compelling character, it took me a while to warm up to her, but once I did I was totally behind her. She’s not a warm and fuzzy person most of the time, but she’s warm and relatable when she’s around her husband and her son – it was a very nice balancing act in her persona.

The magic in this world revolves largely around different brews people drink to give them extraordinary powers. Drinking a fight brew will make you faster and stronger than would be possible naturally, however, there’s a downside – it can take you over completely and make you a dangerous person if you can’t control it. There are also dangerous trees that have spores that can make you fall asleep, it’s said they eat you afterward.

I audiobooked this one, and although I enjoyed the narrator, I’m not sure it was the correct choice for this kind of book. There are two timelines, one in the present and one in the past, and switching between them was a bit confusing at first. Even though the book did tell me when the timeline jumped around if I wasn’t paying very close attention I could miss that part and then wonder where in the timeline I was. That said, getting the flashbacks built up Teyr’s background and it’s why I started to like her as much as I did.

As a totally personal note, some aspects of the writing just didn’t gel with me. The main character misuses plurals/singulars as a part of her dialect. “They was comin'” instead of “they were coming”, things like that happened quite frequently and it grated on me. The fact that it was written in the first person made it all the more frequent since it happened in both dialogue and narrative. There’s also quite a bit of in-world slang, and each time a new one was used the main character would tell you what it means, as if they know you’re not from “around here” and need it to be explained. It took me out of the moment several times and I didn’t adjust to it as the book went on. These are very subjective ticks, and all in all, I feel like the book was well written. It was very atmospheric, I feel like the writing flowed nicely and sped the story along. There were a lot of fight scenes in this, a lot of action and blood that kept up a high paced feel throughout the story from beginning to end.


Audience
high fantasy
female character
first person writing
fast paced stories
lots of action/fight scenes
potions as magic
darker stories


Ratings:

Plot: 12.5/15
Characters: 13/15
World Building: 13/15
Writing: 12/15
Pacing: 12.5/15
Originality: 12.5/15
Personal Enjoyment: 6/10

Final Score: 81.5 = solid 4 stars, recommended!

[Sean Smart · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book but after a week and 200 pages or so I just could not get in to this one and found it disappointing

[Lata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the easiest book to get into, but once I grew accustomed to the colloquialisms and terms used by awesome main character Teyr Amondsen, I was hooked. This is a brutal tale told by Teyr during two time periods: her past when she had grand plans to build a road that would help promote trade amongst the different people living in the Circle and her home Hillfast, and in Teyr’s present, when she’s beaten and defeated in many ways and looking for death.
A former soldier, Teyr is adept at dealing out violence and accustomed to receiving it. She's strong, both physically and mentally, and this strength is deeply tested on her road building journey with several other merchants and their families. They soon hear of a ferocious warlord Khiese, who’s been terrorizing the Circle, and bringing more and more settlements under his control. After a terrible encounter, Teyr is broken terribly, and the rest of the novel is spent describing how she takes on Khiese, and the aftermath of the conflict.
And it's the aftermath that really made the book for me. The years after are described in letters between Teyr and Aude, her keep (husband), and I found them heartbreaking. I teared up repeatedly reading of Teyr's and Aude's feelings, and how their time during that pivotal year changed them, and of Teyr's relationship with the children she more or less adopted from a village destroyed by Khiese. The aftermath also charts the big changes societally by Teyr's road-building project, and the positive effects of Teyr's grand vision taking place. She's a fabulous character, unbelievably tough and compassionate and determined. I'm really glad I got a chance to spend time with her.

[Hiu Gregg · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Winter Road is a book which ticks a lot of boxes. It’s quite action-heavy, with a fair few exciting fight scenes. It has a main character who is both sympathetic and pretty badass. It has a unique world with its own troubles, societies, and magic. And it has a plot which, although pretty simple on the face of it, is engaging and gives our main character plenty of room to shine.

Teyr Amondsen is a mercenary-turned-merchant who wishes to construct a road to link together the clans who live in the Circle. Looking at the map below, it’s pretty clear to see where that name comes from. While most of the land is forested, hilly, or mountainous, there is a ring of roughly flat land surrounding a forest known as the Almet. It’s on the outer edges of this ring that most of the clans make their home, and it’s commonly regarded as a dangerous place filled with bandits and war.



Teyr’s hope is that her road will bring some peace and prosperity to the circle. It will provide a quicker and safer way to travel and will encourage trade between the clans, which will in turn discourage conflict between them.

Unfortunately for Teyr, a warlord known as Khiese has risen in the Circle. He unites the clans through fear and violence, and sets himself firmly against the current political system, and by extension against Teyr’s road.

Teyr herself is a wonderful character to read about. She’s a bit of a twist on the stoic female warrior archetype, though with a lot more emotion and honesty. She’s more than capable in a fight, though she’s a few years past her prime and so has the disadvantage against younger, quicker, stronger foes. But more importantly than that, she’s isn’t as emotionally stunted as so many characters like her seem to be. She isn’t afraid to love. On the contrary, she loves fiercely and publicly. She loves her adopted son, and she loves his father. And it’s that love which is the driving force for much of this story.

The book has two interwoven timelines: the present, and the past. If you’ve ever read Mark Lawrence’s Broken Empire trilogy, then this is a similar sort of structure. The present shows Teyr broken and alone, having been nursed back to something vaguely resembling health by a mysterious people known as the Oskoro. The past shows Teyr setting off with a merchant caravan (and her family) to build her road. In both timelines, she makes use of “brews” — plant-based drinks which grant the drinker heightened awareness and physical abilities — to fight the battles that need to be fought.

The writing style is something which I feel may be a little divisive. The story is told in the first-person, with quite a bit of real-world and in-world slang. Some readers may find that this helps with their immersion, but it took me a few chapters to become fully engaged, and so my emotional response to the opening few chapters was a little muted as a result.

The Winter Road throws you into the deep end with very little information, leaving you to figure out what’s going on through context or through the occasional piece of exposition. There was a lot of action right from the start, but the character work took a little while to come to the forefront. By the end though, plot and character were interwoven seamlessly into one of the best and most emotional endings I’ve had the pleasure of reading this year.

To put it simply, The Winter Road is grimdark with a heart. There’s the oppressive atmosphere that grimdark fans will be familiar with, but there’s also an undercurrent of genuine love.

This is a book for those who love well-crafted worlds and sympathetic characters, and aren’t afraid of dark subject matter. To see if the writing style is a match for your tastes, I’d recommend heading over to Orbit’s website to check out the first chapter.

More reviews at The Fantasy Inn

[Nigel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite torn on this one and 3.5/5 I think.

On the one hand - great character in Teyr who I really did like a lot. She goes somewhere past hell at times in this. Hard and violent at times (and the book is generally). Parts of this I loved and fascinated me. The brews were an example and definitely the Oskoro. It is quite difficult to convey just how powerful the good bits were. Her relationship with Aude would be one example of that.

On the other hand - frustrating in many ways. I would have liked to have know far more about the brews and the Oskoro for example. The tribal politics and hierarchy left me rather disinterested. More fundamentally I found it hard to grasp the meaning of a number of words. Some were fairly obvious quite quickly. Others I'm not sure I really understood properly. This book made me realise I am quite a fast reader - the style of writing in this book was hard to read at my usual speed - that also frustrated me.

I've no regrets about having read this but I would have liked to have liked it more!

[Zara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edit: changed it to 5 stars because I still can’t stop thinking about this book.

This is my first Selby read, and what a story! The only issue I had was that the beginning was a little slow for me and the writing style took me a while to get used to. However, when I finally got there, I was blown away by his characters (especially the MC), the dialogue and the depth to the narrative.

There were a lot of themes tackled: motherhood, family, purpose, the cost of ambition etc, being a woman in a man’s world, and they were all handled with respect and crafted very well. I also love that Selby emphasised Tyr’s vulnerability, and not at the cost of her being a strong woman. It’s very rare to see this done well in fantasy (if, at all).

The plot was also interesting, and against the backdrop of political complexity, made for a page-turning read. The only thing I would ask for is a list of all the family houses, because there’s a lot! That being said, the plot is crafted very cleverly and I enjoyed the way the different forms of writing reflected the progression of the narrative.

I’m now debating which one of his books to read next, but regardless, you can definitely consider me a fan of his work. Excited to dive deeper into the worlds he has built.

[The Captain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahoy there me mateys!  I received this fantasy eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  So here be me honest musings . . .

Damn, what a good book!  The blurb does not do this one justice at all.  This is a grimdark fantasy that follows Teyr Amondsen, an ex-soldier.  She be awesome!  Her goal is to build a trade road that will bring the communities of the Circle together through commerce and thus allow more people to prosper.  While a lofty goal, her plans are threatened when a selfish warlord begins conscripting the Circle communities for his army to help take over the Circle.  Teyr had put her battles behind her but she blatantly refuses to give in to the warlord's plotting.  She fights back.

The highlight of this for me was Teyr's character.  I admire her tenacity, grit, fortitude, and intelligence.  Talk about suffering!  This book is one long slog for Teyr and I was both horrified at how bad her luck was and was boldly cheering on her pure stubbornness.  For all that she is a hardened fighter, her life as a merchant and relationship with her partner and his son shows her softer side.  She cares for those she works with and has her own version of integrity.  She is complicated and interesting.  Life around her is certainly never boring.

The secondary highlight was the world building.  In particular, I loved the use of plants as a major resource.  Plants are a type of currency and have many uses.  One is for battle brews that enrich a warrior's sight, strength, and other attributes based on what is in them.  Each war band has it's own secret recipes and fiercely guard them.  What was awesome is that ye have to "pay the colour" for their use.  Besides causing the user to be violently ill and face potential death, the mixes also ruin the user's skin and cause a period of complete defenselessness.  I just loved everything about the plant use in both war and in daily life.  Add in the clan of plant users with mystical abilities and it be just plan awesome.

But besides the cool plants, I also very much enjoyed the clan structures and family bonds.  I thought the world was very believable and loved that women have strong roles in many places.  I loved the dual narratives of Teyr's past and present that really did set the correct tone and allowed for the reader to experience excellent character growth.  And then once the timelines merge, the pace picks up and the tension increases.  The epistolary nature of the ending of the book was different and perfect.

Apparently this is one of three planned companion books set in Sarun.  There is another book called, snakewood, that takes place 250 years after this one.  I will have to give that one a shot.  Arrr!

Don’t just take me word for readin’ this book (though it should be enough!).  Also check out what me crew had to say about this one:

Drew @ thetattoedbookgeek– “There is a darkness to The Winter Road and the story that Selby is telling. It is a tale fermented in misery and steeped in pain with Selby putting his characters through many a hardship. There is suffering aplenty handed out for many involved and the world is savage. The journeys undertaken are fraught with peril and the Circle is a cruel mistress for those who inhabit it.  I was drawn to the darkness in The Winter Road and I absolutely loved it!"

So lastly . . .

Thank ye Orbit Books!

Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordp...

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teyr Amondsen is a former mercenary, a user of the potent fightbrews that all serious soldiers use to stand against other fighters who've "paid the colour", so-called because of the discoloration of the skin that is only one of the many side-effects of the drugs. In parallel stories we follow Teyr after she survives a near-fatal and total defeat, and the year leading up to that defeat. Her path to redemption leads to confronting just how much (and who) she has lost in seeking her ambitions, and finally her legacy.

This is a smart character study of someone who sets out to do great things in a grimdark fantasy setting. It's got non-linear storytelling, with distinctly different modes in each of the three parts of the book. There's also an interesting magic system that's well thought out and integrated into the sociopolitics of the world.

At no point does it condescend to giving the reader much background for this world. It's all there, but it's deeply embedded in the narrative and you're supposed to pick it up through context. It does an extremely good job of this. It's also difficult, particularly in the first part with Teyr so completely shattered and the cruel warlord Khiese and his brutal conquest of the Circle that Teyr is trying to advance.

[Shane Findlay · Rating 2 out of 5]

I personally felt the prose was disjointed and could not bring myself to invest or care for the MC. 2.5*

[Jason Aycock · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished The Winter Road last night, set the book down, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. I had to collect myself a moment - had to pause and digest it. The Winter Road is a story of the pain and heartbreak that underlies human achievement. It's the kind of book I haven't read in a while, like you're drawing back the curtain on some grand event in history where everyone knows the glorious result, only to discover the grim truth about how it came to be. One where the reader is pulled through the wringer along with the characters...you may be new on the other side, but the pain and disfigurement of the experience lingers, some parts of you are left in the bucket, and you'll never go back to the way things were before.

Let me take a moment to add a bit more detail to the book blurb so you get a better idea of the plot. Teyr Amdonsen is an ex-mercenary who has returned to her native land, a place called The Circle, and set up shop as a merchant. A pretty successful merchant now. She has a dream of building a road and a series of outposts connecting all the clans within The Circle to increase trade and communication between them, thereby bringing greater peace and prosperity to everyone. It's bold plan given how insular the clans have become over the years. She also hopes to restore relations with they mysterious Oskoro, the people who live in the Almet, the forest at the center of the circle where all the clans used to gather. With the blessing of the chief of all the clans Teyr sets out with her family, soldiers, mercenaries, and other merchants in a caravan (called a van in the story) to unite the Circle like it hasn't been for generations. But there's a new warlord bent on taking over the circle who will get in their way and may prevent road from ever being built.

The Winter Road is an interesting book in terms of Selby's narrative choices. It is broken up into three parts each with their own narrative arc and story, but combining to form one great arc. It's told primarily from a first person point of view, that of Teyr Amondsen. This is true up until the end when the point of view and character voice changes to an epistolary format. Selby also changes up the narrative time frame throughout the novel - there's a back and forth between the present and past in part one, then a shift to full present in part two, and then a shift to something like a future present in part three, the very last being a look back from some distant future. It was a bold narrative decision to structure the book this way and it really pays off in the end though I recognize some readers may not like it.

These narrative choices have a major impact on the pacing of the book. In part one there is a constant shift from present to past (or Now and Then) and back again. Here you are pulled back and forth with the pace in each chapter moving quick enough, but the overall story slowly moving forward. This is effective however because of the way Selby uses this device to reveal background and motivation. In doing so he creates a tension and feeling of foreboding that is used for maximum effect. You know something horrible is coming, you can even guess what it is, but when it comes it still hits you like a warhammer to the chest. Then the pace picks up with part two, as the build up from part one leads to the major climax of the story. But there's still some 70 pages to go and one more part. Things slow down once again in part three where we get the falling action and the story starts to come to a close. Here your hoping for some happy resolution, knowing it can't really happen because of all that's come before. With the epistolary part of the narrative tacked on to the end of part three, really as a part in itself, the pace changes again - no real action now and the pace remains slow but for maximum effect as the long arc of the story is brought to a close and you realize it's something more than you thought at first.

The world building is really well done. This is due in part to things like setting, and the magic system, and in part to writing style and voice Selby gives the characters. The story is set almost entirely within The Circle, a hard country perhaps on the periphery of more "civilized" lands. This becomes evident right away as Teyr's goal is to build a single road to unite everyone. It's a land of plains, and forests, foothills and mountains, beautiful in a very rugged sense. It's people form clans with clan chiefs, never venturing far from their theits (villages). Their sense of belonging first to a local family and clan whose identity is woven into a "tapestry", then to a larger idea of a people within the Circle along with the description of the land brings to the mind a confined closeness as if the events of the larger world are almost inconsequential to the every day life of those who live there. Almost...but not quite.

The magic system is designed around plants. It isn't really a magic system per se but that's an easy description. Plants are harvested and ground into "brews" that are consumed to give extraordinary strength and fighting abilities. They hone the senses into an almost altered sense of awareness, almost like drugs. Well...a lot like drugs because after the high you get from using them you have to "pay the color" when you come down, experiencing pain and the shakes and and after too much use (or abuse) your skin takes on new color hues.

Selby's writing style really gives the reader a sense of place too. It is rugged like the land in which the story is set. This is especially evident in the use of language and voice for the characters. One prime example is in subject-verb agreement where the words "was" and "were" are used in grammatically incorrect ways. Selby also gives the region it's own vocabulary with words like "keep" for spouse, "duts" for kids, and "rope" for family lineage. All of this combines to solidify the feeling of place he gives to the narrative, strengthening the impact the events of the narrative have on the mind and heart of the reader.

And speaking of characters...Teyr Amondsen is fantastic. She's strong, resilient, smart, successful and no pushover. A great fighter who is a little past her prime, but still a force to be reckoned with. But she's by no means a Mary-Sue. Lots of really bad stuff happens to her and she suffers, and the reader suffers with and through her. She perseveres however in spite of it all because she has one strong motivation...revenge. She's able to keep coming back not because of her skills and fighting ability (which are both great), but because she is helped a lot along the way by others, and because of what may be her most defining quality, an unyielding refusal to give up in the face of defeat.

Then there's the story itself, the thing that draws a reader in and captures the mind. The Winter Road is many things. It's a story of purpose, telling of Teyr Amondsen's desire to build a road connecting her homeland to itself, an attempt to unify a fractured people. It's a story of revenge, telling of Teyr's need to exact vengeance on those who hurt and wronged her, her loved ones, and her people. It's a story full of intense action scenes - gritty, hard, and gripping - where you are caught up in the harsh realities of combat with sword and spear and bow, and death comes quick, and brutal, and easy. It's a story about hurt and loss that the reader sees coming in the distance that one can't fully prepare for. It's a story about the void such hurt and loss leaves within us and the distance it puts between us that no amount of time can fully heal. And it's a story of origins, about the true story of how things came to be, though you don't know it at first.

I'm still processing this book. It has the stabby-stabby and it has the feels. Many of the things I liked about it will put others off. There are elements of its style and presentation I know some readers won't like.  They were done with a purpose though and Selby succeeds in accomplishing what he set out to do. It isn't often I can clearly see what's coming in a story and have it impact me the way this one did. Because truth be told I only saw a part of what was coming. It's like Selby feinted with his left which was still a straight shot to the face, but then when my head snapped back down and I raised my arms to block the next punch he hit me with a blow to the stomach which sent me to my knees. Then he left me there struggling to catch my breath, allowing me to contemplate all of what just happened, and as I got back to my feet still a little wobbly he was gone, having left me with not a lesson but a gift...a heavy one that will weigh on me a while.

[Justine · Rating 5 out of 5]

But there’s a knot, must be in all of us, mustn’t it, a protectiveness when we think of the fields, faces and songs that rise in our memories on our thinking of home.

There’s a steep price to pay, both in coin and blood, in making sure the paths that lead home are safe for those seeking their bloodlands. For the Circle is vast and rife with a wildness and dangers and mysteries that none until now have attempted to tame. Teyr Amondsen, ex-soldier of renown, hopes to use the wealth she has gained over the years of countless battles to build a road that will unite the fractured clans and bring secure and fair trade to all. Shortly after embarking on her perilous mission, she bears witness to the ruthless acts of a merciless warlord who intends to unify the Circle through fear, forcing her to change tactics, only to be met with crushing loss. Regardless of the trials she faces, Teyr’s fortitude will see her through the cold, dark winter, and she means to see her dreams come to fruition, no matter the cost.

The Winter Road is a brutally and beautifully intense, emotional tale of perseverance, of revenge, and of love and loyalty. While I anticipated the pages to be oozing with action and soaked in blood, I don’t think I was truly prepared for the level of sentimentality that formed the backbone of this stunning book. It was traumatic and harrowing, but you never lose sight of the light at the end of the tunnel, even when it appears all hope is lost. It begins with chapters alternating between the past and the present, smartly and comfortably submerging the reader into a world with an already-developed history, then blooms into an epic journey peppered with battles, deceit, and aid in unexpected places.

Selby’s characterization is absolutely incredible - he has created some of the most in-depth and three-dimensional characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of being introduced to. With a relatively large cast and quite a few names to remember, I cannot think of even one that felt shallow in the slightest. Teyr is, by far, my favorite female lead that has ever graced the pages of any fantasy story I’ve read over the years. She’s strong, honest, with a drive that surely causes envy amongst her peers, however, she has weaknesses that are so often overlooked when creating a genuinely badass warrior, making her feel completely human and, in turn, fragile. Khiese’s development is also brilliant. He is everything opposite expected of a warlord - small and slight, but with a sharp mind and as much tenacity as our leading lady. They are each a formidable enemy to the other, making the conflict authentic and engaging. Each of Selby’s supporting characters, no matter how inconsequential they may seem, play a huge role in fleshing out and advancing this story, often adding another note of emotional turmoil that draws you in deeper.

Observing the world through the eyes of Teyr Amondon, we’re fully immersed in a turbulent and treacherous setting, where only the strong survive, and oftentimes those meet resistance, as well. Throughout you’ll find gems that vividly depict the harshness of the land and the misfortunes the characters meet.

The furs have been made to fit me, for winter comes to the Circle and it rouses the ghosts of these lands, howling over the rocks, clawing like a bear.

We suffer the freeze. We rejoice in the thaw. We cross the Circle and feel the mud underneath our fingernails and smell the sharp aroma of plant needed for brews. It is a world so gorgeously painted and memorable, and one that definitely envelopes readers with its vastness.

The Winter Road was one of my most anticipated books of 2018 and the only disappointment was in myself for waiting so long to finally get to it - we’ll just have to label it one of my favorite reads of 2019. I’m excited to see if the author returns us to this world in the future, because there are plenty of rich aspects and interesting people I would definitely love to learn more about. If you’re on the hunt for something dark with a lot of heart, seek no further, this is the one you’re looking for. I highly recommend.

[LordTBR · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Orbit and the author for an early finished copy of The Winter Road in exchange for an honest review. Receiving this advanced copy does not influence my thoughts or opinions on the novel, but loving Selby's first novel, Snakewood, might have bumped it up a weensy bit.

Also, just as an FYI, my review is a tiny bit spoilery if you haven't read Snakewood, but it won't ruin the read for you at all. 

Teyr Amondsen, ex-merc and mother, is on a mission. One no soul has ever attempted and lived to tell the tale. She is going to lead a merchant caravan across thousands of miles of dense forests and unruly clans, known as 'The Circle', in the hopes to unite them all and create a road. Accomplishing this is one thing, but doing so without the faith of your people, and knowing that a warlord across the wilderness, one with his own agenda, is gaining power and an army through sheer terror, Amondsen is in for more than she bargained for. She may be retired, but her prowess as a solider may be the only thing that can keep this foreign power at bay.

Much like his first novel, Snakewood, The Winter Road is a standalone set in the same world. If you read Snakewood, you'll remember an organization called 'The Post'. The Winter Road, being a prequel of sorts, tells the origin story of its establishment, along with the far-fetched ambitions of its founder (which is, you guessed it, Teyr).

While TWR isn't as immersive as Snakewood was, what with dropping you into the action within minutes of starting the book and being written as an epistolary work, it is nonetheless captivating. Selby's penchant for world-building and storytelling is astounding and I could live in his world for ages, though I'd probably be killed by White Boys or some brewed up merc looking for coin. TWR is written from a singular POV, so down a much straighter path than the author's previous work, but Selby does thrown in a wrinkle by interweaving past and present timelines. Having said that, he does so fluidly, climaxing in epic fashion. 

My favorite parts of TWR have to be the characters and the "brew" system. Amondsen is truly a character that you can stand behind and one you will ride the emotional roller coaster with again and again. Her selflessness, though you can say she is selfish in her ambitions, is not only a highly sought after character trait, but becomes a flaw for our hero throughout the novel. As far as the "brew" system, Selby brings it back into the fold without giving the reader too much of a history lesson but man is it ever in play during this adventure. The brews are not only useful for healing or poisoning, but can give enhanced vision or fighting prowess, be used as traps to incapacitate foes, or to downright murder someone. Though highly original in my eyes, you can see glimpses of a similar system in Angus Watson's 'West of West' trilogy, but with animals instead of plants (another series I highly recommend. See my reviews for Book 1 and Book 2). 

All in all, if you read Snakewood (and enjoyed it), you'll more than likely give The Winter Road a go. I would've given it a shot even if I hadn't read Snakewood just based off of the gorgeous cover by Jaime Jones. If you enjoy High Fantasy with some grimdarkiness thrown in, I say you grab a copy.

[Maja · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 stars

I'm not having the greatest start of the year with my books

I wanted to like this book. I really did. Thing is I'm not even sure why I bought it at all. I've tried reading an excerpt from Orbit several times but couldn't get through it at all. But I saw some promising reviews and wanted to give it a proper chance.

It does have a promising plot and worldbuilding, and Teyr is a really well written character, I really liked her. BUT the writing. I didn't like it at all. It's the kind of writing you'll either really like or really dislike I think. It's two different timelines, which are pretty close to each other (just one year apart) which made stuff bit confusing. It also mixed using present tense for (current timeline) and past tense (for the "past" timeline. It's written in first person point of view. The writing style and the two timelines made it really hard for me to connect with the plot.

[Paul · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF for me, I’m afraid. Just couldn’t handle the very odd writing style.

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars

*A gritty but befuddling tale of revenge and redemption*


Since joining Goodreads, I have found that my spontaneous selection of books has decreased to almost none. I always have such a long To Read list that I rarely get around to just wandering through the shelves to see what fits my fancy. So I indulged in a short jaunt through the library to get a couple of impulse reads. I was drawn to The Winter Road because of the winter vibes and the gorgeous cover. Then I saw that it was published by Orbit (my go to publisher for Fantasy novels), and straight into my bag it went!

Unfortunately, between checking out this book and actually reading it, I read my first ever dud from Orbit: Queen of the Conquered. That book not only became the first Orbit book to not get a four or five star rating from me, it also started a long streak of attempted reads that all turned out to be written in present tense. And then The Winter Road ended up being one of those seven present tensers as well.

Look, I know it's annoying when people complain about grammatical stuff and nitpick on writing styles. But I cannot stress enough how much I hate present tense novels. Occasionally, a writer manages to make it work. But most of the time it is too discordant for me to enjoy. And when you combine that with first person narration… well, not to sound dramatic, but it’s hard for me to become absorbed in the story. And whilst I’m on my linguistic soapbox, Selby repeatedly used “further” instead of “farther.” Every time Teyr went further down the road, I wanted to bang my head on the wall. The dialogue was also inconsistent. Sometimes it took on an exaggerated Cockney-like slang primarily revolving around the refusal to conjugate “be” verbs.

This should probably go into the, “It’s not you; it’s me,” category. The Winter Road has a lot of good elements. I can see it appealing to many adult Fantasy fans, particularly those who like darker stories. But for me, there were too many facets that didn’t fit my fancy.

The story is told by Teyr Amondsen, a mercenary soldier turned merchant. Past her fighting prime, haunted by her past, and determined to do some good, Teyr sets out to construct a road that will unite the kingdoms. Though she aims to bring peace and prosperity to everyone, not all the factions agree with her plan. She is quickly met with betrayal and hardship.

On top of the first person, present tense narration, the story also has a non-chronological storyline. That is another strategy that rarely works for me. And The Winter Road demonstrates why. The first half of the book follows two “Then” and “Now” timelines both told in first person by the same character. The “Then” sections were written in past tense which only made it more annoying when I had to return to reading the present tense sections. And it makes absolutely no sense why the same person would narrate in two different tenses like that. It was disorienting to skip around like that and trying to keep track of who had done what yet. But the most crippling aspect of this format was that it completely sucked all the tension and emotion out of the “Then” storyline. The reader knows exactly what happens, and it’s clear how most of that came about. All that remains is to fill in the smaller details of what led to those events. Sadly, that meant that when I got to the pivotal scene, instead of being heart-wrenching, all I could think was, “Oh, so that’s finally over with.” A little after half way, the past timeline caught up to the present timeline. The story was more engaging after that… until the very end that is. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The worldbuilding was intriguing but also confusing. Even at the end, there were still some aspects that I was murky on. I had trouble keeping track of some of the clans and secondary characters especially due to the multiple timelines. The narrative wandered a bit. I lost track several times particularly when Teyr ruminated on memories from before the story and summations of previous dialogues. I also wish there had been more about the Oskoro in the story. They seemed really cool, but their involvement in the story borders on deus ex machina. It would have been so awesome if they had been featured more in the story.

There is a ton of action and gore in The Winter Road. I’m not quite sure if this counts as Grimdark, but it would probably appeal more to fans of that subgenre. Overall, the story is pretty bleak and also very vulgar. But the action is one of the strong points of The Winter Road. And I liked that the story was about a strong female warrior.

“There are men and women we must kill together, those that took everything from me. I draw, we loose together, arrows leaping like wolves off the bows, shimmering, bending with their release, a moment to the guards’ soft necks, their death already a truth before our fingers have rolled off the strings.”

A large part of this world and the fighting is the use of medicinal and psychedelic plants to enhance skills. There are different types of plants that cause different skills – everything from increased strength to seeing in the dark. The effect is much like the induced battle rage of Berserkers. Fighters also create custom blends tailored to optimize certain fighting situations. The reclusive Oskoro go so far as to somehow create body mutations that basically turn themselves into botanical cyborgs. (Hence why I wish they had featured more in the story.) Most of the time though, this whole process is pedantically boiled down to references of “taking plant.” Some plants are named, but mostly they are just referred to as “plant.”

The plants are really drugs and are just as dangerous. They cause crashes afterward, addiction, and permanent body damage. Ultimately, there was more focus on the drug use than the actual fighting. Because of that, by the end, the fight scenes started to feel repetitive. They were always about the drugs, and that made the action scenes too samey. And anyway, how many times can a person be beaten within an inch of their life? Teyr is apparently harder to kill than a Winchester!

Despite these many critiques, until I reached the end, I thought I would round my rating up to four stars. But regrettably, the ending of the book kind of ruined things for me. After the big climax of the plot, the narrative switches to epistolary format. Now, there are plenty examples of epistolary stories that I love. This definitely was not one of them! It was extremely anticlimactic and increasingly maudlin. It drags on for fifty-five pages of boring, pedantic, and depressing letters. While the very end explains the purpose of those letters, they were in no way justified to take so long getting to the damn point. Those fifty-five pages were extremely tedious particularly compared to the high-adrenaline pace kept up for most of the book. To end on such a drawn-out and depressing note was so disappointing.

The end result was that the story kept me engaged although there were several stylistic choices that weren’t my cup of tea.


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 3 Stars
Writing Style: 3 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 3 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 3 Stars
Level of Captivation: 3 Stars
Originality: 3 Stars

[M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

It made me feel things.

[LJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gritty, raw, compelling, and emotionally powerful book. I have read other reviews comparing this author to Joe Abercrombie, John Gwynne and frankly that is one reason I chose to read this work and it is well deserved. An emotionally powerful, epic tale of an incredible woman with an indomitable will, spirit and clarity of mind. The book is a complete saga of incredible magnitude and powerful impact that will not be forgotten. I am a fan, Adrian Selby, incredibly well written, well done. I look forward to reading more of your work asap. Thank you.

[Steffan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.33/5 stars
A very atmospheric and personal story. Teyr Amondson may be one of the best developed characters I've ever read about.

[Dustin]

Drew wrote a fantastic review. Check it out if you're into epic, war-torn fantasy!


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