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The Wind Reader
Stuck in a city far from home, street kid Doniver fakes telling fortunes so he can earn a few coins to feed himself and his friends. Then the divine Powers smile on him when he accidentally delivers a true prediction for the prince. Concerned about rumors of treason, the prince demands that Doniver use his "magic" to prevent harm from coming to the king, and so Doniver is taken--dragged?--into the castle to be the royal fortune teller. Now Doniver must decide where the boundaries of honor lie, as he struggles to work convincing magic, fend off whoever is trying to shut him up, and stop an assassin, assuming he can even figure out who the would-be assassin is. All he wants is to survive long enough to go home to the Uplands, but it's starting to look as if that might be too much to ask.
- GenresFantasyYoung Adult
202 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 28, 2018
5 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
Dorothy A. Winsor
13 books56 followersDorothy A. Winsor is originally from Detroit but now lives near Chicago. For about a dozen years, she taught technical writing at Iowa State University and served as the editor of the Journal of Business and Technical Communication. Before that, she taught for ten years at GMI Engineering & Management Institute (now Kettering). She's won six national awards for outstanding research on the communication practices of engineers. She lives with her husband, who engineers tractors, and has one son, the person who first introduced her to the pleasure of reading fantasy. Her novels include Glass Girl (2023), The Trickster (2021), The Wysman (2020), The Wind Reader (2018), Deep as a Tomb (2016), and Finders Keepers (2015). Published by Inspired Quill.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 18, 2020
3,5 stars
Thank you to Dorothy A. Winsor for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway.
CW/TW Mentioned Hangings / Mentioned (Sexual Abuse) / Mentioned Domestic Abuse
Last year I was offered this book to read for review and just judging on that cover, I knew I had to read it. (I never claimed not to be shallow like that). Even if at the time I didn’t know what the image meant to the book.
The Wind Reader is a standalone fantasy that focuses on Donniver. Donniver loses his father during travel, and because of a quarantine he cannot go home to the rest of his family. Instead he has to resort to living on the street with two other teenagers. Of course that does not quite go without a hitch and when he accidentally ends up giving the prince a true prophecy he is drawn into the politics of Rin and a big scheme.
This book is a very fine and solid fantasy that feels more towards the younger end of young adult. A great book to move from middle grade to young adult. It still has that true adventure feel that middle grade can have but doesn’t shy away from mentioning the harder topics of life as can be expected with young adult.
It is an easy book to get swept up into and one cannot help but feel for our 3 street kids. Donniver of course lost his father and has no way of getting to his family. Jarka has resorted to the streets as he cannot watch his cousin be abused by her husband. Dilly is an orphan who has lost her mother. There is a lot of hinting at (sexual) abuse in her past. Their friendship feels like the core of this book. Their loyalty, their vulnerability. Despite being thieves, as some would say, they do have morals. There is just no way out of their situation. And it is so easy to judge people for their decisions while you won’t even help them.
And there were more little things I liked in this book. Like Carl the personal guard to Prince Beran. Carl is fiercely protective and initially very suspicious of Donniver (and rightfully so). But his heart is in the right place. Beran wants what is best but as a prince in the court it is not easy to see what the outside world is like. And Carl’s father was a pure gem and I would have loved to have had more scenes with him.
However I do think that the world building lets this book down which is where my rating comes in. With just about 200 pages there was plenty of room to expand this story with world buidling. I don’t mean the plot, but to add things to help make this world come alive. I would have loved to have learned more about wind reading. How does it really work? And while it alludes to different kind of magic with prophecies (wysman) there just wasn’t much explanation.
The same goes for the world itself. The Outerlands seem to consist of 3 provinces/places. Rin the city, where the story takes place and the king resides. The Uplands where Donniver is from. Lac’s Holding, a place Rin has been in negotiation with for a while. It alludes to there having been one whole once at a time (which is why I say provinces) but that it fell apart. But there is not enough history in the book to have a good hold on what happened or why these negotiations are so important to Rin.
Overall though I do think this is a great book to pick up and dive into for an afternoon.
Thank you to Dorothy A. Winsor for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway.
CW/TW Mentioned Hangings / Mentioned (Sexual Abuse) / Mentioned Domestic Abuse
Last year I was offered this book to read for review and just judging on that cover, I knew I had to read it. (I never claimed not to be shallow like that). Even if at the time I didn’t know what the image meant to the book.
The Wind Reader is a standalone fantasy that focuses on Donniver. Donniver loses his father during travel, and because of a quarantine he cannot go home to the rest of his family. Instead he has to resort to living on the street with two other teenagers. Of course that does not quite go without a hitch and when he accidentally ends up giving the prince a true prophecy he is drawn into the politics of Rin and a big scheme.
This book is a very fine and solid fantasy that feels more towards the younger end of young adult. A great book to move from middle grade to young adult. It still has that true adventure feel that middle grade can have but doesn’t shy away from mentioning the harder topics of life as can be expected with young adult.
It is an easy book to get swept up into and one cannot help but feel for our 3 street kids. Donniver of course lost his father and has no way of getting to his family. Jarka has resorted to the streets as he cannot watch his cousin be abused by her husband. Dilly is an orphan who has lost her mother. There is a lot of hinting at (sexual) abuse in her past. Their friendship feels like the core of this book. Their loyalty, their vulnerability. Despite being thieves, as some would say, they do have morals. There is just no way out of their situation. And it is so easy to judge people for their decisions while you won’t even help them.
And there were more little things I liked in this book. Like Carl the personal guard to Prince Beran. Carl is fiercely protective and initially very suspicious of Donniver (and rightfully so). But his heart is in the right place. Beran wants what is best but as a prince in the court it is not easy to see what the outside world is like. And Carl’s father was a pure gem and I would have loved to have had more scenes with him.
However I do think that the world building lets this book down which is where my rating comes in. With just about 200 pages there was plenty of room to expand this story with world buidling. I don’t mean the plot, but to add things to help make this world come alive. I would have loved to have learned more about wind reading. How does it really work? And while it alludes to different kind of magic with prophecies (wysman) there just wasn’t much explanation.
The same goes for the world itself. The Outerlands seem to consist of 3 provinces/places. Rin the city, where the story takes place and the king resides. The Uplands where Donniver is from. Lac’s Holding, a place Rin has been in negotiation with for a while. It alludes to there having been one whole once at a time (which is why I say provinces) but that it fell apart. But there is not enough history in the book to have a good hold on what happened or why these negotiations are so important to Rin.
Overall though I do think this is a great book to pick up and dive into for an afternoon.
April 27, 2019
I wish I could remember whose recommendation sent me to this; I'd thank them! A really thoughtful and intelligent character-driven fantasy that reminded me of no lesser a luminary than Diana Wynne Jones (there's a lot of Dalemark about this).
November 5, 2018
What happened to my review?! and why doesn't Goodreads crosspost reviews of the same book between editions? This is actually the cover of the book I read, so I'm crossposting the review here.
A really solid, fun, old-fashioned fantasy--and I mean that in the best possible way. Though the story is a little simpler and therefore slants younger, I honestly think Megan Whalen Turner fans might enjoy "The Wind Reader" for the ethical questions it raises and the character of Doniver, farm boy turned street kid turned scam artist--to his great dismay. I think fans of Shannon Hale's "Princess Academy" series would enjoy it, too: as in Hale's series, learning is important and teenagers struggle to do what's right.
I won't give a plot summary, since you can get that elsewhere. But I'll note that I really liked the concept of honor in this story, and the contrast between the written and spoken word. I loved the three teenage street kids and their friendship, and I honestly loved the soldier Carl. He reminded me of Pol in Whalen Turner's "The Thief". Finally, the bittersweet ending is earned and genuinely touching. I'm happy to have found this author and will look for more of her books. (less)
A really solid, fun, old-fashioned fantasy--and I mean that in the best possible way. Though the story is a little simpler and therefore slants younger, I honestly think Megan Whalen Turner fans might enjoy "The Wind Reader" for the ethical questions it raises and the character of Doniver, farm boy turned street kid turned scam artist--to his great dismay. I think fans of Shannon Hale's "Princess Academy" series would enjoy it, too: as in Hale's series, learning is important and teenagers struggle to do what's right.
I won't give a plot summary, since you can get that elsewhere. But I'll note that I really liked the concept of honor in this story, and the contrast between the written and spoken word. I loved the three teenage street kids and their friendship, and I honestly loved the soldier Carl. He reminded me of Pol in Whalen Turner's "The Thief". Finally, the bittersweet ending is earned and genuinely touching. I'm happy to have found this author and will look for more of her books. (less)
November 6, 2018
4.5 stars!!
an exciting tale filled with intrigue and danger, but at its heart The Wind Reader is about love and loyalty, and what a hero must do when faced with difficult choices.
an exciting tale filled with intrigue and danger, but at its heart The Wind Reader is about love and loyalty, and what a hero must do when faced with difficult choices.
February 11, 2021
This book was pitched to me by someone who, upon being asked whether this was similar to BBC's Merlin, said "I haven't seen Merlin, but yes."
October 12, 2019
From the opening pages, I was completely captured by this character-driven story of political intrigue in a richly imagined fantasy setting where there are very apparent divides in society.
When Mountain Fever strikes, 15-year-old Doniver finds himself quarantined on Rin, separated from his mother and young sisters in the Uplands who he is desperate to return to, following a tragedy at sea which sees him lose his father, a man who instilled a sense of honour in him.
The rock solid center of a man is his honour, Doniver. You lose your honour, you lose yourself.
Doniver is a deeply sympathetic character: a survivor, full of grit and determination, battling with feelings of guilt and shame as he fights to survive and maintain his sense of self-worth amidst the hardships of street life.
Trapped and alone on the perilous streets of Rin, he meets two other street kids, Jarka and Dilly who befriend him. I loved the honesty and depth of their developing friendships, forged out of the deprivation faced on the streets and the need for human connection. Even though their friendships were sorely tested, the sense of loyalty they had towards each other was incredibly moving.
Jarka introduces Doniver to a way to survive, a way to earn money to stave off the desperate hunger he experiences and a way to provide for his new-found friends. In order to earn his keep, he feels compelled to pretend to be a wind reader by telling fortunes through a windbox. This deception causes him a real moral dilemma as lying costs him a loss of honour, but it is necessitated by a basic human desire to survive.
Wind-reading also puts him in the path of Prince Beran of Rinland, a meeting which puts him in very real danger … and propels him inexorably into a viper’s nest of political intrigue and religious persecution which makes this a real page-turner of a book which kept me engrossed as I journeyed with Doniver through the murky workings of court politics …
This story explores the almost impossible choices which are necessitated by misfortune and harsh deprivation, but which also celebrates the power of friendship and loyalty, and the strength inherent in honour and bravery.
Thank you to the author, Dorothy A Winsor and Inspired Quill for sending me an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
When Mountain Fever strikes, 15-year-old Doniver finds himself quarantined on Rin, separated from his mother and young sisters in the Uplands who he is desperate to return to, following a tragedy at sea which sees him lose his father, a man who instilled a sense of honour in him.
The rock solid center of a man is his honour, Doniver. You lose your honour, you lose yourself.
Doniver is a deeply sympathetic character: a survivor, full of grit and determination, battling with feelings of guilt and shame as he fights to survive and maintain his sense of self-worth amidst the hardships of street life.
Trapped and alone on the perilous streets of Rin, he meets two other street kids, Jarka and Dilly who befriend him. I loved the honesty and depth of their developing friendships, forged out of the deprivation faced on the streets and the need for human connection. Even though their friendships were sorely tested, the sense of loyalty they had towards each other was incredibly moving.
Jarka introduces Doniver to a way to survive, a way to earn money to stave off the desperate hunger he experiences and a way to provide for his new-found friends. In order to earn his keep, he feels compelled to pretend to be a wind reader by telling fortunes through a windbox. This deception causes him a real moral dilemma as lying costs him a loss of honour, but it is necessitated by a basic human desire to survive.
Wind-reading also puts him in the path of Prince Beran of Rinland, a meeting which puts him in very real danger … and propels him inexorably into a viper’s nest of political intrigue and religious persecution which makes this a real page-turner of a book which kept me engrossed as I journeyed with Doniver through the murky workings of court politics …
This story explores the almost impossible choices which are necessitated by misfortune and harsh deprivation, but which also celebrates the power of friendship and loyalty, and the strength inherent in honour and bravery.
Thank you to the author, Dorothy A Winsor and Inspired Quill for sending me an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
July 29, 2019
In The Wind Reader, beautiful language transports the reader to an imaginary world, made credible by exquisite detail, to follow the fortunes of a fifteen-year-old boy struggling to survive long enough to make it home.
I’m well past the target age for YA fiction, but really enjoyed this novel
I particularly enjoyed the theme of forging an identity separate from one’s parents through confronting moral and ethical issues, such as loyalty to what’s right versus loyalty to the tribe. Big issues, relevant at any age
What is YA fiction? https://annegoodwin.weebly.com/1/post...
I’m well past the target age for YA fiction, but really enjoyed this novel
I particularly enjoyed the theme of forging an identity separate from one’s parents through confronting moral and ethical issues, such as loyalty to what’s right versus loyalty to the tribe. Big issues, relevant at any age
What is YA fiction? https://annegoodwin.weebly.com/1/post...
November 30, 2019
If you like YA Fantasy adventures with magic and possible assassins, you may enjoy this one.
Unfortunately for me, I couldn't really dive into the story. There just didn't seem to have that click for me to really hone in on what was going on or care too much about the main character.
In the end, I gave this one 2 out of 5 stars. It just was one of those books that I couldn't get myself invested in.
Unfortunately for me, I couldn't really dive into the story. There just didn't seem to have that click for me to really hone in on what was going on or care too much about the main character.
In the end, I gave this one 2 out of 5 stars. It just was one of those books that I couldn't get myself invested in.
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November 19, 2018If you like scrappy street kids caught in political intrigue, with a smidge of magic (the prophetic wind reading of the title) you'll enjoy this. It didn't wow me, but it's a fine book; I'd say the audience is 10-14 year olds, so straddeling middle grade and YA
July 10, 2020
First, I would like to thank Inspired Quill for sharing a copy of The Wind Reader with me in exchange for an honest review. This was a quick read (about 200 pages) and I really enjoyed it! I had actually read this out of order (I read The Wysman first), but even knowing who the villain was, I was wrapped up in this book. The comradery between Jarka (!!) and Dilly and Donniver warmed my heart. It was nice getting more of Prince Beran in this book and the prince’s bodyguard (cough nanny) Carl grew on me.
I don’t want to give any spoilers, but the very end made me tear up. Winsor does an excellent job of writing realistic, well-developed, and complicated characters with their own back-stories and motivations. This was a great read and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a quick jaunt into a fantasy setting with a touch of magic, political intrigue, an assassination plot, and a likeable protagonist who is trying to find the balance between doing the right thing and surviving.
I don’t want to give any spoilers, but the very end made me tear up. Winsor does an excellent job of writing realistic, well-developed, and complicated characters with their own back-stories and motivations. This was a great read and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a quick jaunt into a fantasy setting with a touch of magic, political intrigue, an assassination plot, and a likeable protagonist who is trying to find the balance between doing the right thing and surviving.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews