Cover Image: Daughter of Redwinter

Daughter of Redwinter

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A couple of weeks ago, a publicist from Tor reached out asking if I’d be interested in reading Daughter of Redwinter. I, of course, said yes. I’m still new to the reviewing scene, and honestly, I’m going to take just about any book that Tor offers me. They consistently put out amazing fantasy / sci-fi books, and well, I want them to like me. I knew absolutely nothing about Daughter of Redwinter before going in. I had no expectations, honestly.

DAAAAAAANG was this book right up my alley. Daughter of Redwinter reminded me a lot of Mistborn and of The Old Kingdom series. The mystery at the core of the plot reminded me of Mistborn, and the main character’s powers reminded me of the necromancers from The Old Kingdom. If you like those books, you’ll like this one without question.

Look, I grew up on strong female protagonists, and Raine more than fits the bill. She reminded me so much of Sabriel and Vin (from Mistborn) that I couldn’t help but love her. To keep things as vague as possible — Raine witnesses something awful, and becomes the only person who can save a good man from being blamed for something he did not do. She has a rather neat power — she can see the dead. (However, this power is highly vilified, and she has to keep it a secret, or her life would be forfeit.) Raine is a little broken on the inside, but through the course of the novel, she works through it. She’s sassy, slow to trust, and surprisingly not good at everything. Needless to say, I really liked her.

The supporting characters are good, but many of them are rather flat. However, I’m fairly certain they were written this way because for a good chunk of the book, Raine is keeping them at distance. Remember how I said she was slow to trust? Yeah, she has a good reason for it. People have to prove to her they’re worth her trust, and it takes a good chunk of the novel for her to get there.

The entire plot of Daughter of Redwinter wraps up very, very nicely at the end. So much so that I have no idea what the second novel is going to be about — and there’s definitely going to be a second novel. This is no doubt the set-up novel to a series, and one that I will absolutely be following.

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Just couldn't get into the writing style of this book, it never really jelled with it, there never seemed to be the right amount of description. But the story itself was interesting and action packed.

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The world building in Daughter of Redwinter gives way to something that can be massive and very intricate. Which is something that myself and many others enjoy. The Faded are interesting creatures which in the end can make or break the series depending on how they’re used.

I haven’t read much of the main character trope being able to talk to the dead. But I like how the “magic system” (for lack of a better word). Is used where Raine cannot fully control her gift/curse.

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"Those who see the dead soon join them.

From the author of the critically-acclaimed Blackwing trilogy comes Ed McDonald's Daughter of Redwinter, the first of a brilliant fantasy series about how one choice can change a universe.

Raine can see - and speak - to the dead, a gift that comes with a death sentence. All her life she has hidden, lied, and run to save her skin, and she’s made some spectacularly bad choices along the way.

But it is a rare act of kindness - rescuing an injured woman in the snow - that becomes the most dangerous decision Raine has ever made.

Because the woman is fleeing from Redwinter, the fortress-monastery of the Draoihn, warrior magicians who answer to no king, and who will stop at nothing to reclaim what she’s stolen. A battle, a betrayal, and a horrific revelation force Raine to enter the citadel and live among the Draoihn. She soon finds that her secret ability could be the key to saving an entire nation.

Though she might have to die to make it happen..."

Come on, necromancer or those with necromantic abilities are damn cool.

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I received an eARC from Net galley

I am mixed on this book… it has a really strong start and a fairly decent finish. But the middle of the story got fairly repetitive. Raine as the main character at times felt like she wasn’t even the main character. Almost as if she is playing the second fiddle in her own story. That said this has very strong Farseer vibes and I drew MANY correlations to Raine and Fitz.

Some of the characters in the story could have also used a bit
More work looking at you Otivus you walking cardboard cutout stereotype… also I could have just done without any of the relationships in this book. Most of it was cringy or just made me roll my eyes. If I have to read about a man slapping his woman and apologizing one more time this month. It’s been in like 3 of my books.

With the negatives out of the way I want to discuss the
Positives. First of all the magic system is cool and really fun. I also liked the concept of hidden people. Redwinter is well-realized and I enjoyed the political elements. The historical elements of the book I found super interesting and wanted to dive even deeper into the ancient lore.

Like I said I am fairly mixed on this book but I never wanted to give up 3.5/5 is my final rating for the Daughter of Redwinter.

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Daughter of Redwinter is a fun read with an engaging protagonist and a cool setting and magic system. I wasn’t sure if I would like the book at the beginning, but as it picked up I began to enjoy it more and more. Fans of Mark Lawrence’s Red Sister and Jay Kristoff’s Nevernight are sure to enjoy Daughter of Redwinter. I’m a sucker for a strong female protagonist learning how to be stronger story structure.

A full review will be posted to Grimdark’s website at a later date (written by Steve Green).

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This was my first book by Ed McDonald, but after reading it I will need to look into his previous series. I requested this book initially because of the description but missed at the post that it is the first book in a series. That being said it does stand alone fairly well, but I kept watching my percent remaining drop and knowing some of the story would have to wait.
About the story itself: Raine is a young lady who has had a tough life... made more so by her choices (such as running away at age 13). She has the special power (which she must keep hidden) of seeing the ghosts of the dead. When we meet Raine she is with a group that includes her older lover (ew, a 29 year old with a 17 year old? In love since she was 13? Got worried about what kind of book this was at that point, it isn't that kind though). She is a strong female lead as the book progresses and take a somewhat more traditional fantasy path of hero in training.
The secondary characters were less fleshed out since the story was told from a first person perspective (Raines). We do find out more about each of them as the story processes, including since hints as to roles they might take in later volumes. We discover everything about these other characters at the same time as Raine except for what we can guess from their actions.
The primary antagonist in this novel could almost be considered "the system"... in this case the rules and laws about how people should behave or be treated in this society. This means that the world building was very important. I have to say that it was obvious that the author did spend a lot of time thinking about his world and how things should work. There are a couple quibbles I have about his decisions about the number of magical people, but I didn't write the book. I am willing to trust that he had his reasons. The rest of the world building was pretty solid without an overabundance of exposition except when it truly made the story flow more logically.
All in all a very decent read and about a 3.75 star. I look forward to reading the next book in the series when it is released.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.
#daughterofredwinter #netgalley

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“I had made dust of men.”

I have very mixed feelings about Daughter of Redwinter. Mainly because I really disliked the first have of the book but the second half was pretty good, which is why I’m giving it three stars instead of two.
The main character, Raine, has the ability to see the dead - a trait that is punishable by death. Through a series of events and tragedies, she ends up as the companion of the group of people who would most severely punish her for her unwanted gift if they knew she possessed it.
All of this is well and good, except that Raine is largely unlikable through most of the book despite how much you feel like the author is trying to make her a “badass.” It felt like they were trying to use a lot of the elements readers love about female-driven fantasy, without ever successfully implementing them. The lore was also not well explained and made a lot of the fantasy aspects confusing.
That being said, the last half to third of the book was interesting and had some fun plot points as well as a bit of character development.
While it wasn’t especially for me, if you want to give this one a shot, be sure to check it out when it’s released, June 28!

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I want to make it known that I DNF'd this book at 35% completion. I really wanted to like this book as it was one of my more anticipated books for the year, but I don't think it was for me. I loved the idea that the main character struggles with her own internal battles while also trying to navigate a world that want people with her abilities dead. Having someone dealing with the issues that she does provides more representation in the genre for those with similar problems. I also loved the magic system. It felt similar to anime or litRPG magic systems.
What really didn't work for me was the pacing and some of the world building. The book opens up with some good action to both introduce the world, the initial conflict, and the magic systems, but after that the pacing slows down a lot. I understand that it had to slow down a bit to get us acclimated with the current cast, but when an action sequence occurs everything is happening very quickly just to slow right back down for a long time. I feel like something more in the middle of the two would have been a better pace to have the entire story flow through. While I did enjoy aspects of the world, some things were a bit confusing. There are two characters that share very similar names and I got them swapped more than a few times before realizing who was whom. Also, there are a lot of names of people, places and events that are tossed at me with little to know explanation or backstory on their relevance. It felt more like a way to try and make the world feel more expansive and lived in, but missed on that mark.
Honestly, I think this series has a lot of potential to be great. The concepts are there and the execution is for the most part. The worldbuilding issues is more nitpicky and something that doesn't change my overall feeling about the book, but the pacing really just wore me down. It ended up just not being for me in this present time, but I may come back to it when I am looking for something much more slow paced than I am used to.

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I am always on the lookout for new fantasy/science fiction authors. I decided to give this one a try based on the reviews of another trilogy by the author. Unfortunately, this was a slog to get through. The author’s writing style was unengaging to me and the pace of the book was very slow. Other reviewers have given it a much higher rating, but I would suggest checking it out from you local library once it is published before purchasing it for your own library.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog.

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Thank you to TOR for an ARC i nechange for an honest review.

The cover is the first thing thatp ulled me to this book, and then the syopsis. I was really curious about it, and I was really excited to dive in, but I fear this book suffers osmething not altogether uncommon in the adult fantasy realm:

cishet white male author syndrome.

I could be gentler, maybe, but this book told from the POV of a girl, Raine, who can see ghosts, felt like it fell into that pit of endless despair. For instance, it starts off with Raine in an abusive relationship...and throughout.

You chose to tell this book from the POV of a woman, and put her in an abusive relationship???

And from there, it just went downhill.

We are also thrust immediately into action with no explanations for well over 15% of the book, and I kept reading, hoping eventually I would understand what the hell was going on.

Unfortunately, just a very disappointing experience.

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Ed McDonald is awesome! As soon as I started book 1 of his previous trilogy, Blackwing, I knew I had found an author who's writing style and pacing just "clicked" for me. I devoured the dark narrative, loved the bleakness of the world, gritty characters, powerful magic, and fast-paced storytelling.

I knew going in that this book wasn't as "Dark" as the Raven's Mark trilogy, but was still eager to read more of his work. It didn't matter what it was, just give me more Ed McDonald! Thankfully, I was not let down!

The world crafted here is rich in history. For the most part, the lore gets sprinkled throughout natural conversation and doesn't feel too forced. Even though there was at least one "exposition dump" type scene, it made sense in the narrative so I didn't mind it. Having a dramatis personae is always appreciated, but I didn't find myself using it all that often.

The magic system featured here was very cool as well, and reminds me of a Brandon Sanderson system (a good thing). Having powers restricted to different levels (or gates, as they are known in the book) and restricting the most powerful levels to a select few helps keep the protagonist from feeling like a typical overpowered "chosen one", even though there are certain abilities that set her apart from others, she's just a scared girl, discovering who she is and trying to find a place to belong.

I do feel that the pacing in the book suffers just a bit when compared to Blackwing, in that the mid-section of the book did drag a bit. The middle section of the book when Raine is just learning her new place in this world just felt a bit slow to me. But the exciting beginning of the book already had me hooked and I never wanted to quit, and I finished it the day after starting.

The protagonist is a teenage girl, and the book is told from a first-person perspective. So naturally, we get a lot of introspection from her, seeing things and feeling things as teenagers do.. This book almost seems to be aiming for YA, even though I don't believe it's being marketed as such (and really doesn't matter since it's all just marketing, anyway!). Nevertheless, I probably wouldn't have read it if not for the author, but I'm glad I did!

I felt the ending was very strong, my only complaint being a trope of the protagonist arriving JUST in the nick of time to hear the big bad's speech to a hostage, revealing their sinister plan The timing there just seemed a little too convenient. though it is definitely "Book One" of a new series. The current issue was wrapped up nicely, but Raine's journey is clearly just beginning. I'll definitely read the next one as soon as it's available!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to receive an advance copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

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This one was a good read, not my favorite as it was a tiny bit slow but I did enjoy it! I think it was my mood unfortunately but overall, I really do enjoy tor books! I think this will do really well when it’s released!!

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3.5 stars for now.

Daughter of Redwinter is a tough book to review. It's been a roller coaster of YES, AMAZING! to hmm to YES, AMAZING AGAIN! to .. do I want to even continue with this series. After spending a couple of weeks reflecting , I can say with some confidence that not only am I looking forward to continuing with The Redwinter Chronicles, but I've developed a strong appreciation for McDonald's writing style.

The story starts off incredibly strong. We're thrown right into action of an already established journey. Our MC, Raine, can see and speak to the dead with rather disastrous results. There are gods, or god-like creatures and powerful unknown magic users. Its well-paced and enticing and then...

It comes to a crashing halt. Like a turtle, we crawl through the middle part of the story, information gathering at its finest. We learn about Redwinter and the different clans. We meet interesting new characters and love interests. We.. kind of learn about a very intricate magic system. All through the lens of someone who cares and does not care (for very good reason). The story eventually crescendos to match the pace of the beginning; filled with a bunch of twists and turns for an exciting and satisfying conclusion.

As slow as the middle part of this book was, I found it fitting. I truly believe that the uneven pacing of the plot is a reflection upon Raine's character arc. Its a 1:1 for her mental and emotional states. Because of events, she views her new life in a thick fog. Both caring and not caring about her situation and those around her, and its not until she breaks through that does the pacing of the story change. I think it is something I will appreciate more on second read (and if so, I will up the stars of this review).

All in all, I really did enjoy Daughter of Redwinter. It felt more like a prequel than first book in a series, however, which makes me quite excited for the second book. I think the sequel will be very exciting and all the tidbits that we're giving in book 1 will have great pay off in book 2.

Thank you Netgalley and Tor for the ARC!

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A girl who can see and speak to the dead, a war, deadly secrets, and a cult. With no one to trust and so many plots happening, Raine will have to navigate unknown terrain, relationships, and deciding who she can truly trust. One day when Raine rescues a woman fleeing from Redwinter, a fortress-monastery of the Draoihn, a warrior magician group who answer to no king and will stop at nothing to reclaim what this fleeing woman has stolen. Raine rescues her and takes her back to her to be healed, Raine is in an abusive and toxic relationship with the leader of her group who hits her and treats her like a child. When the Draoihn come seeking to reclaim the woman and what she stole Raine’s people are suddenly fighting against them, but admist the battle something terrible is unleashed and Raine’s entire group is slain except for her. Now she is taken back to enter the citadel and live with the Draoihn. There she discovers that her secret abilities could save an entire nation... except her powers would get her killed here if anyone finds out and she must also navigate difficult power dynamics within the monastery, especially between a childish future ruler and his quiet warrior cousin who seems to want to keep his distance from her. The story had an interesting start but started to lag in the middle but picked up in the end again. The tone is quite dreary and while I was interested in the magic system and what was occurring with the ghost and the dead spirits, I had to constantly remind myself not to be annoyed with people and their decisions, particularly Raine, when she is in fact only a 17 year old girl still trying to find her place, trying to find people who will love and care for her, while juggling a dark secret. Overall, definitely an interesting start to the series and I will be looking forward to how the next book develops and how the characters grow.

*Thanks Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

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Raine is our teenage protagonist in this epic start to a new fantasy series. She is a young female with a dark secret. She is part of a cult that’s held up in a monastery as they await attack from forces trying to arrest their leaders. When trying to escape the group Raine comes across a young woman injured and fleeing from the Draiohn of Redwinter. Raine helps her and in the process gets mixed up with these warriors and our story goes from there.

I really enjoyed this story. I found Raine to be a great protagonist. Often with teenage protagonists I find them hit and miss, but Raine was a character I quickly got interested and invested in. She possesses a power that allows her to see the ghosts of the dead and sometimes interact with them; a power hated and forbidden in the society of the story. The journey Raine goes through is full of action, pain and emotion and I loved following her as she learns where she wants to make her stand in the world. The story really is a coming of age tale that deals with healing after trauma and finding your place. Raine is a great example of a strong female lead, something I always love to see in a fantasy book.

The world building is done slowly and purposefully. The setting is really interesting and seems to me to be quite Celtic-inspired. The world of the story is split into the realm we all live in and another realm that’s inhabited by demons and ghostly beings. I won’t go into too much detail as it’s best to discover it for yourself. There is heaps of potential for the lore of this world to take so many different directions.

The author feeds the reader just enough information to grab your attention and never too much all at once. I never felt like I was getting ‘info-dumped’ and I loved how we discovered things slowly and naturally, along with the characters and the story. There was just the right balance between exposition and story-telling; something that’s tricky to do in fantasy when there are so many things to explain..

The story has a lot of the feel of a mystery tale as well, much more than a classical fantasy story. It has so many twists and turns. Whenever I thought I had figured out what was going to happen I was taken by surprise.

The only improvements I have were that at times the pace was a bit up and down and things sometimes felt disjointed.

This was my first book by this author, but it definitely won’t be my last. I would recommend this book to any fantasy reader.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the review copy.

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My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Macmillan- Tor/Forge for an advanced copy of this fantasy adventure novel.

First books in a fantasy series can be hard books to write, and sometimes hard to read. A writer has to paint a new world, one that might be familiar with sword and magic, but one that is unique to the writer. The book has to explain the good, the bad, the gods, the magic if any, the land and politics sometimes, even food and clothing. How to explain all this and not bore the reader with so much dull information. Few writers can just drop a reader into the story and let everything unfold slowly with mysteries and plenty moments of awe to keep a person reading. Ed McDonald is one of those authors who can do this difficult feat and Daughter of Redwinter goes from the first page to the last never bogging down, and clearly explaining everything a reader needs, with a nice little mystery to boot.

We first met our main character Raine as she is seeking back way out of siege that she has found herself in, due to the stubborn pride of their leader who she is currently in a relationship with. Neither the siege, nor the relationship is very good for her. Raine comes across a woman, wounded in the snow, and tries to aid her against her pursuers. Raine is helped by a woman with feathers that only she can see, helping Raine and the wounded girl escape. Things go wrong and Raine is scarred both on her face and her mind, but unlocking gifts she had no idea she had. This leads her to Redwinter, home of the Draoihn warrior magicians who work to master the gates of the mind and reality, who Raine hopes will train her. However Raine has another secret, she can see the dead, a crime that has only one penalty, death.

The book tells quite a bit for only one novel. Honestly the first third of the book would be a trilogy for other writers. There is quite a lot of thought and ideas here, but they never get in the way of the story. Nothing drags, and the narrative explains as it goes, but in a very easy style that does not overwhelm. Raine is a fascinating character, one who has been damaged and abused by almost everyone she has interacted with, and she changes and it makes sense why and how she changes throughout the story. The characters are all unique and different, and very inclusive, and not in a hey look at me way, but in everything works in the story kind of way. The world is a world I want to know more about, as is the magic of the gates and the power that Redwinter has. I would like to know more about this world.

A very good debut of a series that I think a lot of people will be talking about. The story is really good, and interesting and never sags or bogs down. This is the first thing I have read by Ed McDonald, but I plan to be reading a lot more. For fans of well thought out, well- written fantasy adventures.

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Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this e-galley to review.

Raine is trying to find a way for her and her group to escape from a besieged fortress when she discovers an injured woman. Attempting to help the injured woman backfires and leads to the death of the rest of her group. Afterwards, she is taken to Redwinter, the center for a group of quasi-religious magic users called the Draiohn. In Redwinter, she discovers a threat to the clan that has taken her in. Underlying all this, Raine has a forbidden power and if it is discovered she can see the dead, the very people she is trying to help will put her to death.

Now for the review. First of all, I would like to start with the content warning that Raine begins the story in an abusive relationship and references to the abuse are found throughout the book. Raine has an unfortunate background (beyond just the abuse I mentioned), and generally lacks agency due to a combination of status (younger/weaker/lower class than those around her) and mental illness (trauma/depression to the point one of the other characters mentally cauterizes her emotions to prevent her from committing suicide, which then leads to a lack of empathy for others). Several other reviewers have mentioned that it is difficult to sympathize with Raine and her choices, but I think that was deliberate on the part of the author due to the aforementioned trauma. The ending of the book should mean that future installments will be better in that sense as it is shows that Raine has some emotional healing. However, part of it is also that Raine is 17, and while the author takes pains to tell us that adulthood is 15 in this world, the bulk of the characters are in their late teens/early twenties with the mentality that accompanies that, not the more mature mindset that you would expect from a group of theoretical adults.

The world building was sometimes confusing. I am giving the benefit of doubt here and going to assume that the reader’s confusion over the magic system is done deliberately to reflect the fact that the main character also does not understand it, but given that magic is a major driving point in the story, it made it sometimes difficult to follow what was happening.

Overall, the book was fairly easy to read and I finished it over the course of two days. It was a rather grim book in tone, but there were interesting side characters that I enjoyed, I understood why Raine was meant to be difficult to empathize with, and the latter part of the book leads me to think that future installments will address a lot of these issues. If you enjoy darker fantasy fiction series, this may be one that you will enjoy, particularly as the series continues and the characters and world develop further.

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A Hero's Journey
A young woman with a deadly secret talent and a valuable ability must hide the former while exploring the later. Secret societies and political intrigue vie with a coming of age story set in a high fantasy

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TL;DR: I loved this book.

I really enjoyed Ed McDonald's first series, The Raven's Mark (Blackwing, Ravencry, Crowfall), and so I was excited to see that he had a new book coming out. I don't normally get involved with advanced copies - I have enough books to work through, and don't like the pressure of having to read to a schedule, but I couldn't resist giving this a go as soon as possible.

This has a very different feel to The Raven's Mark, primarily because the protagonist is very different. McDonald gives us a young female lead for this tale, and I think it really pays off. Some of my favourite fantasy tales have female main characters - I'm thinking of Mark Lawrence's The Book of the Ancestor and Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn. In fact, the vibe (though not the writing style) of this book is pretty similar to Lawrence's The Book of the Ancestor - a young, female protagonist who feels out of place in the situation they are in.

The book follows a familiar pattern for opening books in fantasy series - we get a spate of action early in the book, then relax into a period of gentle character-building, before building to another crescendo of action towards the end of the book. I know some aren't keen on the quieter sections, but I love the work that goes into both the character- and world-building in this book, and found it enriching.

Daughter of Redwinter has a relatively small cast of characters, most of whom are roughly of an age with the main character; young adults finding their way in life. There is a fairly even split of male and female characters developed in the story, and I found them wonderfully written.

The magic system is intriguing, but not developed too much in this story; I assume that more will come in later books in the series. What was presented was pretty simple to follow, and worked well to support the story, rather than be the main point of it.

Look, overall, I really enjoyed this book, and would recommend it to all fantasy readers.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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