This was a revelation! It was briefly mentioned in a Sci Fi and Fantasy books webinar I watched at work but the cover and description caught my eye immediately. This takes place over three distinct time periods and tells the story of the first werewolf, loosely (very loosely) based on the account of the Beast of Gevaudan. Our main hero is a seemingly immortal sorcerer who takes his demon inhabitant along with him when the son of the man he originally fought the beast with hunts him down and tells him that things are amiss again in the wilds of France and a beast is hunting again. I don't want to spoil too much of what happens, because it is excellent. Sullivan's writing is decadent and hedonistic, all while keeping the threads of the story and the disparate timelines from tangling. I will say that I have recently lamented the lack of satisfying build up to the end of a story but Sullivan did an amazing job building this tale to a climax. I only wish it was the start of a series!

I love epistolary fiction. I love footnotes in fiction. These devices were used to great effect in this work, and I couldn't get past the literal first page before I stopped someone and made them listen to a quote. I took longer than needed to finish this, just because I didn't want it to end. I know sometimes it's easy to say, "this felt like a fully realized world", but I cannot overstate how well developed the lore, background, and magic system felt. I felt like I popped my head into a little bubble world, watched something unfold, and then had to get back in time for dinner and forever wonder what happened next. I've already recommended this to people and I can't wait to get a copy for my bookshelf to lend out. I thoroughly enjoyed the mash up of mythology, alchemy, and science. Alongside the interesting magic and science was the mixing of a real story and people I recognize with other characters that felt just as grounded in our world. Fantastic. Please write more in this world.

SO THIS RULED??????????????????????

I could not put this down, I was looking forward to every lunch break so that I could read more. I have long been interested in the case of la bete du gevaudan, it blends many areas that fascinate me. I was beyond excited to come across a queer historical dark fantasy inspired by the tale, and even more excited that it was SO good. I absolutely loved this.

The vibes? Gothic Terry Pratchett.

I was equally intrigued by all 3 timelines. I found Sebastian to be a wonderful MC, I adored him. Also, I thought it was an very interesting way to incorporate multiple pantheons and mythologies into a cohesively blended human history. Sarmodel -- loveeeee. As much as the love and story between Sebastian and Antoine was emotional and interesting, I was just so in love with the love story between Sebastian and Sarmodel. Their dynamic was everything to me. I know this is such a far out read I should have a more well-thought out and well-written review. But the fact of the matter is that I just loved this so much that I'm kind of speechless.

If you like historical horror, interesting magic systems, doomed love, snarky buddy cop antics, stories that are so grand but are ultimately, and their heart, about human nature and connection -- this one is for you. I cannot recommend it enough. It is definitely my favorite book I've read this year so far.

This book is FANTASTIC. I work in a library and read a lot and tend to be fairly jaded about books I think are really, definitively good. This one is. I can't say enough good about it, the humor, the relationships between the characters, the engagement with medieval/renaissance legend. I love it all. I love that some things just ARE and they are not explained, it can be a hard world building line to walk and Sullivan does a beautiful job with it. I'm dying for a sequel.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Tor for giving me the opportunity to read this gritty yet darkly comedic fantasy early!

Truly a grimdark story that doesn't shy away from gore but one that also felt nostalgic, like the Grimm fairy tales we grew up reading but with a little more comedy and romance threaded throughout. A retelling of The Beast of Gevaudan, this book follows an immortal magician who is battling and living alongside demons both mental and real (even if they do live in his head) as he recounts for the reader the true story of one of his worst failings in a fruitless quest for power. In the years before the French Revolution, Sebastian enters a royal hunt for what local Gevaudan townspeople are calling the Beast. At first, he assumes it will be a lark or fun adventure and maybe he can get close to the handsome young lord, Antoine, but quickly he realises something more sinister is at play and it may even have roots in previous mishaps and misadventures (perhaps too light a phrase for what actually happened) of his.

Expertly told through a non-linear timeline, Sebastian recounts his first encounters with the Beast twenty years earlier, its roots in Ancient Rome and with Jeanne d'Arc to Antoine's son when he comes to request his help with the Beast once more. Ancient myths and theologies collide as we as readers are absorbed into Sebastian's world and introduced to his world's unique magic system where souls have power and are always for the taking.

While I was engrossed in the story and do love a non-linear timeline, especially for how--when done well--they can create a really powerful reveal (or two), I do think the flashbacks to Jeanne d'Arc's story could have been compressed. Towards the end of the book, these flashbacks just pulled me out of the main story a little too much, and they were spaced out far enough that at times I forgot details about what came in the previous flashbacks and I lost the thread of the story at times. While the reveal paid off, I do think certain sections could have been more concise.

For fans of classic (if lesser known) fairy tale retellings as well as gristly stories that refuse to shy away from the monsters life can make of humans and all the monstrous things we are capable of, definitely pick this up!

I have mixed feelings about this book. I’ll start with what I enjoyed. I enjoyed the dark and gritty atmosphere and the biting wit of the main characters. In many ways, the vibes of this book felt similar vibes to Jay Kristoff’s Empire of the Vampire and The Witcher. I also enjoyed the mystery elements of the story primarily figuring out who the Beast of Gevaudan was and Sebastian’s backstory.

What didn’t work for me, was that this book felt more horror than fantasy. And had more gore than I was comfortable with. However, that was a me problem and if you enjoy horror, I doubt you will be put off by the gore and horror elements of the book. But a more general criticism I had of the book was that I felt some of the world building was lacking. I found the mix of demonology and mythology confusing and hard to follow. And more than once it almost felt like there should have been an earlier book of Sebastian’s exploits that the author expected the reader to have read.

The Red Winter is such a mix-bag of a book, a rollercoaster ride of viscera, sarcasm, and heartwrenching tenderness if you will. Truly, I'd never taken such a wilder ride, and I was so unprepared for any of it. The animal deaths? I should have seen that one coming. The suggestive incest? Oh My God. I may have dreamed that one up. The gore? So much gore and everyone's innards do be flying -- please be warned. The whimsy? Hello? So much whimsy? Sebastian Grave is my favourite type of whimsical man. And the yearning? It's Top tier, Interview with the Vampire-type of obsession. We may not have vampires here, but we have immortals, werewolves and demons, so it's kinda balanced out.

Truly, you'll have to experience this book for yourself to understand. I'm still gathering my thoughts as I don't know where I stand on it yet. I'm also caught up on the non-linear narration and the fact that the plot is just pure vibes if you “put your glasses on”, but Sebastian is giving me such a great time that I’m willing to abandon my judgment just for him.

Read this book if the synopsis is something that caught your eye. Just please beware that it can get very dark (the animal deaths are no joke! it includes horses and dogs!) but it is also not as serious and grim as you would think (exhibit A: Sebastian Grave). Do be strapped in for the ride.

The divine and the monstrous clash in a blood-soaked war over the soul of humanity in this hauntingly brilliant, stunning origin of the werewolf story from debut author Cameron Sullivan. Saints, sinners, generals, and martyrs span eons as they ferret out buried bones and demons wearing human faces scattered across the globe.

The Red Winter ravages and haunts! It will stick with you long after you close its pages. The distorted tale of angels, demons, and humans fighting for power is, at its heart, a story of love and possession. What does it take to protect the ones we love? What happens when they see the monsters within us?

I ripped through this feral story of love and possession-- I've never read anything like it and won't ever forget it!

The Red Winter sets a high bar for itself with historical horror, romance, multiple timelines and an irreverent immortal narrator. I live for first person novels this assured. The voice feels so genuine, the time jumps and footnotes genuine and never jarring. I'll admit to being more of a vampire than a werewolf fan, but this: horrifically sad and gruesome is exactly what I want werewolves (or something like them) to be. The crossroads of fantasy and horror is a sweet spot for me, and this is exactly that. Plus I'm a sucker for martyrs, relics and angry dying gods, so this was always going to hit me where I lived. There were a few elements that hit less than perfectly for me, many of them around the women in the book and elements of the ending, but nothing that would take away from what was ultimately exactly what it promised and more than I'd dared to expect.

I found this book to be an enjoyable read. The story kept me engaged from start to finish and had some moments that really stood out. Overall, it offered an entertaining reading experience.

Quick very high level summary.
An Historical Fantasy retelling of The Beast of Gévaudan. Yes please. In the year of 1764 a man-eating creature is terrorizing the French province of Gévaudan. The attacks are brutal, with many victims suffering decapitation or having their throats torn out. The hunt is on for the killer, be it animal, man or something more.

My Take.
Epic fantasy, beautifully macabre, with a hint of gothic vibes and vivid body horror that makes you feel completely immersed. The historical information was extremely well done. I am no history scholar by any means but I enjoyed the way the author added these tidbits of information to help add authenticity to the story. The writer gives us clever wit and well timed bits of humor while keeping the reader on their toes and wanting. This book will give you a little bit of everything while trampling your emotions and leaving you questioning what is historical fact or fantasy. I expected this to be an interesting read but I was not expecting it to be such a well written and immersive historical horror with world building to rival well known epic fantasy writers out today.

The writing for this book is great; however, I realized that this book wasn't for me. Not in the way I thought it was going to be. There were a lot of moving parts that were hard to follow at first. I liked that it had the definition/explanations at the end of the chapter; those did help. I think for me, there was a lot of build-up before it got anywhere that kept my attention. Perhaps I wasn't in the right mood or mindset. But I loved what this book has to offer, and I can see so many people liking this book!

Thank you, Netgalley, for the ARC.

Entrenching from the very first page, THE RED WINTER weaves a tale across the ages with juicy, delightful worldbuilding that's unforgettable. I'm desperate for a sequel.

This was an incredible and unexpected adventure. I went into it thinking it would be a “normal” historical-epic fantasy, but I was pleasantly surprised! This book is part adventure, part romance, part horror, part comedy, and part historical fantasy, a really ambitious mix.

I picked up the first chapter on a whim, just to get a feel for the book, and I was so entertained and engrossed that I dropped all the other books to keep reading.

It’s incredible that this is a debut. The author did an amazing job creating a rich, complex world and compelling characters. I especially loved the bond between the protagonist and the inhuman entity only Sebastian can see and communicate with, it reminded me a lot of Sancia and Clef in Foundryside, The daek comedy is gold, the plot, worldbuilding, and magic system are all intriguing and well-developed.

The only real issue I had was with the pacing and the narrative direction. Just when I thought I understood where the story was going, it shifted, again and again. I expected the present timeline to be the main focus, but we spent most of the book in the past. I thought it would be an adventure story, then it pivoted to focus on romance, and so on. These shifts weren’t badly done, but they threw me off. Also, I personally didn’t enjoy the Joan of Arc storyline.

4.25/4.5 rounded down. Thank you Tor, the author and netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review. I loved this and I'm curious to see what else Cameron Sullivan will write.

This book was epic. I just can't get over it and how much it truly affected me. Queer historical novels are so hard to come by and this one just really hit everything I like. The prose is powerful and evenly paced. I just loved it so much.

This was nothing that I expected, but an excellent read. The prose is beautiful, it's filled with humor and wit, and the monsters aren't all that you'd expect. While I was hoping for a touch more horror, since that's where I found the book through Netgalley, I was entranced with how wonderfully written this was and burned through it in three days. The dual inhabiting concept with the demon was masterfully done, and the relationship between them both poignant and terrifying. I've never read anything from Sullivan before this, but will be watching closely to see where he goes from here.

Oh my god, I am so unwell. This I finish this book or did it finish me?

The Red Winter is a queer, dark, historical fantasy. And this may sound like a niche recommendation, but this one is for the readers who are fascinated with mythological roots of gods. It's a slower read, wrapped in mystery and intrigue, and yet I could not put this down from the first page. And most of all: this is not a romance, but this is a love story that will stick with me and go down as one of my favourites.

We follow Sebastian, a man who willingly shares his body with a demon. Sebastian is...old - not aging, but not quite immortal; Sarmodel, his demon, is even older. Sebastian's character is driven by his and Sarmodel's need to feed off of spiritual energy, but his narration still remains so full of humanity; Sarmodel is very much not human, but is still full of love for Sebastian. And the dynamic between them! Genuinely hilarious duo that also had me weeping at the bond between them at one point.

(It also contains one of my favourite tropes: Sebastian and Sarmodel do not seem particularly threatening from their own first person POV, but when we swap POVs for part of the story, we see just how intimidating and ruthless they can be.)

Sebastian is recounting his and Antoine's story, which is also the story of The Red Winter and the hunt for the Beast that plagues Antoine's village. I could talk for days about the world building and magic system here I genuinely enjoyed every part of it and the scope of the world Sullivan created, but the characters stole the show for me. The dynamics between the characters are messy, nuanced, and unique. I want to say more about the world and characters, but there is so much mystery and intrigue and longing and foreboding tragedy in the story that it's best to uncover this for yourself.

Apart from this story ripping my heart out (not unlike the Beast did to his victims), this was such a beautifully crafted story. The prose left me hanging on every word, the themes really worked for me, and it featured incredibly tight plot work (which, considering there were 3 alternating timelines and a few subplots in each, is impressive). It doesn't spoon feed you the answers and requires active thought and reader participation. I have absolutely no idea how this is Sullivan's debut book, but I am distraught I can't read more of his work.

While this was Antoine's story, and the romance between Sebastian and Antoine is truly the heart of it, there is definitely scope for more in this universe and Sebastian certainly has a lot more to tell us. I am nicely requesting/pledging my anima to whichever entity will listen that there will be more!

I received a free copy from Tor Books via Netgalley in exchange for a fair review. Publish date 24 February.

I was intrigued by this book's striking cover and historical fiction horror premise. In The Red Winter, immortal demon-possessed magician Sebastian Grave is dragged back to rural France confront the Beast he failed to kill twenty years ago. But can Sebastian survive confronting the demon that killed hundreds, the lover he left behind him, or the fatal mistakes he made decades ago?

The Red Winter is told through a series of three timelines: the current-day one set in 1760s France and two flashback timelines, one to what happened with the Beast twenty years before in Gevaudan, and another recounting how Sebastian first encountered the Beast in the time of Joan of Arc. The chapters are relatively short and switch timelines fluently, which serves to keep the plot moving despite the fact that the meat of the story is the near-past timeline, with very little happening in the present day except a road trip and Sebastian confronting the consequences of what he left undone twenty years before.

The magic system underpinning the worldbuilding is well-constructed, if relatively familiar. Demons feed on human anima to grow stronger, and since Sebastian is host to a demon, he must feed on demon and human "souls"--thus his interest in hunting a particularly powerful demon. In this setting, Christian and Greco-Roman mythology are incorporated as just another kind of demon, and one of Sebastian's major antagonists is the Archangel Michael, who's hunting the Beast as well as human souls to feed to his sleeping god.

However, Sebastian's position as an immortal magician older than Rome lends a detachment to his narration that isn't entirely to my taste. Not to mention his sense of superiority towards other humans exacerbated by the fact that his closest companion is a demon who refers to people as disposable "meatbags." This cruelty serves as an effective reminder that Sebastian is, after all, a monster who eats people, but it's not always a comfortable headspace to be in for over five hundred pages. Likewise, Sebastian's romance with Antoine, lord of Gevaudan, is recounted with a detachment which seems to stem with the text's fascinated disgust with sex, from the contempt for the sex demon Livia who Sebastian keeps enslaved, to the fixation on Joan of Arc's virginity, to the sneering attitude towards marital infidelity.

Not without flaws, but a striking work of historical horror grounded in excellent worldbuilding. The voices clamoring for gorier, more monstrous werewolf fiction will be well satisfied with this book.

I went into this book thinking I knew what was going to happen…. Boy was I wrong (in a great way). I was surprised every chapter and I was on the edge of my seat throughout the whole book.

I loved the romance, supernatural elements, and the historical setting. All around the perfect book for me. I loved all the characters despite their flaws - I hope there’s more to come I NEED to know what happens to the main character and his friends.

I did find myself getting confused or lost sometimes with the flashbacks or different POVs. I quickly would understand after a few sentences so it wasn’t too bad.

Overall one of my favorite books I’ve read so far, I thought it was such a unique story! Highly recommend!

The best debut I read in a long time and one of the best historical fantasy novels I read!

I could not put it down, each chapter suspenseful and entertaining.
I'm thrilled to read an author that does not shy from morally grey characters and their questionable choices: Sebastian is fallible and makes a series of bad decisions, I'm not sure if I trust his companions, and his love interest is only described through his lover's eyes (very movingly; and I loved the contrast between how Sebastian idealized his love vs. how he described Jacques; a young man who reminds him of the debts of the past). I loved side characters, each distinct and colorful. Some of them reminded me of my favorite novel ever, "Master and Margarita."

Three timelines merge flawlessly, the mystery is multi-layered, and there is so much potential for the sequels (I very much hope to see more of Sebastian and this world!) but the story feels complete. Plot twists were unexpected, some scenes very gore, but the internal monologue of Sebastian (and his... companion) was suprisingly entertaining and funny at times; only to be heartbreaking and moving other times.

World-building is exquisite, a treat for all fans of history and mythology: a retelling that helps you recognize all the main tropes and elements but twists things and unites various legends in a surprising way that makes it a delight to follow. At the same time, no background in 18th century France or Roman mythology (yes, it plays a role!) is required; Sebastian explains enough to follow and the things are distinct enough that prior knowledge of myths does not spoil the plot.

It's a story about monsters who desperately try to remain human; a story about following the heart vs longing for power; a story about impossible choices; and a story that reveals much higher stakes than initially outlined yet remains centered around the protagonists-their flaws and hopes and limitations.

I can't remember the last time I devoured the novel so quickly, so enchanted by it. Thank you Tor and Netgalley for the ARC copy and I can't recommend this upcoming release high enough.