Winterling gets its first review…
…and it’s a good one!
This is from Kirkus:
WINTERLING
Author: Prineas, Sarah
An atmospheric middle-grade fantasy ties the coming of age to the turning of the year.
Young Fer (short for “Jennifer”) loves her strict Grand-Jane and the herbal lore she teaches, but she feels more at home in the woods and fields than in the concrete and iron cage of her school. When she rescues the shapeshifting puck Rook, Fer opens a Way into a place of wild beauty, deep magic and strange half-human denizens. The land’s glamorous Lady claims friendship with Fer’s lost parents and begs her allegiance, but Fer senses something deeply wrong: something that holds Rook sullen and silent, forces the people into savagery and keeps the land in the grip of relentless winter… something that is now spreading to Fer’s home. Prineas calls upon Celtic (and a few Nordic) traditions to build a vivid fantasy world, steeped in pagan sensibilities, where the cycle of seasons resonates with the awakening of identity. The prose is lush and sensuous, evoking the sounds and tastes and scents of the natural world. Unusually, almost every character (except the puck-in-distress) is female, portrayed in all ages and roles—authority, hero, villain, mentor, warrior, healer, servant and goddess. Fer is herself brave and kind, but not unrealistically so; her magic is both matter-of-fact and a source of quiet joy.
There’s no flashy pyrotechnic wizardry to dazzle here, but the right readers will find refreshment in a tale as muted and miraculous as the return of spring. (Fantasy. 10-14)
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I especially love that the reviewer commented on the girl-power stuff, because that was a big part of what I wanted to do with this book.
Be sure to visit this blog again next week, ‘cos I’ll be giving away an ARC of Winterling.
11/09/2011 at 9:39 am
That sounds awesome 😀
Happy for you, hehe
11/09/2011 at 9:43 am
Thanks very much! Are you going to try for the ARC?
11/09/2011 at 9:47 am
Very big fan of ‘real’ fairy tales (celtic mythos and European folklore) so it sounds great. The reviewer has some nice things to say about your prose so it looks like you really succeeded in your goal creating a world that wasn’t just from one person’s point of view (like in Magic Thief). Excited to make this a family read come the new year!
11/09/2011 at 9:51 am
Thanks for coming over here to comment!
And yes–the reviewer picked up on exactly the things I was hoping to achieve with this book (including the “pretty writing” :D).
11/09/2011 at 11:01 am
What a great review! Congrats!
11/10/2011 at 10:10 pm
Thanks! It’s nice to see that the stuff I was trying to do with this book got through to at least one reader!
11/09/2011 at 1:12 pm
Wooot! What a fabulous review! Now I’m even MORE impatient to read Winterling (which is saying a lot!).
11/10/2011 at 10:08 pm
Thanks, Steph!
11/09/2011 at 8:01 pm
What a wonderful, smart review! Yay, girl power!!
11/10/2011 at 10:09 pm
Yay! Now I worry: may they all be as good!
11/10/2011 at 9:47 pm
Aw mannn I really can’t wait to read this! Congrats!
11/10/2011 at 10:09 pm
😀 Thanks! Not too long now–January 3rd is when it comes out.
11/11/2011 at 12:14 am
Oh, I like to read it even more now. Celtic and Nordic strains in the book are just several of things that tickle my curiosity Congrats! 🙂
11/11/2011 at 7:52 am
Great–thanks! Be sure to come back next week, because I’ll be giving away an ARC of the book, along with sneak-peeks. Cheers!
11/13/2011 at 9:30 am
This is great news! I’m sure there will be plenty more to follow. I have a tween who will be getting this book a soon as it’s out. Congrats!!
11/13/2011 at 10:08 am
Thanks, Chantal!