Midwinter

by Matthew Sturges

Book Overview

Winter comes to the land only once in a hundred years. But the snow covers ancient secrets: secrets that could topple a kingdom. Mauritaine was a war hero, a captain in the Seelie Army. Then he was accused of treason and sentenced to life without parole at Crere Sulace, a dark and ancient prison in the mountains, far from the City Emerald. But now the Seelie Queen - Regina Titania herself - has offered him one last chance to redeem himself, an opportunity...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1591027349
• ISBN13: 9781591027348
• Release Date: March 2009
• Publisher: Pyr
• Length: 345 Pages
• Weight: 1.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

A riveting story telling of an army war hero accused of treason

Matthew Sturges' MIDWINTER offers a riveting story telling of an army war hero accused of treason and sentenced to life without parole at an ancient mountain prison. Now he has a last chance to gain freedom and honor - by accepting a suicide mission and struggling against dark forces with a band of unlikely companions. A swift, involving plot keeps readers guessing to the end.

Promising Start and a lot of fun

Midwinter was my most anticipated read from Pyr this year and it turns out that it more than lived up to my expectations. This is the world of the Faery, but the way Sturges handles them is a bit more original and realistic in a lot of senses than I have read before. Even though the Fae are long lived and most have some modicum of magical abilities (called Gifts) they are not the powerful beings most would associate them as and theirs is even an almost caste-like culture. That said Titania and Mab are quite powerful and there is something different about the main character Mauritaine. When I first started I thought I was in the same universe that Justina Robson created with her Keeping It Real (Quantum Gravity, Book 1) / Quantum Gravity series, although Sturges truly makes the idea of his own shared dimensions standout. We join Mauritaine where he has been imprisoned for two years of a life sentence for an offense not revealed until much later on. To the Fae of this world honor and loyalty are most important and to Mauritaine it is nearly everything. Even though sentenced to life in jail he is offered a pardon if he succeeds on a mission for Titania, Queen of the Seelie. He is allowed to bring some of the prisoners with him to aide in the mission. All of the would be rogues in his rag tag band have been imprisoned wrongly or so we are lead to believe. The group consists of a fallen nobleman, a human, a female fae from the dimension of Avalona, and an old comrade of Mauritaine that went down with him. The author sets up the dimensional idea really well, which left me grasping from more detail. The human is supposed to be from a contemporary time as our own, although contact has been mostly cut off from the human world for hundreds of years. There are hints at the reasons Faery has been cut off from the human world, which will hopefully be revealed in future installments. The group has to head through enemy territory and a disputed zone of the Seelie and Unseelie called The Contested Lands and their shifting places. I loved the idea of the shifting places, where time can be different depending on where you stand in the Contested Lands. So a short journey can be done quickly or slowly but the shirting places can also tear you apart. The floating cities of Mab were a truly inspired touch even though you only get a few glimpses of them. I did feel the ending was a bit rushed as I saw the book only had about 30 pages left and they still hadn't achieved a major objective of their mission. But Sturges managed to pull it off, which is better than feeling like the story is dragging as a few books I've read recently have done. The world building although not as detailed as I would have like, was impressive with its history that leaves the door open for so much more. My biggest gripe is not getting to learn more about these other worlds and their histories, especially Avalona, which we learn almost nothing about in how it differs from Fae. Midwinter shoul

excellent quest fantasy

Seelie Army Captain Mauritane is accused of treason. He is allowed to live because he is a war hero, but the disgraced officer is sentenced to life behind bars with no parole at the dark mountainous Crere Sulace prison. He has no hope for the future and barely survives the present in this ancient tomb. That is he has no hope until the Seelie Queen Regina Titania offers Mauritane redemption and freedom if he willingly agrees to perform a suicide mission. He agrees on the condition that he selects his crew and they also receive royal clemency. Titania agrees. As the every century winter freezes the land, Mauritane, Raive the beautiful warrior elf, Lord Perrin Alt, and human scientist woirk to save the Seelie kingdom while the Unseelie Queen Mab deploys the war plan of Hy Pexho to destroy their neighbor. Besides being an excellent quest fantasy, MIDWINTER is a superb morality play. The hero and his "misfits" must choose between trying to save a nation that incarcerated them vs. fleeing for freedom perhaps in the Contested Lands between the two Fae kingdoms. Interestingly drawing up a pro and con chart would lead to running away because death is the probable response to saving the Seelie. The two nations feel real due to a strong cast in the kingdoms, the Contested Lands that divide them, and the maybe Seelie champions who each has personal enemies. Especially coming alive is the political intrigue inside the Sturges mythos. Fans will relish the eye opening first act from one of the Shadowpack and Jack of Fables comic book team (along with Bill Willingham ), and want more in this Fae setting. Harriet Klausner

It's great!

Midwinter is the fantasy novel that I've always wanted to read. It stands on its own merit, never relying on Tolkeinien cliches to fill out the prose. It's a fantastic book, guys- the action is clear and riveting, the plot bends and twists in some wonderful ways, and above all, the characters are all memorable and deep. So get this book! You'll love it, I promise.

A solid, entertaining yarn from a talented new writer

First off, in the interest of full disclosure, I have to say that Matt Sturges is a friend of mine. That said, though, I also have to say that my momma raised me right - she taught me that if you don't have something good to say, don't say anything. If I didn't honestly think _Midwinter_ was a hell of a good read, I wouldn't have written this review - I would have written him a private e-mail saying it sucked. Luckily for me (and Matt) I didn't have to write that e-mail, because it *is* a hell of a good read._Midwinter_ is just another example of a Matt's firm command of his craft; it's beautifully plotted, has lucid and readable prose, and is at times laugh-out-loud funny. Matt Sturges has done an amazing thing here, folks - he's written a classic sword-and-sorcery quest novel that doesn't read like one. It doesn't take any of the easy ways out or resort to any of the clichés that plague the genre. If you're looking for a solidly entertaining page-turner, you've found it. Buy a copy.