"The Blood-Tainted Winter" Review - Journey of Finding the Best Books

Hello Fellow Journeyers,

We're back into the realm of Norse-inspired fantasy with TL Greylock's The Song of the Ash Tree saga, beginning with The Blood-Tainted Winter. This was Greylock's first book she wrote and the beginning of a new trilogy that I was excited to get in to.


What's the story about: The Blood-Tainted Winter is a single POV story of one man's journey to avenge his father's death at the same time as an impending war comes to ravage the lands in Midgard. Gods are afoot and cause mischief in the world of men as their own motives are revealed eventually.

The first thing to note when looking at this book is that the writing is superbly low-key in its poetic bravado. While it boasts what could be really good writing, it strays very little from the straightforwardness that the author uses to a worthwhile degree. I liked this. It didn't get lost in what it was trying to say, but it also had some character that made it interesting. It had a distinctly saga-esque feel that was different, if a little desiring of intrigue. 

Next thing that stood out was Raef, the main character, but that wasn't for the best reasons. He was pretty stiff throughout the entire book and while he said things and did things that were likeable enough, he was pretty generic in what he wanted and did. "I'm angry because I can't go Viking." "Oh, I have a rivalry with another man since youth because reasons." Stuff like that that just read a little too without character. Also, Raef was good at most things he did without having troubles doing them. It's not that Raef doesn't make mistakes, he simply didn't have any issue or experience difficulty with anything he did, even when he struggled with making the correct decisions to dilemmas. Separately, within the first eight chapters, he somehow woos a woman romantically that has NO explanation whatsoever that was just like, "What!?!" It came completely out of left field and the relationship was taken for granted for the rest of the book.

The main issue of the book is the pacing. But not because it was slow necessarily, but because it was often too fast without having purpose. Nothing settled down long enough to make any sense. We fly with Raef from exchange to exchange with little to no reflection, pondering, or plot development that makes investment worthwhile. We don't get to know his character at all as chapters fly by and things keep happening. This was disappointing because I felt like Raef and the other characters could've been more likeable, had they had any time to develop in the first half of the book. But instead they're passed from place to place with events that must take place but with little reason behind them. This was a disappointment because Greylock's writing is quite good when it came to descriptions of the land, action, and the occasional character moment, it just lacked a sense of compelling reason to move forward.

Finally, probably the most annoying part of the story was the lack of utilizing the best aspects of world-building that were well-done. There are gods and monsters in this story, but instead of utilizing them, the story only advertises them as if to include them in future books without using them here. For this reason, this entire story felt like it was more prequel or prologue to the greater story to come and I personally dislike this tactic greatly. Tell a good story now to invest the reader for future stories. Don't keep all the good stuff for later or you won't have a reader there to appreciate it. Despite this rant and everything I've said this far, this book was not bad by any means. I think the most frustrating part is that you can tell that Greylock is a good writer, but chose not to use what skills she had at her disposal to tell a greater story instead of just a plain good one.

★★★ 3 Stars - The Blood-Tainted Winter is a story of Viking battles and skirmishes that gets derailed by a lack of a definitive plot and too fast progression. The main plot of vengeance and redemption gets sidetracked into quests of little overall value and import to the main character until things that should've been said at the beginning are revealed a little too late. That being said, the writing is consistently compelling and visceral, the pacing never halts, and the characters, primarily in the second half, develop just enough to make you as the reader want to root for them and see where it all ends. While not a perfect book, it is definitely exciting and filled with greatly constructed action and adventure. 


Let me hear from you! If you like what you read, want to hear more thoughts on this book, other reviews, or talk book recommendations and Essential Reading, leave a comment below.


Rating system:

★★★★★ 5 Stars: It was amazing; I loved it. Read this book; it is definitely Essential Reading!

★★★★★* 4.5 Stars: It was nearly perfect. I really loved almost every aspect of it, but a few things kept it from being amazing.

★★★★ 4 Stars: It was very worth reading and satisfying; highly recommend.

★★★★* 3.5 Stars: I thoroughly enjoyed this story, but it was lacking in certain crucial areas.

★★★ 3 Stars: It was good, but could've been better or improved upon significantly.

★★★* 2.5 Stars: I wanted to enjoy it. Certain aspects were good, it was worth finishing, but many issues.

★★ 2 Stars:  It was okay, I didn't feel strongly about it.

★★* 1.5 Stars: I finished it, but it was a chore to get through.

★ 1 Star: I did not like it. It was not worth finishing or I did not finish it.

*I round up based on the system on Goodreads.