The Winter Road

October 15, 2018
Readers seeking a lengthy grimdark tale will find plenty of pain and suffering in the trials of Teyr Amondsen, former mercenary turned merchant, as she endeavors to establish an ambitious trade route across the Circle of clan lands. She travels with fellow soldiers; her accountant lover, Aude, and his son; and a significant quantity of medicinal plants—many of which are performance-enhancing battle drugs—and the drudha who know how best to administer them. Their challenges include persuading multiple clans of the benefits of the road and winning over the mysterious Oskoro people who reside in the forest at the heart of the Circle. Teyr’s ambition and endurance are admirable, her goal is refreshingly mundane and pragmatic, and Selby has crafted a deeply imagined world. However, the unrelenting misery of her circumstances is exhausting, and the choice of an interwoven narrative of two timelines feels unnecessary. Even those drawn to bleak stories will find this one a little excessive.

November 15, 2018

After recovering from her time as a mercenary during the war, Teyr Amondsen wants nothing more than to put danger behind her and create a trade route through the war-torn lands in the hopes that the levies she collects will enrich and benefit her people as well as introduce them to the larger, more civilized world. But the intended road is planned to run 500 leagues over mountains, plains, and bogs, to say nothing of through the lands of people who maintain old enmities and grudges following the conflict. Chief among those enemies is Khiese, a warlord and leader of the whiteboys, who raid and murder all who stand in the way of his kingdom building. In spite of the violence and mayhem, the real story is the love that Teyr holds for her kin and the surety she maintains that she can and must create a better life for them. VERDICT Selby has crafted a complex and dynamic novel, though the multiple plot lines, vast quantities of minor characters, and shifting time frames can be challenging to follow. The letters written between Teyr and husband Aude are the best part.--Jane Henriksen Baird, formerly at Anchorage P.L., AK

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