With Daughter of Redwinter , Ed McDonald brings readers an epic fantasy that has excitement, danger, and suspense. In this first book in the Redwinter Chronicles series, he introduces Raine, the main character, and does a fantastic job of building a world that is unique.

Raine can see all of and speak to some of the dead. However, this dangerous ability comes with a death sentence if others learn of it. She left her mother’s home, joined a cult, and through one act of kindness, has changed the course of her life and many others. The injured woman she rescues left Redwinter, the fortress-monastery of the Draoihn, warrior magicians intent on retrieving what she stole from them.

Raine’s mother did not like her and did not treat her well. When a group including three sooth-sisters gives her an opportunity to join them, she does. Then things go wrong and Raine learns that even an act of kindness can have consequences. She thinks she wants power so she won’t have to be afraid and so she can have true freedom. However, is this what she really wants?

Raine is a main character that readers will want to succeed in life. She tries to do the right thing, but isn’t always successful and she seems to be full of self-pity at times. However, she’s a dynamic character who changes and grows as the story unfolds. Both her attitude and outlook on life evolve throughout the book as actions take place. The other characters are less dynamic than Raine, but nevertheless vibrant, providing support or conflict to keep things interesting. A list of the many characters and a description of pieces of this mystic world are at the back of the book. I thought this would have been more helpful at the beginning so readers know they are there.

There’s a lot of time spent introducing the characters and some of their back-stories as well as world-building, but that’s not unusual in the first book in a series of this magnitude. However, there is a lot of introspection by the main character that slows the pace as times. There are action scenes, especially at the beginning and the ending, but the middle section could have been more potent. As readers become acquainted with the characters, both good and bad, it becomes clear that there is much more going on than the theft of an artifact. The author weaves themes of grief, empathy or its lack, domestic abuse, community, murder, magic, death, ghosts, fear, duty, honor, secrets, greed, friendship, and politics into this great start to the series.

Overall, this fantasy is gripping and thought-provoking. The high stakes and smooth writing made it a page turner. While it’s the first novel I have read by this author, I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series. If you enjoy epic fantasies with great world-building, an unusual magic system, and a diverse set of characters, then you may enjoy this novel as much as I did.

Macmillan-Tor/Forge – Tor Books and the author provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. This is my honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently set for June 28, 2022. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.

Daughter of Redwinter is the story of Raine, who is a seventeen year old girl with the power to see the dead. That power is definitely not something that is generally accepted by the world, and so Raine keeps it very secret.

Raine ran away from home when she was very young, to hide her gift. She ran right into a cult and stayed there until she was seventeen until she found an injured woman in the snow and saved her. Turns out that this woman was from Redwinter, the fortress of the Draoihn (magic-users, more or less), and they’ve sent people to bring her back. Many shenanigans ensue…

I quite liked Daughter of Redwinter. It was very easy to start reading and then lose track of time. Raine was a character that was easy for me to cheer for, and I cared what happened to her. Liking the main character would have been enough but some of the side characters were fascinating to me as well, and kept me reading.

My favorite part of this book was the magic system though, wherein people have gates that they open to access different types of magic. Most people only have access to one or two gates, but some have access to up to four or five. I thought that this magic system was well thought out and well presented. I’m interested in finding out more about it as the series continues.

So, all told, I really liked Daughter of Redwinter and I will definitely read more of the series.

This would be my first Ed McDonald book to read. I already have the trilogy of Raven's Mark and I starting love McDonald's writing style.

Daughter of Redwinter is rich and great fantasy. It is pure of lore and religion based story. I do love Raine's character. The singular thought within the book made her character strong and engaging.

Looking forward to the sequel!

This was an incredibly hard book to read, especially while I've been going through a hard time in general, because the vast majority of it was very grim. I almost put it down several times, but I'm so glad I didn't, because when that broke, when it switched, it was so rewarding.

Raine is a nobody, a bastard daughter of a woman who didn't love her, a teenage girl who'd died twice already and who sees the dead: something she can't help, but is punishable by death if anyone finds out. Over and over, she has nothing, and then finds she can lose even that. She's almost never in a position to act on her own; she's constantly in a situation she can't leave, or run away from, or is subject to others in.

(She is also a woman, and a queer woman -- bisexual -- and I assure you it's not a coincidence that she's struggling against the weight of dangerous secrets and feeling constantly pushed around by people with power. The themes are tied together well.).

This is a dark fantasy about a magic-ruled fantasy Scotland; it's a story of retainers and servants to great magical lords. It's also a story about being able to reclaim who you are around people who have come to trust and it's a story about confidence and empowerment and it's just incredibly good.

It will be rough for a while! The book starts with domestic abuse with an older man in a sexual relationship with a teenager and moves right on to a massacre. But it's also about people who feel like they're broken finding ways to reforge themselves. It's about people being flawed but loving each other. The payoff was worth it to me and I found the ending extremely satisfying. Beautifully written, very painful, but it uses the pain as a setting to tell her story instead of letting the pain BE her story.

HIGHLIGHTS
~she sees ghosts!
~but That is not a ghost
~unexpectedly queer
~much-appreciated exploration of trauma
~can you hear the beats?

I’m still not sure what made me pick up Daughter of Redwinter; at first glance, this looked like a book that couldn’t possibly be for me. I’ve hated stories about people who see ghosts since before I hit puberty; the author’s previous series has been described as grimdark, so there were even odds that this would be too; and there’s nothing in the blurb that hints at a diverse cast or especially interesting worldbuilding.

But something hooked me. I really can’t say what. Maybe I just trusted Tor/Forge (the publisher, of whom I’m quite fond) not to let me down? I can’t say. But I downloaded the sneak peek, just to try it out, and before I’d finished it I requested an ARC of the full book via Netgalley. Which I pounced on the moment I was approved.

That should give you some idea of how incredibly compelling McDonald’s writing is; of how completely it swept me away. It’s instantly immersive, and from the first page, I simply couldn’t put it down.

Raine ran away from a mother left crippled by her birth to join a harmless religious sect – one who follow ‘the colours’ with dancing and crystals and new-age-esque positivity. But the book opens with the group under siege, because a moment of kindness from Raine has led the local noble to believe the sect harbours those who can see ghosts – and in this world, anyone who can see ghosts is put to death. Thousands of years of history have engrained the idea that seeing the dead inevitably leads a person down a path of evil sorcery; it’s everyone’s duty to make sure ghost-seers are put down.

Raine has no interest at all in doing harm; she’s just trying to find a way to get her friends out of the fort they’re trapped in. But when she rescues a dying woman, she accidentally becomes tangled up in an act of immense dark magic and falls under the aegis of the Draoihn, unstoppable warrior-sorcerers whose mission is to protect the world from just this kind of magic. They sweep Raine away to their headquarters, a compound called Redwinter, where Raine has to build a new life for herself amidst the magic and politics all around.

So far, this doesn’t sound terribly unique – we’ve all seen something like this story-arc before. But there are several aspects of Daughter of Redwinter that stand out.

You can never trust a cobbler. Anyone who spends that much time thinking about feet has something wrong with them.

The first is Raine herself, who I adore without reservation. First-person narration is usually a huge no-no for me, but Raine’s voice is clear and incisive. I really loved how she never let herself get away with anything; she sees herself, and everyone around her, very clearly, almost to the point of mercilessness sometimes.

Part of this is definitely the fact that Raine experiences magically-induced emotional numbing after the opening events of the book. Emotional numbing is a rarely-discussed symptom of trauma, including PTSD and CPTSD, and it’s exactly what it sounds like: sufferers effectively shut-down emotionally, becoming detached and cut-off from most emotion, and often from their body as well. To put it in practical terms, where most trauma survivors struggle to talk about their trauma, someone experiencing emotional numbing is able to talk about it in a very matter-of-fact, blunt way, to the point that inexperienced listeners may think the person isn’t traumatised at all.

Emotional numbing is relatively rare and less well-known, much less common than the more visible, typical trauma symptoms like temper issues or panic attacks or risk-engaging behaviour. After being in and out of psych offices since I was two years old and across multiple countries, it wasn’t until I was 29 that someone finally recognised my own emotional numbing and was able to explain it to me. It’s just not talked about.

So I have no idea if it was McDonald’s intent to mimic a real mental health issue, but that’s what he did, and it’s one major reason Raine, and Daughter of Redwinter in general, means so much to me. It’s part validation, part recognition, part relief to see a character who shares this with me, a character I viscerally get in a way I don’t very emotional characters. It’s not the same as psychopathy (or rather, antisocial personality disorder, aka ASPD), and although Raine’s is magically induced by one of the Draoihn, I can’t help hoping this book might raise awareness a little.

Whether it does or not, the emotional numbing is an excellent plot device, and makes Raine very distinct from other heroines I’ve come across in similar story-arcs.

Which brings me to the second thing that makes Daughter of Redwinter stand out: although the general outline of this story looks familiar? In practice, it actually twists and turns in unexpected directions throughout, subverting and challenging both classic tropes and the expectations of the reader. I took it for granted that A Certain Thing was going to happen – it always happens! – but reader, it did not happen. And I delight in being surprised like that. Just as much as I adore a story that questions its own foundational premises – are ghost-seers destined for evil? Or a story that double-bluffs us – we’re braced for the Draoihn to be unreasonably fanatic, but what if their fanaticism is justified? And so on. I massively appreciated McDonald’s tricksiness, all the ways in which a story that has been marketed as Not For Me turned out to be, in fact, exactly for me.

Then there’s the worldbuilding; although McDonald doesn’t drown us in detail, there’s a very weighty sense to the world he’s created, with the effect that it all feels very real. Raine’s world has gone through multiple Ages and has some kind of record or understanding of several thousand years of history, and it’s not often I come across a story where that really feels legit; where a fictional world has that weight of fictional history behind it in a way that’s not overpowering, or lecturing, or info-dumping, but just…very organic.

And I’m not gonna lie, I liked the Scottish Highland influences visible in Raine’s part of the world. How often do we see that?!

The magic system manages to be both very simple – at least to explain – and really interesting; practitioners study until they reach/pass through/can access ‘gates’, with each gate conferring different abilities. The First Gate is, of course, the easiest to reach and use, and it gets progressively more difficult from there. But there’s clearly a lot more going on: over the course of the book, we encounter enchanted objects and witness magical events that don’t neatly fit into any of the Gate categories as they’ve been explained to us, and there are references to things like rituals, which, I have no idea how those are supposed to work.

Nor is it clear how exactly ghosts work – or whether all of the things Raine sees are actually ghosts. Threaded throughout Daughter of Redwinter is a subtle but powerful promise that capital-t Things are going on where we can’t see; that McDonald is only giving us a glimpse of the small picture, not the bigger one. Daughter of Redwinter is engaging and interesting in its own right – it’s not just setting the stage for a much bigger story to come. But it is setting the stage as well as being an excellent book on its own. We don’t have all the pieces yet, and we don’t know all the players, but by the end of the book we have some sense of…of the shape of what’s coming. And I’m pretty sure it’s going to be epic; epic as in awesome, and epic as in world-changing.

I’ve decided that what drew me to Daughter of Midwinter was my queerdar pinging – you would not believe how much I cackled when it became clear that Raine is bi; yay for discovering unexpectedly queer fantasy! – and I’m really glad it did. This is going on my favourites-of-2022 list, and I love McDonald’s writing and imagination so much I’ve even started reading his previous trilogy – even though it’s grimdark, and I don’t read grimdark. (And you know what? I’m enjoying it so far!)

This is an incredible fantasy that subverts the reader’s expectations every chance it gets, and I can’t recommend it strongly enough.

2.5 Stars

This was my first experience reading Ed McDonald, and it certainly did not give me a positive opinion on this author. The premise and tagline (along with the very pretty cover) piqued my interest, but I unfortunately found my interest waning very quickly, something that only continued the further into the story that I got. The prose is quite good, the worldbuilding quite interesting, but the characters and story are what really pulled this one down for me.

This book presents a fairly archetypical storyline where the main character ends up getting involved with the Draoihn, warrior mages of Redwinter, and finds out there is a lot more going on in the world than she understood. This is a story that I think definitely could have been interesting, and I will say the worldbuilding was very good in this novel, but the biggest issue I had was with the characters.

For in-world reasons, our main character Raine is extremely flat and feels almost like she is in a fog to the reader for the majority of this book. I understand this is an intentional choice the author made for this narrative, but I can't for the life of me understand why he made this choice. Writing characters that the reader can connect to is very important, especially in the first book of a series, and this is a major failure for me in this book.

Many of the secondary characters also feel fairly one-dimensional and stereotypical (and not for in-world reasons). We have the overweight "loser" no one likes, the handsome, dedicated young man, the girl who likes to get a little wild, so on and so forth. None of these characters have any depth and often just serve to either feel horny about the main character or be outlets for the main character's horniness.

The worldbuilding and magic system are by far the stars of the show and do set up a very interesting world. We of course have people who can see the dead as per the tagline, but also a magic system involving different "gates" that mages can access via trances to affect the world around them as well as themselves. The backstory set up on the world and how it got to be the way it is, as well as why the Draoihn exist, is handled very well. Unfortunately even an interesting world was not enough to overcome the negatives in this story for me.

So we have an interesting world, but dull characters; the climax can still be the make or break moment for a book that has given me mixed feelings, and that was certainly the case here. The further into the book I got, the more incredibly obvious and predictable many aspects of the ending became. I don't know if the very heavy handed hints were intentional, but it made all the reveals hold no real weight for me (and not even feel like "reveals" really). Moreso the ending of the book begins to feel extremely YA (and poorly written YA at that) including the use of some very YA tropes that just irritated me.

All in all this book felt like a misstep as a first book in a series for me, and instead of making me interested in future books in that series, has made me sure that I don't have any interest in continuing.

Video link included goes live 06/17/22

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for the advanced readers copy of Daughter of Redwinter!

This the is the first book I've read by Ed McDonald and honestly can't wait to read more. Daughter of Redwinter is a high fantasy book that follow Raine, a 17 year old who can see ghosts (finding out why she can see ghosts was one of my favorite parts). Her life is pretty normal for a young MC in a fantasy novel until she discovers a woman bleeding out in the forest clutching an artifact, and this is where the book kicks into high gear.

I love Raine and following her through her journey of healing, self discovery, and finding out where she fits into the world. The magic system seems very interesting and although we know what the different gates are, I wish we had seen them used more in this book. I assume we'll get more of that in the sequel as we continue following Raine on her journey. Also, I wish we had gotten to know the side characters a little more, and again assume we'll see that in the next book.

Overall, I loved this book and would highly recommend to fantasy lovers. The world building doesn't feel overwhelming and leaves you with a desire to know more. Once I started reading, I didn't want to put this book down. I look forward to more in this series.

This was my first time reading a book by this author. I’m so grateful Tor gave me the chance to read this book. I need the second book asap!! This book follows 17 year old Raine who has a gift that could get her killed. Raine is a girl that life has dealt some tough cards to and thanks to a horrible accident she is thrust into the thick of political intrigue and a world full of soldiers. She must learn how to navigate a life she doesn’t understand and wasn’t prepared for. If you like a coming of age story with a hero that has spent their life basically alone this story is for you. You will find found family in this story. Raine was so relatable to me. Even though she is 17 I can see many adults enjoying this story as well as teens. 10/10 would recommend to anyone who loves high and epic fantasy. I desperately need the rest of the series though.

Raine's life is irrevocably altered after she stumbles across a dying girl on the run.
She soon finds herself having to navigate a new environment with different rules, expectations, magic and mystery.
Raine herself can see the dead, something she has to keep secret or risk being forced to join them.

An intriguing start to a new series with a headstrong girl at its center.

I loved the lore, history, magic and adventure. Unfortunately, I didn't love the main character, Raine. Luckily, there were plenty of great side characters.
Also, I have discovered that this is supposed to be the first book in a new series, but it felt final. I need a hook to bring me back again, so I'm worried I will forget about this series.
I am relieved that all that cool world building will get an opportunity to shine, though. Not much of the history and magic was used, and I was concerned that I learned it for nothing. Phew!

Daughter of Redwinter is an amazing start to the series. It has amazing worldbuilding and interesting characters. The main character Raine is a seventeen year old girl who can see and talk to the dead. This book started really strong and has a really interesting plot. The characters were really well written. Also, it has an interesting magic system. If you like dark and action packed fantasy series you should definitely check this book. I can't wait to continue and find out what's happening next.

Thank you, Tor Books, for allowing me to read Daughter of Redwinter early!

This was another case of me being hooked more by the cover than the premise and ending up burned because of that. I'm not saying I hated it, but I certainly didn't love it.

When I first read the synopsis for this book, I was so excited. I am all about death magic, and the idea of a story where the protagonist can speak to, and control the dead? I was so ready! However, I will admit I ended up a little disappointed. While I genuinely liked Daughter of Redwinter, and its complex magic and world, there is one major aspect of the narrative that just irked me.
First and foremost, I want to clarify that this is not a book to pick up if you’re in the mood for a lot of action. Daughter of Redwinter is very politics heavy, and while there are some battles and action scenes, they are few and far between. Raine’s abilities, while cool, didn’t really show up too often, and generally it mostly consisted of her observing the ghosts as opposed to actively commanding them to do anything. In fact, the sort of passive, observational quality of the world building is what I had a problem with.
Normally when a novel is politics and subterfuge heavy, it offsets the periods of inaction by having the protagonist “discover” various forms of information through active investigation. Raine doesn’t really discover anything. She has a lot of secrets and information told to her by other characters, and then she basically runs with that until another character tells her otherwise. While the politics of the world were interesting, Raine’s absorption of all that information felt far too passive. Kind of like reading the wikipedia summary of a movie you want to see, as opposed to actually seeing it.
Whether I choose to continue with this series down the line when the subsequent novels release remains to be seen, but I would probably still recommend this book if you’re into high fantasy and political intrigue.

Seventeen year old Raine can see ghosts and speak to them, a talent she doesn’t want since it could get her killed if anyone found out. When the story opens she’s hiding out in a cult-like monastery with a lover who certainly doesn’t appreciate her. When she rescues an injured young woman from the snow, her actions bring destruction and all the inhabitants of the isolated monastery are killed by a neighbouring lord with the help of the Draoihn, powerful warrior magicians. Raine ends up with the Draoihn in Redwinter, where she is taken on as a senior servant, and begins to learn. She’s an interesting and sympathetic character. I enjoyed the book, but I do wish I could pronounce Draoihn. Though this is the first in a new series, it reads well as a standalone.

This is a very intriguing book, the beginning completely sucked me in, We get wonderful world-building, some epic battle scenes, and some uncovering of long-held secrets

We first meet Raine when she is attempting to find a way for her and the people she has been traveling with to escape, they are currently under siege or will be soon when the enemy breaches the gates. What she finds however is a woman who is gravely injured and this unleashes a whole can of worms no one could see coming.

The beginning and end of this story were really engaging, with a bit of a slump in the middle. Though that is where we get most of our world-building set in the place of Redwinter. At first, Raine feels safe here even though the man that brought her here was partially responsible for the death of a lot of people she cared about, but then things begin to change and Raine has to decide if Redwinter is actually just a gilded cage. or somewhere she can learn and become stronger in her gifts. She is safe for now, but if anyone finds out her secret she would be put to death.

But when the poo hits the fan, and demons come out to play Raine has to decide if she will risk herself to save the people she has come to care for.

I can't wait to see where the rest of the story is going to go from here!

Stellar world building, epic battles, strong female lead and magic, what more could you ask for? A great cast of characters? It is all here in Daughter of Redwinter. Although a little slow at times while relationships are being developed and Kings and evil doers are plotting, all in all a fun surprise filled plot line. I am eagerly awaiting the next installment.

Haunting, chilling, and evocative storytelling. An exciting ride following a great cast of characters, intriguing plot twists, and the eerie world where some people can see the dead but, if found out, are likely to be publicly executed for possessing that ability. Strongly recommend this page-turner of a book.

After reading a bunch of fast-paced YA books before this one, Daughter of Redwinter was a reminder to slow down and savor the journey. The world-building was rich and interesting, infused throughout the layers of Raine's life and experiences. There was so much mystery from the beginning, with cultists, worshiping colors (?!), dangerous monsters, surprisingly scary magic, unexpected upheaval, and more. I really don't want to spoil too much of the surprise, but I really enjoyed seeing this world and its people from Raine's point of view. She is an outsider, over and over again, observing cultures and people. Witnessing their dedication, their betrayals, their rituals, their lies, and most of the time feeling very much on the outside of all of it. Yet at the same time we get a deep look at her inner life and how this affects her interactions with this entire world, and it was enthralling. The magic system was fascinating, with elements that reminded me of the necromancy in Sabriel, but with a really cool mental twist. I can't wait for the next book in this series.

3.5/5 Stars. Thank you Net Galley for this ARC. Loved the concept of this book and the cover is stunning. The dialogue and prose for this read was really lacking for me. Might come back to this series eventually but for now, It's just average.

I loved this book.
The main character, Raine, is an engaging and believable character. Whilst some of her decisions frustrated me (I'm no longer a 17 year old girl after all!) they made sense in the context of her life and her character arc was satisfying.
Without any spoilers she has some very unique talents which made this book really stand out for me.
The world building is excellent and I love the way the society has been set up, however the characters really made this for me. They have all stayed with me and I can't wait to dive into the next installment already!
There's magic, mystery, thriller and of course all the fantasy elements we all love from the genre but with a really refreshing take.
This is written in first person, which for me takes a bit longer to really get into, but please don't be put off if you're the same as me. Once I was in I really felt like I was on this journey with Raine and the first person perspective was perfect for this book.
Thank you to the author, publisher and netgalley for an advanced eARC of this novel.