As this is the final book in this trilogy I will attempt to avoid any specifics or delve into anything that could stray into possible spoiler territory. The Redwinter Chronicles has been a true breath of fresh air for me as a fantasy reader for a number of reasons. First is it doesn't follow the usual formula or pattern that we see so much of in the genre these days. Another reason is the magic system is so original and involved that it really makes you think about the limitless possibilities of just how imaginative these elements can ultimately be going forward. Ed McDonald's brain functions on a whole other level and it shows in pretty much everything he writes.

What's truly impressive about this trilogy, and I've said this before, is just how different in tone, theme, and characterization in comparison to McDonald's previous more grimdarky trilogy, Raven's Mark. It just shows how versatile and multi-faceted McDonald's writing is that he can't be pigeon-holed into one specific subgenre or style. Where Raven's Mark was fairly straightforward and brilliantly gritty, Redwinter is just as brilliant but in a more thoughtful and classic (almost high fantasy) sense. And I think part of the reason why I enjoyed this latest series all the more is because of this change in direction.

I've described Redwinter as a "slow burn" type of reading experience and I think that this description gets a bit of a bad rap and has an unjust negative connotation at times. Robin Hobb and Tad Williams books can also be categorized this way and yet they are arguably two of the best writers of fantasy ever and I adore their books. So yeah, don't be put off by my saying that at all, fantasy books don't always have to be full blown pedal to the metal and constant battle scenes from beginning to end.

That being said, Witch Queen of Redwinter does have its stunning moments of action, as you would expect from a concluding book in a series. This final book delivered on every single promise made in the previous two and once again I am in awe of the way McDonald weaves together all of the plots and makes you care about his characters in such a way that the investment is super real when the climactic conflict does eventually take place. Just another brilliant book and series that solidifies McDonald as a must-read author. I can't wait until his next release because I'm sure it will be something completely different but a smash hit nonetheless. His track record speaks for itself.

And now the story of Raine Wildrose does come to an end. A little over a year ago, I was introduced to Ed McDonald’s spectacular fantasy series when I was offered an advance copy of Traitor of Redwinter. I hadn’t read the first book, but I was so intrigued by the concept that I binged the audio version of book one in order to get through book two by publication day. Now the trilogy has come to an end.

Previously, Raine learned that her lord and trainer among the Draoihn, Ulovar LacNaithe, was dying. As it happened, his strength of magic was being drained from him and channeled into his nephew, Ovitus LacNaithe. Under the manipulation of Sul, one of the Fallen Lords, Ovitus was positioning himself to take over the leadership of the Draoihn of Redwinter. Ulovar sacrificed himself to grant Raine the power she needed to escape Ovitus’s clutches, and Grandmaster Robilar sealed herself in stone to stop Sul. Ovitus, however, remains in power. Now he seeks desperately to access the Crown that lies beneath the castle at Harranir, but without access to the Fourth Gate of the Draoihn, he can’t gain entry to the Blackwell where the Keystone lies in store. No Keystone means no entry to the Crown itself. No Draoihn who remain loyal to Ovitus can access the Fourth Gate, and his own attempt to take his uncle’s was cut short by Ulovar’s death.

Raine’s connection to the Sixth Gate, the Gate of Death, is now undeniable. She is one of the Sarathi. She died a third time at Sul’s hands, only to be saved by Sanvaunt’s awakening of the Fifth Gate’s healing powers. Thanks to Esher and Sanvaunt’s intervention, all three of them managed to flee from Ovitus. Now, however, they are trapped in the Fault, a sort of in-between world filled with half-dead creatures and the other Fallen Lords. The trio’s only hope for survival lies with The Queen of Feathers, the mysterious woman who has been guiding Raine since the day she first met Ulovar. Raine believes her to be imprisoned somewhere within the Fault, but journeying anywhere there is a painful undertaking. Getting out of the Fault is only the beginning, though. Raine is filled with the memories of the other Sixth Gate users who came before her, and she must learn to use their power without losing herself if she and Sanvaunt and Esher are going to have any chance to save the world. Raine also desperately wants to save the two of them, but is torn between her love for each of them and their feelings for one another.

The Redwinter Chronicles very quickly became one of my favorite series. Ed McDonald has written a spectacular and clever fantasy version of the UK. Raine is a complicated protagonist, frequently conflicted in her choices due to her forbidden abilities to see the dead. Now coming into the full potential of her power, she’s going to be dealing with more difficult decisions than ever before. The fate of the world is at stake, and the only person who can save it is the one thing the people fear the most: a witch queen.

Witch Queen of Redwinter is available as of last Tuesday, November 12th. Go check it out. My utmost thanks to Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group for the eARC in exchange for a fair review.

This review originally appeared here: https://swordsoftheancients.com/2024/11/18/witch-queen-of-redwinter-a-review/

Witch Queen of Redwinter is the conclusion to the Redwinter Chronicles. A trilogy I have had my issues with but that I did continue to read. While I don't care much for our main character, there is something in the world building and magic system that pulled me back. It had potential. Unfortunately this installment did not fulfil this potential either.

Raine and her two friends have been taken into a magical wasteland. When we find them again, 6 months have already passed. They don't quite know how to leave and they don't know what they are really doing there. They are focusing on the tower to find the person that has appeared to Raine multiple times. Even if they aren't really sure if she is there.

Honestly, this book was quite a slog to get through. For the first part Raine is jealous and a bit insufferable. It wasn't fun to read. There is also a lot of focus on the relationshp between Raine and her companions. I am all in for a polyarmorous relationship if they are done well. Raine had her relationship with each of them but between the companions the tie wasn't quite so well established. I just didn't feel like it could truly work for them, that it had been build up well enough. And it was all a bit to idealistic.

But more so I struggled with the plot decisions. It almost recycles a point from the first book. Raine divides herself. The part of herself that returns to the 'real' world is without most of her emotions. I hated her not having her emotions in book 1 and I hated reading it again in this book. It was also just such a convenient way to work around the little hole the author had written himself in. Because we had no idea what was happening in their world while they were in the wasteland. But now we did, and hey did we really need a Raine with emotions for a war? It didn't help that 3 years had already passed for everyone else.

It did not make for a pleasant read. I felt so far removed from everything that I stopped caring at all about any of the side characters that I had liked.

Witch Queen of Redwinter is a fitting end to a series that boasted an incredible world, fascinating magic system, and a page-turning plot that hummed with mystery, intrigue, and betrayal. Many of the things that the series did so well come to a head in this final novel, including a triumphant showcase of magic at its height, a political and military campaign (this time against the literal end of the world), and characters finally confronting their issues which have been plaguing them since the start of the series. With the answers to long standing questions being dangled temptingly over both our heroes and the reader, the plot is certainly a page-turner, but there is a bit of a slow start that may or may not be further impeded depending on how much leeway you are willing to give to characters who are consumed by both destiny and a severe case of teen angst. While the book took some unexpected turns, this will be a delight to fans of the series.

The premise of this book made me read the entire series so that I could get to this in time for the release. While I enjoyed reading this, it pains me to admit that this book was, as much as the rest of the series, just ok and it did not make it into my favourites list.

I think the writing is really good, but what stole the show was the dark and gritty world and the original magic system consisting of souls and gates… For this alone I thought The Witch Queen of Redwinter was very much worth reading. I just wished that it wasn’t so focused in the love triangle instead of, you know, the end of the world?

I’m definitely curious to try other books by the same author.

Thank you so much to Tor Books and NetGallery for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The final installment of the Redwinter Chronicles. A well-written and engaging fantasy that didn’t end quite like I expected.

Thank you NetGalley and TOR Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It was a great conclusion of the series! It was what i’’d expected but at the same time it has satisfied me! I cry for the death of some characters and I love some of them that were new. It was a bittersweet ending and that worked just fine for the book!

*** Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher - Tor Publishing Group - for this ARC in exchange for a review.

This was an okay conclusion to an okay series which pains me to say. I wanted to see what Ed McDonald would do with a different magic system from that found in the Raven’s Mark trilogy. The Redwinter Chronicles’ magic system is fascinating, and the world proved to be as dark as McDonald’s previous trilogy, but this series is not a favorite and probably won’t stick with me.

There’s a time skip between book two and this one. While there’s a summary of prior events at the beginning of the book, I still felt lost trying to understand what was happening. The writing style relies heavily on info dumping, and the magic in this world is nebulous and difficult to understand.

Raine is so full of angst it’s painful to read. It’s not a problem in the first book because she’s still acclimating to her circumstances, but it builds with every book. The first third of this book focused on how attractive she found her friends, how much she loved them, and how she just did not deserve their love or friendship because of the awful things she’s done (and plans to do).

The relationships took precedent to a purpose which isn’t revealed until the latter half of the book, but by then it was too late. I still felt nothing for these characters, nor did I feel the romantic tension. Or maybe it was that I was more intrigued by the world (it’s literally ending) and magic (necromancy) rather than the characters.

I'd recommend the audiobook which was read by Samara MacLaren; however, I'd definitely recommend immersion reading over just listening.

What an ending to an incredibly compelling and original fantasy trilogy! I can say this wasn't the ending I expected at all when I finished the first book, or the one I expected when I finished the second. New things were brought in that mostly were teased all the way along, and I found it INCREDIBLY satisfying. I grieved many times in this pages as characters died and new ones were brought into life, and ultimately where this ended simply worked for me. I don't know if I can call it a fully happy ending, given everything this book is about and has in it, but I would say it's as happy as it can get despite the grief and fear and horror inside. There were parts I wanted to be so different, but you know... so did Raine, and the story just didn't compromise like that.

There was one thing that didn't quite work for me, and even that was fully set up in advance. I'll go more into it in the Goodreads review (though of course still vague) where I can mark spoilers, but ultimately I can see every mechanical thing that McDonald did to make it make sense within the course of the story, so I can't be mad at it even if it didn't fully work for me.

Solid, solid writing, a great trilogy. I'm glad I read it.

I enjoyed this book (and the entire series). The magic is super interesting along with the world building. This book focuses much more on the interpersonal relationships of the characters and how those relationships can shape the world. Overall, I would definitely recommend this series.

The book is dark, unsettling and terrifying. Some characters realises their true potential and the two worlds hangs in the balance. A magical wasteland is crumbling down and new challenges are waiting for Raine, Esher, and Sanvaunt. And They are on a quest to find the Queen of Feathers. Not only the fate of the two worlds will determine the odyssey of three of them but they go through love, loss, friendship, tragic turn of events and many more emotions. Some realisations hit hard and the dark turn of events turns everything upside down. Power hungry traitor is way ahead of them, they must do something before it’s too late. I felt the characters emotions were portrayed so well and this was such a powerful dark read. I loved all the terrifying descriptions of the dead, of the fault, traitor, the darkness and powerful dark magic that took control of everything. The world building is so dangerous. There are some twists, revelations and battles. The book is perfect for spooky season and this is an epic and powerful conclusion to the series.

Thanks to the Publisher

DNF. I loved both previous books in this trilogy, but my gods, the first third of Witch-Queen is such a slog, drowning in telling-telling-telling, and Raine’s stupid whiny angst smeared over everything, and the not-underworld she’s trapped in is so bloody boring, and let’s not forget the six month timeskip between books!

I cannot make myself care. Even with a potential poly endgame on the table. Even with all the mysteries yet to be un-mysteried. Even with Ovitus needing to get his just desserts. I just do not care. Too much is too convenient; too much is coming out of nowhere; too much is relationship drama and woe-is-me.

I’m done. Incredibly disappointed, and done.

My thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for an advance copy of this novel, the third in a trilogy about a world being rent asunder by forces beyond the power of gods and magic, and our hero who has to split herself, her magic and love for her friends, to try and stop the end of everything.

I loved the fantasy genre when I first started reading, equal to science fiction, but more than other genres. I loved the stories, the myth making, the good, the evil, the magic and the mayhem. Dungeons & Dragons was probably an influence, as afternoons were spent with Cinemax blasting an endless stream of fantasy movies, some a little more adult than others, but a soundtrack to a roleplaying, stopping only when swords were drawn. I drifted away from fantasy and science fiction as everything started to seem similar. Even worse were the series that went from three books to five, to a series that Just Never Ended. Ever. Working in bookstores I would see some, read a stripcover once in a while but nothing grabbed me. Within the last couple of years I have noticed fantasy has finally caught up with readers. Offering diverse stories, tales beyond good and bad, with stories that have stakes. And characters that are more than NPGs, of non-player characters. Characters that feel more than a quest, who feel pain, fear, sadness. Oh and have really cool magic. Witch Queen of Redwinter the third book in The Redwinter Chronicles has all this and more. Written by d McDonald this tale concludes the series, with the characters fighting to save their homes, even while exiled on another plane of existence, with little chance of hope or success.

The boo starts with something I wish more books had, a bit of what came before, explaining the books and the characters. I find this helpful as I read alot, and work in books, so sometimes it takes a few pages to remember. I wish more publishers would allow writers to do this. From here the book dives right in. Raine has gone through quite a lot in the last two books. From disclosing that she can see the dead, learning how to use her power, and losing her mentor to suicide to keeping his son from stealing his power. The son now calling himself the King of the lands. Raine survived being burned to dead through the intervention of her two friends, friends Raine had treated horribly, but still cared to save her. Now the three find themselves trapped in the Fault, a space between living and death, loaded with creatures, gods and others. Time passes differently here, and Raine's home is now at war with itself, the instigator being a powerful demon who lives in the Fault. And one that is looking to stop Raine and destroy everything she has known, or will ever know.

A powerful ending to a very good series. I really enjoyed the first book, but was annoyed by the second as that seemed very teen young adult all of a sudden. So much sighing and looks and angst. This has a little bit, but the characters are forced to grow up, and find out something more about each other. There is a lot happening here, but McDonald never loses the narrative, which does split in the middle so the story takes place in the character's world and the Fault. I liked this as it adds a twist to the story, and really moves the story along. Also the magic has expanded, which I something that drew me to the earlier books. Plenty of gross moments, lots of happy moments, and an ending that I didn't see coming, though McDonald dropped enough hints about it.

A really good series, one that should be started from the beginning, just to watch the slow growth of the characters, and get a feel for them, before it all changes. I enjoyed this a lot, and as I said I love to be surprised by an ending, and this one was quite good. For those who like fantasy with an edge, and with cool magic. Also role players might learn a lot about how to have separate campaigns running, and a really interesting use of magic.

Another finale. "Witch Queen of Redwinter" by Ed Mcdonald concludes with the end of the world. Probably.

Avoiding being burned at the stake (but still run through the chest, killing hundreds with forbidden magic, and having to see that smug SOB play the hero) is a decent way to keep living. Unfortunately escaping to the Fault, the space between the world and the home of demons, isn't the best place to be. At least Raine, Esther, and Sanvaunt have a goal, find the Queen of Feathers, the woman who has been guiding Raine. Unfortunately time is running out on the otherside, Ovitus is preventing anyone capable of slowing down the collapse of the world from doing so. Only advantage they have is a path some might call evil.

Thanks for the ARC Tor, always nice to close out a series. Can finish it off 12 November 2024.

Reasons to read:
-Bipoly Power Trio (once they actually just talk about it)
-Comeuppance, physical and mental
-Ohhhh I wasn't counting and didn't make that connection
-Unexpected POV
-More info on what they can actually do with the Sixth Gate
-Some rather fantastic lines on how small some people can be

Cons:
-Little too much on the angst in the first 30%, but all of them definitely need therapy after all the stuff they had seen

Well this was certainly a gothic tale of epic proportions. The new ways that necromancy plays out in this book are incredible. If you are looking for a series with a bold new magic system, this is it.

I do wish there was a bit more logic to the 6th gate magic. Every time I thought I understood it, Ed McDonald pulled some new 6th gate spell reveal way out of left field. You have to suspend a tiny bit of disbelief to accept the hail marys that Raine pulls out of her pocket. They are punk rock though, so it's worth it. This was my favorite book in the trilogy. It has a lot more action that the first two.

All the loose threads of the series pull together in a way that is truly impressive. I've read some fantasy that is fairly simple, this is complex and I'm impressed. I could however have done without the love triangle. The ghosts and zombies and wild magic would have been enough without the teen angst thrown in.

Loved this female lead! Such a great story and great plot. I am not the biggest fan of male authors writing Fae fantasy but this one was pretty good!

Witch Queen of Redwinter by Ed McDonald

Raine is back and now she is Bad! She finds and loses love and thinks she faces two great evils to discover that they are one and the same. She also discovers that she is capable of things she never dreamed of being able to do, both ethically and physically.

My previous review noted my frustration with Raine’s whining insecurity. This in some ways doubled and decreased simultaneously.

The book abounds with monsters, true villains and some not actually villainy villains. There is plenty of action, magic and surprises.
I enjoyed the book and the conclusion the author crafted.

I'm constantly surprised by the twisty reveals and crazy battles of this series, and this book was no exception! Without any spoilers, I really enjoyed the split POVs in this book and how it affected our main characters. It feels like the author is in control of the events, while also expanding the plot hugely and beyond my expectations. The balance of hardcore fantasy (the Gates system is so interesting and I LOVE the depictions of the 6th Gate in this book particularly) and a little bit of philosophy/soul searching was really lovely.

I'm just really grateful to have gotten to read this early and finish up a series that I've really enjoyed this year: thank you very much to the publisher for the e-arc!

This series is like Gideon the Ninth but way more teenage angst and fantasy rather than sci fi. But still the end of the world.

Raine, Esher, and Sanvaunt had escaped to another realm, a place of myth known as the Fault, even as the king of Harranir passed on and the power of the Crown was lost. The power that stabilised the world or otherwise saw its end.
In the Fault, a darker place filled with monsters no one can imagine, the trio track the Queen of Feathers to find a way to escape the nightmare world.

’Find me a trouble in the world and I'll show you a frightened, self-absorbed man behind it,’ Esher said.

There’s a major love triangle going on here, and similar to my complaints from book two, way too much focus was put on this rather than the, you know, actual end of the world doom and gloom.
I get that they’re teenagers or young adults, but I feel you would have less time to be so jealous and caught up in pity tempers when facing your destruction around every bend. It just felt extremely childish and annoying.

It is slightly disappointing as I LOVED book one so much and had high hopes that book three would pull itself back from the slightly disappointing book two. Yet, McDonald seems to have more of a focus on teen drama than the more interesting necromantic elements.

That’s not to say the darkness was ever downplayed. This is a dark and gritty world with such an interesting magic system consisting of souls and Gates and energy!

Not to mention, McDonald’s writing skills is not to be underestimated. How he uses language to evoke emotions and puts into words an amalgamation of thoughts and feelings previously inexpressible.

We're made of the things that happen to us as much as we are our father and mother. Bits of the world embed themselves, become prints against our skin. They become scars on our bones, words that we speak and the shadows beneath our eyes. We're all of those experiences, good and bad, and they make us anew with every dawn and leave us changed with the setting of every sun.

I was let down by the ending and felt slightly cheated, but it also felt quite apt and circular, so I feel like this will just depend on personal preference and expectations.

Thank you to Tor Books for providing an arc in exchange for a review!

The first two books were mostly about Raine learning magic and trying to stop these evil men from taking over the government. And then Raine and her two best friends get stuck in this realm in between the demon realm and the mortal realm and the whole plot upends itself.

Yeah so this realm is trippy and horrifying. There are demons everywhere they have to fight, no one needs to eat or drink, and they’re on the hunt for this mysterious ghost lady who helped Raine before in hopes she can send them home to save the world. Along the way, they face some of the most dreamlike/nightmarish creatures and scenarios I’ve seen in a while.

It felt like the author took the main characters out of the plot they were supposed to be in and plopped them into trippy nightmare land. It was clear they were making progress in finding the mysterious ghost lady, but slowly. And then after they finally find someone who can help them find her Raine does something really stupid and performs mitosis on herself. The battle hardened, revenge filled half of her goes back to the mortal world to save the world. And the kind, loving half stays in the trippy demon realm to accompany her friends on their quest.

I know this might sound really weird, but trust me, it makes perfect sense in context and actually works really well for the narrative. I just did not see this coming. No one could have predicted this. It’s so outlandish to think that the main character of any book could magically split in two and live two lives at the same time. But here we are.

Raine was conflicted about how to go forward, because one half of her wanted to be there for her friends while the other half said why not do evil necromancy? I’m actually really impressed that she made this decision. I wouldn’t have thought of this as an option, even if I knew it was possible. She does what’s necessary to win the war and stop the demons from coming to the mortal realm permanently.

Sometimes it was hard to read about Raine’s unapologetically brutal half fighting with very amoral methods, especially when tragedy strikes and her reaction is, why not just use necromancy to fix this? But then it would flip back to the other Raine and all was well with the world.

Looking back on this series as a whole, I’m really surprised how much romance was in it. Raine has two potential love interests, which she eventually realizes she can’t choose between and maybe doesn’t need to. It’s pretty slow burn for most of the series, which is why I was able to tolerate it…ok…fine…I maybe kind of liked it. Shhhhh. Don’t tell anyone I actually liked a romance subplot for once. I think what I hate about romance is super fast paced romance that begins with physical and/or sexual attraction. The romance in this series focuses in on them becoming friends and then falling in love with each other as people. Why can’t fantasy romance have more of this? Why is it always the other way around?

There were a couple new characters in this one, one of them a little metal man who was very kind and the other a horrible demon who can turn into a giant monster. They were really nice foils of each other (pun absolutely intended) and I loved seeing them butt heads. Also, horse lovers will be happy we get to see more of the magical horses that can travel between realms. They were briefly in one of the earlier books, but they play a big role in this one. Was I a horse girl as a kid? I’ve ridden horses plenty of times since my aunt has a horse and…nope, not for me. I prefer all the small, cute, soft animals, bonus points if they live in the woods. (ie. 🦊)