'Thray is the Last Daughter of Winter, half immortal and haunted by the legacy of her blood. When offered a chance to visit the northern land of Duamel, where her father once ruled, she can't refuse – even if it means lying to the priesthood she serves and the man she loves.
'In Duamel, Thray’s demi-god siblings rule under the northern lights, worshipped by arcane cults. An endless winter night cloaks the land, giving rise to strange beasts, terrible storms and a growing, desperate hunger. The people of Duamel teeter on the edge of violence, and Thray’s siblings, powerful and deathless, stand with them on the brink.
'To earn her siblings’ trust and find the answers she seeks, Thray will have to weather assassinations, conspiracies and icy wastelands. And as her siblings turn their gaze towards the warmer, brighter land she calls home, she must harness her own feral power and decide where her loyalties lie. Because when the spring winds blow and the ice breaks up, the sons and daughters of Winter will bring her homeland to its knees.'
The Hall of Smoke series has been one that I've found a lot of enjoyment in. H.M. Long has crafted a very interesting world, with subtle and complex mythology, and history, and has populated it with some complex and engaging characters. With this, the third book in the series, moving away from the series main protagonist to follow a character who was just a baby in the previous book, as well as moving location, it allows Long to explore different parts of her world and to introduce some incredibly interesting new things to the readers.
Barrow of Winter tells the story of Thray, the daughter of the human woman Sixnit and Ogam, the embodiment of winter. Part god, Thray seems to have struggled to figure out where she really fits in, and who she is across her life to this point. She sometimes receives favours from her godly relatives, having been gifted a magical weapon that can shift forms, but isn't treated like one of them. At the same time, the small village she's living in could offer a home to her, but she doesn't quite fit in there either.
When a trading party arrives from up north Thray is shocked when she learns that their leader is like her, another daughter of Ogam. Her half sister offers to take her north with her, to the land of winter and eternal night, to learn more about who she is and where she fits into the world. Thray agrees to go, and sets out to discover more about herself; but what she finds waiting for her in the dark lands to the north will change her life forever.
Barrow of Winter feels like a more personal, character driven story than the previous two books in the series. Both books that came before focused on Hessa and her journeys, but they were also dealing with impending war, with dangers from other groups, with the gods themselves. It always felt like it was grand in scale even though we were seeing it through the eyes of a single woman. And whilst this book does deal with big things, and does feature demi-gods and other powerful beings, it always feels strongly connected with Thray. Those other books always felt like stories that were going to unfold no matter what, situations where things were going to reach breaking point even if Hessa weren't there; but in contrast this story feels like it couldn't have happened if not for Thray.
The places that Long takes readers in this new book have a very different feel to the previous two entries too, and in a lot of ways they felt much more fantastical, and dark to me. Yes, visually dark as they were in a land of eternal night, but also in tone. Long does a wonderful job at creating a slowly building tension that starts incredibly subtly, before building into what could almost be overt horror. Part of this is down to how much detail that Long puts into things, you start to feel like you're there experiencing it yourself thanks to how well she describes the feel of things, the smell, the creeping cold. Everything comes to life in vivid,powerful ways because Long makes it feel so real.
Barrow of Winter is a great read that feels like a bold reinvention of the series. It's not a huge departure from what we've had before, but the focus on newer characters, newer locations, and newer threats makes it feel fresh and exciting. But, for those who are fans of the previous book you don't have to worry, there are plenty of connections to what came before, and some returning characters, that very firmly establishes this as part of that same world. Whether you've read the previous books or not, this is a great adventure well worth going on.
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