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pastaylor's review against another edition
5.0
Daniel Abraham’s books are often slow to get off the ground, more focused on nuances and subtleties of character interactions than on action. Thus, they can be a little hard to get into. The trade off is that they are incredibly rich and value writing and characterization as much if not more than plot and magic systems. There’s a little magic in here, in the form of the andats, but this is basically a modern take on Macbeth, with a very sympathetic female character. Abraham understands female characters, and does a great job of writing them and making them sympathetic, even when they are doing bad things. The betrayal mentioned in the title happens on multiple levels between multiple characters. I loved it. The first book took me some time to get into, and I was annoyed by the voice of seedless in the audiobook. The voices are better here, and it really builds on the characters and relationships developed in the first book. Highly recommended.
veronica87's review against another edition
3.0
I finally finished this last night. I hadn't picked up the book in about a week and I had to make myself power read the last 50% of it. The writing is good so no problems there and it's not a question of pacing for me. I'm just finding that I don't really care about these characters. In the first book I felt for poor Heshai and I really liked Amat and was invested in her story. In this book absolutely everyone could've died and I wouldn't have cared. Otah and Maati from the first book are back but everyone else is new. I just didn't care. Hopefully the next book will give me at least one character to care about.
hanienr's review against another edition
4.0
Another strong book in this series. I put this series off for so long and two books in I regret having done so.
It's political fantasy at its best. There are chess pieces moving which I'm sure will have bearing on the coming two books. It's exciting to see how it will all fall into place.
It's political fantasy at its best. There are chess pieces moving which I'm sure will have bearing on the coming two books. It's exciting to see how it will all fall into place.
jupiterjazz's review against another edition
4.0
Daniel Abraham solidifies his exploration of determination, and the price it comes with in the long run.
Characters, returning and new, are facing the weight of a longstanding and undisputed tradition, struggling with the consequences of ambition born out of a deep-rooted anger, experiencing the vicissitudes of love... all that while a force capable of leveling a nation tries to win a game of "chess".
It's brilliant. It's court politics of machiavellian proportions. A sorrowful and dramatic composition. And, at its core, the book is held up by one of the most powerful depiction of a female character in fantasy.
A chilling and captivating tale.
Characters, returning and new, are facing the weight of a longstanding and undisputed tradition, struggling with the consequences of ambition born out of a deep-rooted anger, experiencing the vicissitudes of love... all that while a force capable of leveling a nation tries to win a game of "chess".
It's brilliant. It's court politics of machiavellian proportions. A sorrowful and dramatic composition. And, at its core, the book is held up by one of the most powerful depiction of a female character in fantasy.
A chilling and captivating tale.
esb234346's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
antonism's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 / 5
A Betrayal in Winter (BiW) is the second book in the Long Price Quartet and the sequel to Daniel Abraham's A Shadow in Summer (SiS). In short, it is a really great book and much much better then its prequel which was already good and enjoyable.
Abraham shows many signs of improvement in his writing and plot structure and exposition. In BiW the plot is much tighter and tense, with more questions arising as older ones are resolved. Characterization is excellent as expected as we get to know Abraham's characters on a very personal and intimate level and we are presented with their very realistic personalities, their flaws and their justifications. His characters are not grey for the sake of being it but because they are real, they have feelings and ultimately they are conflicted. The pace was also perfectly suited to the plot in this one as it's fast enough to have you turning pages but, at the same time, slow enough to create a gradual build-up of tension and drama. Plot-wise, while the end of SiS left some questions unanswered and plot-threads unresolved, the end of BiW tidies up all loose ends and gives a satisfying end to the general story arc presented in Shadow and Betrayal.
In conclusion, I can give only praise to Abraham for BiW and easily recommend this book to most fantasy (and not only) fans, especially those who have read SiS. I'm very curious and excited to see where and how the story continues on to the next 2 books of the quartet. Needless to say,I will be reading them as soon as possible!
4.5 / 5
A Betrayal in Winter (BiW) is the second book in the Long Price Quartet and the sequel to Daniel Abraham's A Shadow in Summer (SiS). In short, it is a really great book and much much better then its prequel which was already good and enjoyable.
Abraham shows many signs of improvement in his writing and plot structure and exposition. In BiW the plot is much tighter and tense, with more questions arising as older ones are resolved. Characterization is excellent as expected as we get to know Abraham's characters on a very personal and intimate level and we are presented with their very realistic personalities, their flaws and their justifications. His characters are not grey for the sake of being it but because they are real, they have feelings and ultimately they are conflicted. The pace was also perfectly suited to the plot in this one as it's fast enough to have you turning pages but, at the same time, slow enough to create a gradual build-up of tension and drama. Plot-wise, while the end of SiS left some questions unanswered and plot-threads unresolved, the end of BiW tidies up all loose ends and gives a satisfying end to the general story arc presented in Shadow and Betrayal.
In conclusion, I can give only praise to Abraham for BiW and easily recommend this book to most fantasy (and not only) fans, especially those who have read SiS. I'm very curious and excited to see where and how the story continues on to the next 2 books of the quartet. Needless to say,I will be reading them as soon as possible!
4.5 / 5
venti's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
maati and otah should just fuck already
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Violence, and Misogyny
Minor: Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Alcohol