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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
inarticulateblog's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
h4wke's review
4.0
A Betrayal in Winter builds on A Shadow in Summer with the weight of time and tradition.
I was very impressed by the first entry in this series. It's quiet, melancholic nature where everything is laid out and we see everything slowly, predictably fall apart was fascinating to me. A Betrayal in Winter takes place 15 years later and uses this time skip to show the greater consequences of our character's actions. I was surprised that a few POV characters from the last book weren't present here. Some were mentioned, but others were just seemingly forgotten about. I had to get used to the new perspectives we got instead. Fortunately they were just as interesting, perhaps more so. Through their eyes we're exposed to the damage tradition can do to a city. And of course beneath it all there's build up to a greater conflict worldwide. For now, we're staying on the small scale. I dread to think what's next.
After the tragic prologue I was expecting a mystery novel. Abraham decides against that and reveals his cards very early on. Yet again we're left seeing how characters react to things we know are true or false. Yet again we're left watching the inevitable — powerless to the stoking of tragedy. This won't work for every reader. It worked for me.
This is a fascinating format for a series, I'm incredibly curious as to how the future time skips will affect these characters I've grown to love. Please just let them be happy.
I was very impressed by the first entry in this series. It's quiet, melancholic nature where everything is laid out and we see everything slowly, predictably fall apart was fascinating to me. A Betrayal in Winter takes place 15 years later and uses this time skip to show the greater consequences of our character's actions. I was surprised that a few POV characters from the last book weren't present here. Some were mentioned, but others were just seemingly forgotten about. I had to get used to the new perspectives we got instead. Fortunately they were just as interesting, perhaps more so. Through their eyes we're exposed to the damage tradition can do to a city. And of course beneath it all there's build up to a greater conflict worldwide. For now, we're staying on the small scale. I dread to think what's next.
After the tragic prologue I was expecting a mystery novel. Abraham decides against that and reveals his cards very early on. Yet again we're left seeing how characters react to things we know are true or false. Yet again we're left watching the inevitable — powerless to the stoking of tragedy. This won't work for every reader. It worked for me.
This is a fascinating format for a series, I'm incredibly curious as to how the future time skips will affect these characters I've grown to love. Please just let them be happy.
ginnikin's review against another edition
I tried to give it a chance, but I just couldn't. Oh well.
mcmanifold's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
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
4.0
Similar to the first book, the prologue is the star of the show. I would love to read a collection of short stories by Daniel Abraham. The middle has some pacing issues, and a certain plot point felt like it was treading similar ground to the first book. However, the book is still very engaging as long as you don't mind a more slow-paced, character focused fantasy novel.
mferrante83's review against another edition
5.0
A Betrayal In Winter is the second book in Daniel Abraham’s Long Price Quartet and is set fifteen years after the events of A Shadow In Summer. A Betrayal In Winter is, if anything, a text book example of how to write a politic heavy novel in a fantasy culture. While A Betrayal In Winter doesn’t chance the “slow burn” pacing Abraham employed in A Shadow In Summer the familiar characters made it much easier for me to settle into the book and the new characters were complex, brilliantly drawn, and familiar enough that I found myself looking forward to their chapters/pov as much as Itani and Matti.
Full review here/
Full review here/
gmvader's review against another edition
4.0
I’ve mentioned before my frustration with most mystery novels. The authors seem to think that withholding information from the reader, even when the point-of-view character knows that information will make things more tense. It just makes me bored, or frustrated. Hiding information is immensely difficult to pull off and almost always fails. I can only think of one example that works (Ocean’s Eleven) and I think that only does because it’s the point of the story that nothing is fully explained until the end.
A perfect example of doing it the right way, since I’m talking about movies, is the Bourne movies. (Not the books, the books are boring and poorly written.) In the movies, we, as viewers, are privy to the motivations and actions and plans of the bad guys as well as the good guys. That’s what introduces the tension. We know that there’s an assassin waiting just around the corner to off Jason Bourne and we can’t tell him. Take away that knowledge and there is no tension just another fight when some random guy jumps out the shadows and tries to kill the hero – we see that in every action movie.
After reading A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham last year I had a newfound respect for the power of his story telling and his brilliant, almost poetic, prose. With A Betrayal in Winter my respect for his skills has grown even greater.
Daniel Abraham has written a novel that teaches mystery writers how to write an engaging mystery.
It starts when the oldest son of the dying Khai Machi is poisoned, beginning the traditional war amongst his brothers for the succession – only his two living brothers did not kill him, and they don’t know who did.
What follows is a tale of intrigue, mystery, suspense, revenge, betrayal, forgiveness and redemption told through a window of prose so well crafted that the words seem to sing on the page, as if they belong in the air instead of on paper.
Not once does Abraham keep anything from the reader, in fact the reader always knows more about what is going on than any of the characters do.
There is a lot of debate in the literary world about ‘plot-driven’ versus ‘character-driven’ stories. Usually what this means is that the ‘good’ stories, those that are ‘character-driven’ have no plot and nobody but a bunch of stuffy elitist English professors care about them anyway. (Plot has somehow become a bad word in most literary circles and indeed in many creative writing classes.)
What Daniel Abraham writes is character-driven stories with a plot. The plot in the previous book was much larger than the characters and so the story revolved around them living their lives and reacting to the plot taking place around them. In this book the plot more directly affects them and some of them are key instigators. The story remains driven by the characters and their actions and reactions to the events around them. These are real people who deal with trauma and stress in the ways that real people do and it is their deeply felt emotions that drives this story. Every scene brings emotion with it, usually more than one. The story is at times joyful, heartbreaking, tranquil, sad and uplifting.
This book, while a sequel to A Shadow in Summer, takes place nearly fifteen years later and could be read by itself. It is also short (about three hundred pages) for a fantasy and is part of a series that is completely finished.
A perfect example of doing it the right way, since I’m talking about movies, is the Bourne movies. (Not the books, the books are boring and poorly written.) In the movies, we, as viewers, are privy to the motivations and actions and plans of the bad guys as well as the good guys. That’s what introduces the tension. We know that there’s an assassin waiting just around the corner to off Jason Bourne and we can’t tell him. Take away that knowledge and there is no tension just another fight when some random guy jumps out the shadows and tries to kill the hero – we see that in every action movie.
After reading A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham last year I had a newfound respect for the power of his story telling and his brilliant, almost poetic, prose. With A Betrayal in Winter my respect for his skills has grown even greater.
Daniel Abraham has written a novel that teaches mystery writers how to write an engaging mystery.
It starts when the oldest son of the dying Khai Machi is poisoned, beginning the traditional war amongst his brothers for the succession – only his two living brothers did not kill him, and they don’t know who did.
What follows is a tale of intrigue, mystery, suspense, revenge, betrayal, forgiveness and redemption told through a window of prose so well crafted that the words seem to sing on the page, as if they belong in the air instead of on paper.
Not once does Abraham keep anything from the reader, in fact the reader always knows more about what is going on than any of the characters do.
There is a lot of debate in the literary world about ‘plot-driven’ versus ‘character-driven’ stories. Usually what this means is that the ‘good’ stories, those that are ‘character-driven’ have no plot and nobody but a bunch of stuffy elitist English professors care about them anyway. (Plot has somehow become a bad word in most literary circles and indeed in many creative writing classes.)
What Daniel Abraham writes is character-driven stories with a plot. The plot in the previous book was much larger than the characters and so the story revolved around them living their lives and reacting to the plot taking place around them. In this book the plot more directly affects them and some of them are key instigators. The story remains driven by the characters and their actions and reactions to the events around them. These are real people who deal with trauma and stress in the ways that real people do and it is their deeply felt emotions that drives this story. Every scene brings emotion with it, usually more than one. The story is at times joyful, heartbreaking, tranquil, sad and uplifting.
This book, while a sequel to A Shadow in Summer, takes place nearly fifteen years later and could be read by itself. It is also short (about three hundred pages) for a fantasy and is part of a series that is completely finished.
kalinnn1's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0