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anna_m_k's review
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
An interesting, quick read that is unfortunately overwritten. And though the core idea is fascinating, the true identity of one of the characters feels questionable. She is Deer Woman, a Plains Native spirit, and I personally do not like that the author conflates her with other figures like La Llorona.
shenereads's review against another edition
4.0
Good one
Read for free : https://www.tor.com/2014/04/16/cold-wind-nicola-griffith/
Read for free : https://www.tor.com/2014/04/16/cold-wind-nicola-griffith/
penstarling's review
5.0
A cold winter night in Seattle. Gritty, grim, gruesome. Is she the hunter or the hunted?
It's a fairytale, in the very real sense of a story about things lurking behind that might get you int he dark. It was engaging and delightful. By turns sexy and creepy.
It's a fairytale, in the very real sense of a story about things lurking behind that might get you int he dark. It was engaging and delightful. By turns sexy and creepy.
warloujoyce's review
3.0
You can tell a lot about a culture from its metaphors: the world is fragile, breakable, spillable as an egg. People felt it. Beyond the warmth and light cast by the holiday they sensed predators roaming the dark. It made people long to be with their own kind. Even those who were not usually lonely hungered to belong.Cold Wind is a short story about predators and preys, and how it is not always easy to determine which is which.
With that said, it contained a twist I did not see coming. The author also infuses the tale with an ominous vibe from the get go – a factor that appealed to me.
What I liked about it is the beautiful prose which, admittedly, bordered on flowery and dragging in several parts. It is possibly the aspect that will turn off a lot of readers. However, even though I liked that component, the story in general just didn’t pull me in completely. I was disengaged the entire time. I don’t know if it’s just me. Perhaps I read it a wrong time. Nonetheless, I’ll stick with that 3.5 rating.
arkron's review
4.0
Cross-posted from my blog
In a Seattle lesbian bar the main protagonist is picked up one midwinter night by an ancient shapeshifter. It explores the lust of predator vs. prey, lover vs. victim.
Striking, intense narrative, crisp characters, great tension arc, beautiful nature scenery. The atmosphere reminds me a good bit of Poe. I haven't read Nicola Griffith's Hild but it went up high on my tbr shelf after reading this great short story. The only thing I'm missing in its reprint in The Best SF&F anthology are the illustrations around it - but it is great that it is reposted @the author's blog - read the story first, because there are a couple of spoiler-drawings.
In a Seattle lesbian bar the main protagonist is picked up one midwinter night by an ancient shapeshifter. It explores the lust of predator vs. prey, lover vs. victim.
Striking, intense narrative, crisp characters, great tension arc, beautiful nature scenery. The atmosphere reminds me a good bit of Poe. I haven't read Nicola Griffith's Hild but it went up high on my tbr shelf after reading this great short story. The only thing I'm missing in its reprint in The Best SF&F anthology are the illustrations around it - but it is great that it is reposted @the author's blog - read the story first, because there are a couple of spoiler-drawings.
trish204's review
4.0
It was one of the most pernicious fallacies, common the world over: old ways are best. But old ways can outlast their usefulness.
A wonderfully magical tale of old beings from the dawn of mankind and how they can end up stuck in the roles they have grown accustomed to, which usually isn't good for them.
I very much enjoyed the picture the author has drawn here of a New Year's Eve full of glistening snow, cold wind, icy sleet and dangerous creatures, hungry, yearning for warm blood.
Just as much, I enjoyed how the author managed to envoke the old world these creatures must come from in contrast to the modern world they now have to live in (we might be the hunted ones, but we have created this world that doesn't seem quite as nice to them as the old place).
Cold, creepy, rich with imagery. Rather wonderful!
You can read the story for free here: https://www.tor.com/2014/04/16/cold-wind-nicola-griffith/
cjdavey's review
4.0
Really good writing. To call this even a 'short story' is pushing it a bit; it's a single, beautiful picture. Takes just minutes to read. Certainly enough to motivate me to try her longer works.
geodora's review
3.0
"The holidays, time out of time. Mørketiden or Mōdraniht, Solstice or Soyal, Yaldā or Yule or the Cold Moon Dance, it doesn't matter what people call the turn of the year; it fills them with the drumbeat of expectancy. Even in cities a mammalian body can't escape the deep rhytms imposed by the solar cycle and reinforced by myth. Night would end. Light would come.
Daylight. Daybreak. Crack of dawn. You can tell a lot about a culture from its metaphors: the world is fragile, breakable, spillable as an egg. People felt it. Beyond the warmth and light cast by the holiday they sensed predators roaming the dark. It made people long to be with their own kind. Even those who were not usually lonely hungered to belong."
Daylight. Daybreak. Crack of dawn. You can tell a lot about a culture from its metaphors: the world is fragile, breakable, spillable as an egg. People felt it. Beyond the warmth and light cast by the holiday they sensed predators roaming the dark. It made people long to be with their own kind. Even those who were not usually lonely hungered to belong."