Winter’s Maiden by Morgan L. Busse

YA Fantasy. 288 Pages. 5 Stars

Synopsis:

Warrior. Survivor. Daughter of the North.

From the moment she is born, Brighid fights to survive in the wastelands of Nordica as a clanless one. But when a new power arrives offering a trial to join the Nordic warriors, Brighid enters, hoping to rise above her station. Soon she becomes one of their fiercest fighters and joins the war against the south.

Kaeden carries the blood of the ancient Eldaran race in his veins but turns away from his heritage after the death of his parents. Years later, he is called back to his homeland and invited to be a healer for the southern forces. With the help of an old mentor, the power inside of him starts to awaken. However, his life is turned upside down when a mighty warrior of the Nordic forces is captured.

As Kaeden interacts with the enemy, he discovers there is a darkness behind the Nordic Wars, one that is manipulating the people of the north. But who will believe him? And is there a power strong enough to break the hold of this hidden adversary? Or will the world burn in the flames of war?

My Review:

I’ve always been a fan of Celtic and Nordic cultures. The music, the legends, the landscapes. I love a good survival story in harsh nature with some clan culture, and don’t even get me started on a good Viking adventure. So when I heard the one and only Morgan Busse was writing a Nordic clan war fantasy series, I was all in!

When I first met Morgan at a writer’s conference a couple of years ago, I’d never heard of her or read any of her books. She spoke about her different trilogies and duologies and each story sounded utterly fascinating! (Of course I ended up taking a book home and have been devouring her books ever since, what do you take me for?!)

But she also spoke about a Nordic story she was working on – a world she hoped to go back to from an earlier series she’d published. That story sounded like one I wanted to get my hands on. When Winter’s Maiden was announced earlier this year, I can’t tell you how excited I was to finally see that story come to life!

Can we take a moment to appreciate the stunning cover art?! The icy blues and cozy coat–and the winterscape! It’s even prettier in person! But the story itself has all the trademark Busse elements I have come to adore.

Each story of Busse’s I’ve read carries some deeply intriguing element or question or premise (sky pirates diving into toxic fumes for treasure amidst zombies, a girl who’s soul is dying piece by piece and her mad scientist father who wants to use her for his nefarious steampunk experiments – yes please!). This story follows an orphaned warrior woman who feels death and a man who looks like he should be a warrior but who’s actually a healer whose power is blocked by his own unhealed past trauma. See what I mean? I just have to know what happens!

And boy does it happen! This story also had the slow burn I’ve come to appreciate in Busse’s books. It isn’t the same kind of edge-of-your-seat, page-turning-suspense you can’t put down as a thriller–but rather, there’s a subtle growing tension that builds consistently until you can’t stop thinking about the story. There’s a cozy warmth and deep charm that propels the story forward. I could feel Busse setting us up for things yet to come. I cannot wait to see the next book!

Brighid’s difficult life and fierce determination to survive amid great sorrow and suffering made her strong in more ways than just the typical physical strength we see in so many modern female leads. I related to how much of a scrapper she is and how she’s faced hard decisions as an outcast. From the day she was born, everything the girl walked through set her up for this story. There were some fun side characters, too. Elphsaba made me smile so much! And Mathias had such a presence of peace about him, a trait I envy and deeply respect. But Kaeden really stole the show for me. I adored his perspective, his story, and his struggle. The way he questioned and doubted but also trusted and desired to grow really melted my heart. His whole past, identity, and heart really shone through.

And when these characters came together that’s when the story really picked up speed for me. I also really love that we get a bit of variety in the perspectives! Reading about the five clan leaders was some of my favorite parts of the book, and seeing the differences in the clans’ strengths and priorities was so neat. I really hope we can dig in deeper to the clans in the sequels. But Busse doesn’t stop there, she’s bult out a completely different southern culture and subcultures–and brought all these nuanced different customs and beliefs into one giant clash with some mysterious villains and heart-thumping situations!

Thematically, this was a heartfelt and beautiful story I will cherish. The characters wrestle with purpose and worth, healing and hurt, and right and wrong. A rich world with noble, yet flawed characters whose journey makes the reader better for having gone along for the ride.

Content: no swearing, some mild fantasy violence (though the story does center on a war, we get very non-graphic battle scenes with some very pretty tame descriptions of injury that still get the point across), and hints of romance (though there are a few moments where the MC is in the company of not-so-honorable guys, everything’s pretty PG). I’d feel fine giving the story to a preteen.

More

This is the first book in the Nordic Wars – more to come!