Thiago's Updates

"I have had so much fun reading it. Of course it does not challenge the 5-star novels or series that get hundreds of pages prep, but as story collections go this is definitely a 5-star read. My deepest respect for all these long form authors who manage to make such concise and engaging short stories. If you do not have it and get the chance to get this book or you have not read it yet, please do!

The Advent of Winter is a wonderful collection of stories that has kept me warm and excited throughout December. Thanks to Dom and all the authors for creating this fun gift to count down towards the holidays. I originally had a rating for each story, but I see no added value to sharing them.

That being said, I loved almost all of them. And a bunch of the authors are now part of my TBR. Disclaimer: The length of the mini review says nothing about how much I liked it. I just vary a lot in elaborateness. Also, it is really first thoughts. One time I'm all about evoked emotions, other times it is about the writing technique or about the story itself.

The Patchskin Woman by Cal Black:
A great fairytale-style story with magical animals and the queen of winter. A true cozy winter tale which also explores the relationship between humans and nature.

Rite of the Tundra by Jim Wilbourne:
This story evoked a lot of emotion as I caught myself at being unreasonable intolerant towards the incompetence of youth. A beautiful coming-of-age story for so few pages.

Innocence Lost by H.C. Newell:
A riveting emotional story about dark and the heroic things we do, to protect the most important things in life. Great use of current and past perspectives of the same event, to create emotional connection and suprises. Evocative prose. I am not a visual reader but I got visuals.

Frosted Embers by L.L. Mcrae:
An action-packed heroic adventure. I'm unsure what I can say without people feeling I’m spoiling it. I loved the cool dragon-fire based magic system and the dark threat to the city the story takes place in. Also, the conflicting emotions that must be going through the main characters head. It somehow reminded me both of story beats from Full Metal Alchemist and Attack on Titan. It also evoked an association with our own reality, where we try to keep afloat an ever-consuming society in a world with limited resources. So all in all, it packed quite a punch for such a short story.

Soulshard by Thiago Abdalla:
A great and tense story in a fascinating world with demon hunters. Stakes are high. I cannot say more for spoilers sake, but the plot is very engaging. Great magic system. Would love to dwell more in this world (as a reader...definitely as a reader).

Blood fire by Palmer Pickering:
The first story I had some trouble to connect with. A story worthwhile though about a mother in a dire situation to protect herself and her children. I think, for me, the urgency and story beats were just a bit to short to really impact me. Very awesome magic. And it did make me think about our willingness to do awful things to protect ourselves.

Cold Silver for Souls by Tori Tecken:
The first story in first-person perspective, which gives this story an awesome hard-boiled feeling. Because I watch Tori’s Youtube videos I kind of imagined her being the main character somehow. A very imaginative world with a very interesting revelation at the end.

Border Crossing by A.R. Witham:
A chilling story of dysfunctional family in a scary world. What I loved was that the author describes a world with an icy cold place and a warm summery place across the border and that the latter is the dangerous one. In this story cold is both the safe place and maybe also a bit scary��

A cold broad river by Tim Hardie:
A tale that is reminiscent of the man with the shovel or the woman with the pigeons in Home Alone but with elements of ‘It��. Great tension and mystery in this one. I was very engrossed in this tale.

The Chrysmaws Case by Christer Lende:
A catchy mystery for two beast hunters. Has both a gothic vibe as well as a detective vibe. The author knows how to raise questions that the reader wants an answer to. So as I write this mini review I’m looking into the series…well done 😉

The crypt of Ice by D.W. Ross:
An action-packed adventure of a trio on a quest. Very well-developed and interesting battle scenes. The prose and dialogue, sadly, did not quite agree with me, but that is definitely a me thing. I had similar issues with Sebastien de Castell’s “Malevolent Seven�� and Daniel Greene’s work. I have trouble maintaining immersion if swearing and language are to close to current modern English, which bugged me here as well. So definitely a me thing. I think if you like battle, teamwork and banter this is a great story for you.

Winter’s Dance by Natalie Kelda:
A mesmerizing world which challenged me to piece the world together. It was an interesting puzzle on top of a blood-chilling desperate journey and family drama. Rich with culture, world building and high stakes. Very impressive for such a short story.

The Snowmaker’s Child by Zack Argyle:
A horrific and scary story. With a cliffhanger. Will there be a sequel? One of the shorter stories but very ambient.

An act of patience by HL Tinsley:
Fantasy Heists are all the craze, but Tinsley seeks the company of such greats as Papillon and Escape from Alcatraz (this really betrays my age :P) as this story is about a prison break. A well-written edge-of-your-seat story with creative solutions. Really enjoyed this one, great flow.

A fighting chance by Dom Mcdermott:
So much fun that Dom wrote a short story as well. And an awesome one about a desperate fight of humanity with evil. A story with love, friendship and awesome beasts, interesting magic and snow golems. Really impressive!

Beauty in the void by J.D. Rosell:
A bard…A bard! An awesome adventure in this short story with an awesome iconic bard protagonist. Rosell, really catches character work, world building and plotting perfectly in this short story. Bumped up on my TBR.

Before the snow melts by Andrew D MeredIith:
Andrew D. Meredith comes highly recommended on booktube end of this year. And I can see why. It was a wonderful story, an interesting mystery and a warm playful ending. In all honesty, I had some trouble at the start with the enormous amount of terms and names that Meredith threw at me for such a short story. And still I do not think that all those helped the story in hindsight. But the more impressive that the story really grasped me with the plot.

Flurries with a chance of treason by T.L. Greylock:
I take my hat of for this story at two different places that are still connected and both are interesting in themselves and really sell the series that it is a prologue to. Great action and intrigue and even plot twists in such a short story

A winter Marvel by Tatiana Obey:
A very unique story in this collection. An interesting mystery with a very powerful female protagonist. Felt extremely immersive to me.

Three bells to midnight by Kerstin Espinosa Rosero:
A great plot twist with a wonderful protagonist going out on the most dangerous night of the year to save young children and others from the worst monsters. Interesting magic system with aura/soul manipulation.

The blood that burns the winter snow by Ryan Cahill:
My TBR is too long to start Bound and the Broken this year, but #*@)$! did I want to after reading this short story. Neatly packed character investment, action and breadcrumbs that make you want to know more about these characters.

Spirit of Whitenight by Kian Ardalan:
Although very fascinating, this story did not quite catch me. The connection between the two characters was wonderful. I think it conveys something profound in how enemies are very similar but I think that could have had more impact. if I got a bit more emotional connection to the story, or some more information about the background of these two characters kids, that would’ve helpd I think.

The last page by Quenby Olson:
A great story to finish the book and yes, it is about a book. A creative perspective, a story that happens in one place and still grasps your attention.
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