Customer Reviews

Winter's Orphans (The Shadow Fae Trilogy)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a fabulous book!

I don't know that I ever met a more unlikely heroine or hero, and yet they were strong, appealing, and had me rooting for them to triumph.

I was sucked into this alternate world so deeply I expected faes and faelings to jump out at me while I was enthralled in its grasp. This story gave me a whole new perspective on the fairy kingdom and made our own industrial era come vividly alive.

I highly, highly recommend this book to all fantasy lovers and lovers of romance. This book is going on my keeper shelf and it will definitely not be an orphan anymore.

Mina Cole thought she was just another indentured factory slave. But in rare moments of rage or terror she could feel something snap inside her and incredible things happened. Mina had been an orphan for years and the only person in the world who cared about her was Abby, her best friend. Both worked long hours in a factory for small wages in hopes of someday paying off their Contracts of Indenture, a place to sleep, and perhaps one meal a day. But it all changed during a moment of fear. The iron indentured collar Mina wore could no mute the waves of magic Mina released and the Hounds were sent out to hunt her.

Duncan RiDahn used to be a nobleman. Now he was but a crippled old man in a wheelchair who begged for money, squatted in an abandoned theater, and was Mina's only hope of survival. Duncan felt the shock wave of Mina's power and knew the evil Queen Rhiannon would send out the Hounds. He and one of his students, Bryan, rescued her and began to teach her.

The Fae (faery) were usually human-like, but came in two different types. The Seelie could control fire and air, heat and light. The Unseelie could control earth and water, cold and night. Mina was half human, half unseelie. Duncan taught her how to use her powers to hide from the royal family and survive. The royal family was seelie and thought they had either killed at the unseelie or turned them into Knights and Hounds. With Mina's presence felt, the hunt was on for her and all the unseelie faelings feared being found.

But Duncan knew more about Mina than he told. Mina was not only unseelie, she was a dyana! Her magic was more powerful than any other. If Mina ever willed it so, she could control the minds of all the unseelie faelings for her use, and she could create dark things to kill! She was dangerous to everyone! But Duncan's love for Mina refused to let him kill her, no matter what!

***** It gets no better than this! Like all good books, this one started out in the middle of excitement to hook me quickly. The author created characters that I could easily sympathize with and care for. I got so deeply involved in the story that I was startled whenever reality intruded upon my reading! That shows amazing writing talent! This book is destined to win awards, Readers! This one goes on my "Keeper Shelf" to be reread many times. Keep your eye on author Elaine Corvidae! Highly recommended! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch.

Set in a dark, early industrial world where magic is common, WINTER'S ORPHANS follows the life of Mina Cole, slave, factory worker and, unbeknownst to herself, a woman of tremendous fae powers. A series of disastrous events trigger these powers, and Mina is forced to search for a mentor before the Court discovers and kills her.

Her mentor is Duncan, an older man, a cripple. He lives hidden in an abandoned theatre, training rogue 'unseelie fae' - those exiled because of their fae heritages.

But Mina isn't the only one with a dark secret. Duncan has one, too. Their ignorance of each other's almost gets them killed, and their world, destroyed.

Corvidae develops the relationship between the two, not only as student and teacher, but as lovers, with some of the most intense and moving scenes I've ever read. When the two are on the same page, the paper is fairly electric.

WINTER'S ORPHANS is a fabulous fantasy novel with a strong romantic plot. But it's truly Mina's story, in many ways, her quest. A definite keeper and well deserving of the awards it's won.

Some fantasy novels are medieval in setting; some are urban fantasies where strange creatures slip around in modern sewers. Some take place on strange planets and some in alternate realities. But one, Winter's Orphans, occurs in an industrial Londonesque setting, with belching factories and cobblestone streets, with a polluted river flowing through the middle of the city and a great discrepancy between the rich and the poor.

The main character is Mina, an indentured factory worker, whose faeling (mixed breed human/fae) powers reveal themselves during times of great stress. Mina's uncontrolled magic is so great that the Seelie Court (the bad guys), which dominates the fae world and the human as well through a devious twist, comes to know of her existence. Lucky for Mina so does Duncan RiDahn, a crippled faeling who has devoted his life to teaching other Unseelie faelings (the good guys) how to use their powers hiding from the bad guys.

The setting is one of the best things going for this novel. I do not think I have ever encountered a fantasy novel set against an urban Victorian backdrop, although I cannot claim to have read every book in the world. It was a refreshing change from more typical fantasy stories, not that I mind the typical when it's done well. The world was not Earth from what I could tell; if it was, it was not the Earth we know and inhabit.

The plot of the novel isn't as unique as the setting but still works: extremely powerful magic user who didn't know she had any power realizes she does, hides out from the bad guys for a while, learns to control her power with the help of a rag-tag band of good guys, then uses her power in a face-off against the bad guys, though not without peril and danger along the way. Powerful magic user toys with the dark side because power is corrupting, although as Spiderman might say, "With great power comes great responsibility."

The novel is a quick read, perhaps too quick, which is my primary complaint. Because of the innovative setting, I wanted more worldbuilding, more fleshing out of the surrounding area and the culture which spawned Mina, Duncan and the humans they live among. Unlike in some Tolkien inspired fantasy novels, Corvidae does not resort to the shorthand of "elf" or "hobbit" or "human city" to transport readers into her imagination. There are many intriguing details, like the creepy, flesh-eating horse living in the dirty river or the mysterious father figure who appears to both help and hinder Mina.

But it is a compliment that I did indeed want more. I wanted the book to proceed at a slower pace so that my reading experience lasted longer and I could explore Corvidae's atypical world more fully. Additionally, the characters in the novel were different from your typical romantic fantasy, both flawed and capable of greatness. I mean, our heroine is a vindictive, damaged grouch and our hero is a passive occupant of a wheelchair. Their relationship is believable despite their differences, and I definitely prized that aspect of the story.

Winter's Orphans is a gritty, unusual fantasy novel with characters who go well with their surroundings. Despite my feeling that the book was a bit underdeveloped, I enjoyed it and look forward to reading more books by Ms. Corvidae to see how she steers around what one might consider standard.

ETA: I think this has been re-released from Mundania Press. Track it down, it's worth it!

This was one of the best fantasy books I have read yet. I read it in one evening, I could not put it down. It had me capitivated from beginning to end. The story starts with a woman, Mina, who is enslaved as a factory worker while she is paying off her debt. She is miserable, tired, lonely, hungry and just plain fed up with the injustices in life. She has no family at all, and only one friend, her roomate Abby. She knows she is different from everyone else, but does not understand why or how. When she meets Duncan, a teacher, a man who says he is dedicated in helping her explore her Faeling powers, and how to use them, her life finally starts to seem like it is worth living. He teaches her there are two kinds of Faelings, seelie and unseelie. She and him are the latter. He also explains to her how their race is in danger and is constantly hunted by the seelie race. He becomes her friend, her best friend, and she cannot get enough of his company. But quickly the events in her life get much worse, and not only does she have to deal with her everyday hardships like working and finding food and shelter, but now she has to deal with the seelie faeling race trying to kill her.

I loved how strong Mina was. She had one hardship after another, but she kept going. And Duncan was a character I fell in love with. He was smart, wounded, and somehow very caring and compassionate towards Mina. He truly loved her and it was so touching to watch it grow. This book had my emotions on edge. I even cried a few times. There were twists and turns in the plot and secrets that were uncovered. I was wrapped up in this fantasy world were humans existed with faelings. The characters in the book were so developed that they seemed real to me; I was totally enthralled in their lives. This book is a must read, you will not be disapointed.

Mina Cole is a faeling, the offspring of a human and fae. She's also the most powerful of her kind to come around in a long while.

The Seelie Court is out to destroy all the faelings by sending out hunters with helish hounds. In order to stay alive the faeling must keep a low profile, not use their powers and hide.

Mina is befriended by Duncan, a crippled man in a wheelchair who teaches the faeling how to stay alive. He insists that Mina must not try to confront the Seelie Court, but she's not one to be cowed or controlled. Duncan fears he may lose his second love to the Seelie Court like he did his first.

Ms. Corvidae has written a wonderful fantasy filled with adventure, romance and lots of action. I look forward to more novels by this talented writer. Count me as a fan!

By TT reviewer Shannah Biondine [full review on our website]

Indentured factory worker Mina Cole witnesses a horrible industrial accident. An accident that leaves her badly shaken by the notion that her own mental will may have been what prevented the maiming from becoming fatal. The drive belt on the machinery broke when Mina's mind kept screaming that someone had to stop the grinding machines, someone had to make it stop! Miraculously, they did just that.

Pure coincidence? Mina's not sure. A similar incident had occurred once before. When she's beset by an invisible Hound on the streets of Dere later that same night and saved by two strangers, Mina discovers many things are not what they seem--including her own nature and blood heritage.

Enmeshed in an old power struggle between the Seelie and Unseelie Fae and their part-human offspring, the Faelings, the city of Dere has a wonderful Dickensian brooding darkness. Miss Corvidae's descriptions will have you feeling the oppression of iron collars and debtor's prison, smelling the rank garbage-strewn alleyways and marveling along with Mina as she begins her study of fae magic and lore.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable read, with an unusual heroine who must face long odds and her own dark side as, layer by layer, hard truths are revealed and the battle toll mounts. It's a story of friendship and sacrifice, personal power vs. equality and basic rights, misery and oppression vs. startling beauty and magical glamours. The overall theme centers on a balance of power and the author wisely plants serious limitations on the magical abilities of her faelings. This makes them all the more human and believable.

The plot is well conceived and filled with adventures. Secondary characters are as intriguing as her leads, and I loved the title. Read the book and you'll see why it's dead on perfect.

I bought this book because it got so many rave reviews on Amazon, and because I like books in the fantasy genre. When I first opened the book, I read the blurb inside the back cover about the author, and immediately loved her - she's funny, she has cats, she's a vegetarian, and she sounds like a worthy and intelligent person, the kind I'd usually choose to hang out with in real life. Plus, I loved the name of the publisher - Mundania. It just sounds so cool!

At that point, I was sure I was going to love the book. I wanted desperately to love it.

But I quickly found that wanting just wasn't enough. I didn't and couldn't love the book. Nor did I hate it, though, to be fair. But it just wasn't one of those 'I can't put it down' kind of books. I suppose that my making a mental comparison as I read it to several other truly excellent books I'd recently read about the fae ('Moon Called' and 'Blood Bound' by Patricia Briggs - both of which are now firmly amongst my fave books of all time) didn't help this book's cause, since this book was nowhere near as good as those two. Plus, I was under the impression before I bought it that this was a fantasy book, with a hint of romance in it. It wasn't. It was a ROMANCE book with a fantasy theme. It was written not in the style of fantasy writers, but in the style of romance writers. For instance, romance writers typically have a habit of rating any male character's (and often female character's, too) attractiveness and attributes whenever the character is introduced into a scene, and often many times thereafter as well. It's something I find annoying, not least of all since I think a person's beauty lies in MORE than just their physical features...constantly rating characters' looks is something that fantasy writers usually DON'T do; it's too shallow and repetitive for their liking. Fantasy writers are more likely to make you like or hate a character based on their deeds and words. Also, the bad guys in this book were rather stereotypical villains, 2D cliches lacking depth and imagination, often laughably bad - another trait much more typical of romance writers than fantasy writers. There were other aspects as well that defined this as romance, not fantasy, but I won't bore you by going into them all here.

Also, this book wasn't entirely original. Plotlines were borrowed from various sources (X-Men, for instance), as were characters - Fox seemed the spitting image of Drusilla from 'Buffy', albeit with an altruistic side, and Mina was very reminiscent in looks, powers and motivations to Felice from Julian May's excellent 'Saga of the Exiles' series (although I vastly prefer Felice.) The metal slave collars that Mina and her comrades wore also seemed borrowed from the 'Exiles' series. Also, the opera scene seemed borrowed from 'Pretty Woman'. And as for the last two pages of the ending - THAT was copied from practically every romance book ever written! (Which was a shame, really, because up until that point it was a pretty interesting ending.)

There were aspects about the story I did really like. The character of Abby, for instance, was entirely endearing, and the author took the unusual step of making her a lesbian, which DOESN'T usually happen in a romance. Also, there were some unusual backdrops (the Victorian London-style setting, for instance) and a few nice plot twists. Plus, for an independantly published book, the spelling and grammar were pretty damned good - the publisher used a real editor, rather than just spell check, and it shows. All in all, the book's good qualities (as well as its bad ones) mean that it's a book I will long remember.

But overall, it could have been written better, in a more flowing and poignant style, and I can see why a big publisher didn't snap it up. This writer has potential to be good, but she's not quite there yet. I hope sometime in the future she steps back from the romance writing style and takes a stab at writing in pure fantasy style. She could really shine at that, given a bit of experience and coaching. (Whatever she chooses to do in her future, though, I wish her good luck and best wishes!)

One last item to add to my gripes about the book, though - the heroine, Mina, was a chain smoker. There didn't seem a good reason for her to be a smoker. Certainly, it seemed highly unlikely that anyone so poor that they couldn't afford food or plates or clothes, and who had the threat of debtors prison always hanging over her, would or could waste money on cigarettes! And the fact that Mina chose to spend her money on buying cigarettes (and on alcohol, for that matter) just made her seem, well, really truly stupid (kind of like those people in our modern society who are on welfare, who spend their money on alcohol and gambling instead of food or nappies for their babies). Also, I hate it when writers glamourise smoking. I'm allergic to cigarette smoke, and I know people who've died from smoking, so my feelings about it are biased, perhaps, but justifiably so, I believe.

Anyway, to sum it up, this book is probably not going to appeal to your typical fantasy book fan. And it is definitely NOT written for the typical male reader! It is probably most suitable for readers who like romance books with a fantasy theme, and who also don't mind the somewhat lower standard of books usually released by smaller publishers.

An unlikely Heroine who in another world could have been the villain. This story grabs you right at the start and doesn't let go till the end. Set in a world that is at times bleak and all too real with fantastic creatures hidden just under the surface. A highly entertaining read and a great start to a wonderful series. Highly recommended.

This is not your kids type of faerie book. This book's mythology is based on the old myths of the Fae. They are not nice creatures, but dark, very dark.

I think the dialogue was interesting and smart. I said before that I liked some of the quotes, and one in particular still sticks with me:

"Duncan sighed, 'Our Dreams become smaller and more desperate as we get older. I think. The world strips more from us, until we'd trade anything just to get back what we once had.'"

That quote is something I think most adults can relate too, with opportunities coming and going, doors opening and shutting. Sometimes we wish we could go back in time to when all the opportunities were open to us.

I liked it, and I wish we'd see more books steeped in the older, dark, Irish-style faerie tales.