Hardcover:
 Latest edition: 2021 Publisher: Head of Zeus ISBN: 978-1800242869 Pages: 400 Availability & latest prices:    |
A Winter War: What’s it about? From the blurb: AD173. The Danube has frozen. On its far banks gather the clans of Sarmatia. Winter-starved, life ebbing away on a barren plain of ice and snow, to survive they must cross the river's frozen waters. There's just one thing in their way. Petty feuds have been cast aside, six thousand heavy cavalry marshalled. Will it be enough? For across the ice lies the Roman Empire, and deployed in front of them, one of its legions. The Sarmatians are proud, cast as if from the ice itself. After decades of warfare they are the only tribe still fighting the Romans. They have broken legions in battle before. They will do so again. They charge. Sarmatian warrior Kai awakes on a bloodied battlefield, his only company the dead. The disgrace of his defeat compounded by his survival, Kai must now navigate a course between honour and shame, his people and the Empire, for Rome hasn't finished with Kai or the Sarmatians yet. Background This the author’s fourth published novel and the first set in the ancient Roman period, he has written two books set in ancient Greece/Persia and followed those up with Smile of the Wolf in 2018 which is set in 11th Century Iceland. A Winter War is the first in an intended trilogy, the second book, The Iron Way is due out in August this year. A Winter War was published by Head of Zeus in 2021 and is also available in paperback (out in May 2022) and as an ebook and audiobook. The Good and the Not so Good I loved this book. Having previously read Smile of the Wolf I was familiar with Tim’s prose and was looking forward to A Winter War. I wasn’t disappointed, he writes so beautifully and although this is a relatively short book at 370 pages, it was one of those books where you find yourself taking your time and reading every single word. The setting is winter on the banks of the Danube and in common with Smile of the Wolf, Tim conveys the cold, bleakness of the landscape in the winter so well. The ethereal chill of the landscape feels so real, we feel it through the experiences of the tribe as they deal with the harshness of their world. Here is an example: From the mist and the marsh, the figures came. Shadows at first, that might have been mistaken for the ghosts that were said to haunt the mire, or the witch-fires that lured men to join the dead. The characters are so well portrayed, they’re given such distinct personalities, histories and motivations. I felt quite ambivalent towards the main character, which was probably the intention, I found his actions and his responses to the other tribe members’ attitude towards him difficult to empathise with. As in Smile of the Wolf, the author has the protagonist having to deal with the decisions they have made and while I couldn’t like the paths he chose, it was no less absorbing to follow him as he made them. One other aspect I thought was just wonderful was how Tim describes the horses in the novel. They play a fundamental role in the tribes’ world, a nomadic life on the edge of the steppe. But he portrays them as characters as much as the humans, their reactions to their human owners and their interaction with each other. Here’s an example while the tribe camped and prepared for battle: “..perhaps most important of all, (talk was of) the politics of their horses. For those horses had their own silent friendships, the bloodfeuds that could only be settled in death. Battles had turned in a moment when one horse could not abide the company of another and the line of the charge fell to pieces.” Interestingly, the Romans here are the monsters. In the early part of the book they are a relentless, faceless killing machine, which would have been how the tribes saw them. Even when we are introduced to the most senior Roman in the field (no spoilers!), we are reminded that this was a man who while, capable of rational, philosophical discussions with Rome’s enemy, in a moment “he was there once more – tyrant, conqueror, killer, Rome’s butcher”. And not so good? Well, sometimes you finish a book and have to marvel at what you’ve just read. So, if anything, it wasn’t long enough! Final thoughts This is a literary, thoughtful novel full of fascinating themes of loss, shame, guilt and potential redemption. A beautifully constructed plot and complex, well-drawn characters. This is an author who will be on my must-read list for some time. Bring on The Iron Way. | Paperback:
Latest edition: 2022 Publisher: Head of Zeus ISBN: 978-1800242883 Pages: 384 Availability & latest prices: |
If you want to read more about Tim and his work, his website is tim-leach.co.uk and he posts on twitter as @TimLeachWriter.
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