Review: "Winter's Bite"...a short fantasy/adventure of the highest quality
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 28, 2012
"Winter's Bite" is a short fantasy/adventure by author Annie Bellet. This Kindle e-book was a 148 Kb download and was free at the time of writing this review. This story only takes up about a third of the download. The rest of the book contains the first 5 chapters of the author's first book in The Chwedl duology, "A Heart in Sun and Shadow".<spoilers>In the sparsely populated northern region a four day winter storm has just blown itself out. The morning after the storm, a midwife arrives at an isolated homestead only to find that the inhabitants have been gruesomely slaughtered. All evidence points to a pack of beasts called Widowhulks, and now someone has to warn the men at the garrison so the village can be protected...a garrison that is a long way away.end <spoilers>Some thoughts on "Winter's Bite"...1.) very short...reads like a teaser prologue to a longer novel.2.) the increasingly tense atmosphere is beautifully described... the eerie quiet of the stark white winter wilderness, the plume of frigid breath, the rhythmic sound of the skis running across the snow and finally, the howl of the unseen Widowhulk coming from over a hill. The material of goosebumps!3.) some nice character development of Ysabon... even though the tale is extemely short.4.) a heroic, last stand... left undescribed. A nice touch.5.) cover art... an attractive cover, nicely representing the story within.Conclusion:A great short story... well told!Left me wanting more, much more.An author with the skills to weave and tell a magical tale.5 StarsRay NicholsonP.S.Thanks to amazon friend Media Man, for bringing this author to my attention.