Review: "Blood magic. Gleaming skull, no body. Lots of nasty smelling fluids."
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 24, 2014
Finding any biographical information on author Sarah Remy is a semi-fruitless mission. She apparently is form the State of Washington, an `equestrian, urban farmer, tortoise herder, and a reviewer for Readwave `(ReadWave is a new place for sharing 3 minute stories. We believe that 3 minutes is all it takes to tell a story that can change your life. We call these stories ReadWaves. A ReadWave can be about anything -- a confession, an experience, an inspiration a life-changing decision or even something fictional.) Or to quote the author's self description, ` I write fiction to keep real life from getting out of hand, I jump pretty horses over pretty fences because it's a distraction from the real and the fantastic, I do Sun Salutations between 6 am and 7 am because I believe in discipline, and I live in an old house because I believe the best things last more than 100 years.' Now we can gather an idea of the mind of the author from this information - a quirky, fantasy oriented, Will-o'-the-Wisp thinker whose imagination and fantasy world could easily translate to paper. And that is exactly what WINTER proves.A couple of definitions for the reader before the story starts: a sidhe is a mound or a hill on which fairies hide and a fay is a fairy. Given these minimal introductory words we know we are in for a new kind of `sci-fi cum fantasy' story and that is only partially true. The way Remy writes (and she writes very well!) the world of fairies and the human population are in communication if not collusion and the themes of crime solving meld with magic in a most fascinating way. The main character is Winter, a seventeen year old (almost eighteen) untidy fairy in human form: a portion of his dialogue with the reader opens windows as to what to expect from the novel: `A famous songwriter once said that the words of the prophets are written on subway walls. He was right. Not that I'm a big music buff anymore. Although sometimes I imagine I can still hear violins in the night, and the thump of drums through the ground will always make my fists clench. Because some things are hard to forget. But I do know more than most people about prophets, and I spend good part of the D.C. nights in the Metro, looking for their signs, whether they're scrawled on the sides of trains, or scraped into the walls of tunnels. Or splattered across the ground in bloody streaks and prints. Problem is, prophets aren't the most coherent of souls even on the best of days, and you can trust me when I say those touched by the Sight have more bad days than good. Reading their intent is a bit like trying to make poetry out of Spaghetti Os. Lucky for me, I love Spaghetti Os.' Winter works with a mortal detective Bran to deal with a murder in which the remains are solely a skull and blood and Bran seeks Winter's assistance because the murder appears to be a case of blood magic. Winter lives in the Metro underground, is friends with a strange Numbers Man, and is best friends are a mouse named Gabby (an elder trapped in the form of a mouse), the `invisible' Richard, and the waif Lolo. Winter's purpose is to guard against creatures slipping into that strange world or realm.  And that is only the start of this a Young Adult tale of urban street kids, intricate subway systems, a murderer on the run, and exiled people of the Fay. It is a wild and zany world whipped together with mysteries, a challenge for Winter to salvage his family from exile, the dark force of the Sluagh (spirits of the restless dead) and much more.The writing style is entertaining enough to appeal to those not a part of the Young Adult sector and with time Sarah Remy may just make her mark on this genre of novels that are daily proving to be the literature of choice of many eager followers. Grady Harp, March 14