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Hi everyone, it’s Robbie Cheadle with you today and I’m sharing my reviews of the first three books in Teagan Riordain Geneviene’s Dead of Winter series and her recipe for buckwheat polenta. Thank you, Teagan!

My reviews of the first three books in the Dead of Winter series by Teagan Riordain Geneviene

Dead of Winter: Journey 1, Forlorn Peak

This is the first journey in an epic story which is being published as a series of novellas/journeys. In this first story, we meet the heroine, Emlyn Eriu, a young girl of 12-years old with a high intellect and the ability to see and feel spirits. Both of these qualities are risk factors for Emlyn who is growing up in a misogynistic world controlled by a zealous religious group called the Brethren of Un’Naf. The main aim of the Brethren is to suppress the population, especially women, and outlaw all the things that make life pleasant and joyful. The people live in a drab and colourless world where they are not allowed to dance or sing. The women are forbidden from revealing their hair, wearing pretty and colourful clothing, and obtaining an education. The Brethren will have Emlyn killed if they discover her abilities.

Emlyn’s mother is dead and her father sees her as plain and unattractive, but realises she is bright and can help him in his business. He persuades the elders of the church to allow Emlyn to have selected lessons with an older woman who lives outside of the village called Osabide. Osabide quickly sees Emlyn’s gift and potential and teaches and expands her lessons to cover a lot more than the agreed lesson plan comprising basic reading, writing, and account-keeping.

The story opens with Emlyn on her way to her lesson with Osabide. A large wolf appears to her and this event is followed by Emlyn receiving a message on the wind that «winter is coming.» Emlyn doesn’t know what this message means but she believes it to be important enough to pass on to her teacher.

The writing in this short novella is quite beautiful and a pleasure to read. Some of the lines which mesmerized me are as follows:

«Night purpled a solitary cloud that drifted across the fullness of the Blood Moon.»

«Her breath froze in the early morning chill as she turned, leaving a briefly shimmering trail on the breeze.»

«She sank deeper into the circle of dreaming. Fog rolled in. Her hair stirred in a breeze but the self she watched did not wake.»

Dead of Winter: Journey 2, Penllyn

Journey 2 of this incredible fantasy is a satisfying 60 pages long and moves the story along at a terrific pace. Emlyn’s visions make an even bigger intrusion into her life and her unhappy home environment becomes even worse due her inability to control her fears while sleeping. She gains some comfort through the discovery of an unexpected and hidden item that previously belonged to her mother and we learn more about her mother’s nature and passions as Emlyn thinks about her and examines her physical memories of her life when it included her mother.

More details are revealed about the restrictive religion that has taken hold in Emlyn’s home town and surrounds and the reader feels Afon, Emlyn’s father’s, anxiety that her strange behaviour could bring tragedy down upon his family and business. He decides to try and take preventive action which leaves the reader conflicted about his real motives and feelings towards his daughter.

This journey is equally beautifully written as Journey one and I enjoyed some of the delightful descriptions.
«The milk zinged against the side of the bucket, making a happy sound» and «She couldn’t recall experiencing heavy clammy air in cool weather. The air was strange, unlike ordinary dampness. It felt … greasy.» are two examples of this author’s fabulous writing.

Who is Queen Ailbine and why did she bother with Emlyn? Who is the woman who has the ability to infiltrate Emlyn’s dreams? This journey ends with a cliffhanger and leaves these questions to be answered in the next installment.

Dead of Winter: Journey 3, The Fever Field

Journey 3, The Fever Field, in the Dead of Winter saga really steps up the action. Unexpected circumstances result in Emlyn gaining a far greater insight into the silver haired man from her dreams and a frightening understanding of his frequently repeated phrase «winter is coming.»

I enjoyed getting to know a lot more about Zasha and the other Deae Matres, a society of knowledgeable women who travel around the world trying to right wrongs and preserve history and learning. I was particularly interested by Boabhan, a member of the society and a woman of seemingly great inner strength. I hope to learn more about her as the story progresses. The roles of the various women comprising the society and their conflicts and relationships with each other becomes a lot clearer in this episode.

Zasha shows herself to be young and impetuous and a little lacking in the arts of negotiation and manipulation when dealing with the more senior ladies of the organisation. She wears her heart on her sleeve and her emotions and frustrations are easily seen by others. She will need to learn to think before she speaks if she wants to do the best job she can of unwinding the mysteries that are unveiling themselves in the Flowing Lands.

The writing is beautiful and one sentence that caught my eye was «The breeze heaved an eerie sigh through the boughs, and rustled Emlyn’s skirts.

The series is definitely shaping up into a fascinating story which I would recommend to people who enjoy a good and well written fantasy tale.

Summary

I hope the above reviews have given you a taste of what you can expect from this wonderful 14-part series. The author has subsequently combined the series into a single Omnibus which is also available at the links below.

Amazon Author Page: https://relinks.me/TeaganRiordainGeneviene

Blog: Teagan’s Books – Founder of the Three Things Method of Storytelling

Dead of Winter food and a recipe for Buckwheat Polenta

Dead of Winter is a high fantasy epic.  Personally, I like to call that sub-genre “quest-type fantasy.”  If you’ve read a lot of that kind of fantasy you might have noticed that two minor elements are practically a requirement.  1) EVERY character is named — even the horses.  Even if a character’s quest causes him to need to get a new horse everywhere he goes, that new horse gets a name.  2) They eat stew.  At taverns and around campfires, they eat stew.  If they’re without supplies and starving, they come up with some kind of stew.  Even the monsters who are about to eat the characters, they are usually planning to put them into a stew.

Did I use stew in Dead of Winter?  Well, of course I did, haha!  However, I let it be the favorite comfort food of Emlyn’s teacher, Osabide.  I also used food to show the cultural differences the travelers encountered in their journeys.  For instance, when the journey began, Emlyn had never tasted, or even thought about milk from cows.  They weren’t common in her area.  To her, milk came from goats.  One particular new culinary experience for Emlyn was buckwheat polenta.

The buckwheat flower adds a nutty flavor to the creamy polenta.  One might make buckwheat polenta into cake-like squares, and even fry those if desired.  Or it could be served creamy and in a bowl.  It can be served as a side dish or a main dish.  Following is a simplified version of a classic Italian recipe.

Preparation time:  about 55 minutes

Cooking time:  30 minutes

Yields: 2-3 cups / Servings: 4-6, at approximately 125 calories per serving.

Ingredients

2 cups buckwheat groats

1 cup onion, chopped

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1 cup water

2 tablespoons butter

Directions

Finely chop 1 cup of onion and set it aside.

Melt the butter and use it to sauté the onion.  Use a pot with a lid.  Over medium heat melt the 2 tablespoons of butter.  Add the chopped onion and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add water and buckwheat grits (also called groats):  Add 4 cups of water to the pot and bring to a boil.  Stir in 1 cup of buckwheat groats.

Reduce heat and simmer on very low heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the buckwheat reaches polenta consistency.

Note:  Be careful not to over-cook, because buckwheat polenta can become too thick and sticky.

Stir in parmesan cheese and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and the polenta has thickened.

Serve hot, garnished with additional parmesan cheese if desired.

Dead of Winter Omnibus

Blurb

The religious fanatics who took over Emlyn’s homeland say she is an abomination. She escapes, and is taken in by travelers belonging to the Deae Matres — a society of intelligent women who travel the world, seeking out and preserving knowledge.

Meanwhile, Emlyn’s encounters with spirits become more frequent, because the Veil, which separates the world of the living from the realm of the dead has become dangerously thin.  As the Veil deteriorates, chaos ensues when the dead begin to cross into the living world.  Journey with Emlyn as she explores her world in Dead of Winter.

Book Trailer Video

Purchase Links

Kindle:  relinks.me/B0FP9XL46J

Audio book:  relinks.me/B0FPB2L9WV

About Teagan Riordain Geneviene

Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene is certain that the pen is in your hand. After a life shaped by the tragedy of losing a sibling to Mµnchaµsen §yndr◊me by Pr◊xy, along with the abµ§e she herself survived, Teagan took that metaphorical pen into her hand. She wrote her way to a new chapter of life with a successful career authoring and editing technical documentation. With another revision that pen took her to the next chapter, working alongside highly placed Federal executives to compose their communications. However, Teagan wasn’t finished. The pen was still in her hand. In her latest chapter she is an acclaimed multi-genre author, living in a high desert town in the Southwest of the USA. Rescue cats, the §coobies — Velma and Daphne, offer unsolicited advice on all stories, as well as the book covers Teagan designs.

This author’s stories range from paranormal to high fantasy and urban fantasy, to various steampunk (and other types of punk), to mysteries with historic settings. In addition to fiction, she has created the Author Tool Chest series of non-fiction works as resources for writers and anyone who loves language. In free time she enjoys conversations with friends, singing karaoke, and playing her piano.

See her book trailer videos at Youtube.

About Robbie Cheadle

South African author, photographer, and artist, Robbie Cheadle, has written and illustrated seventeen children’s books, illustrated a further three children’s books, written and illustrated four poetry books and written and illustrated one celebration of cake and fondant art book with recipes. Her work has also appeared in poetry and short story anthologies.

Robbie also has two novels and a collection of short stories published under the name of Roberta Eaton Cheadle and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.

You can find Robbie Cheadle’s artwork, fondant and cake artwork, and all her books on her website here: https://www.robbiecheadle.co.za/

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