Witch Queen of Redwinter

You may recall that in my review of the third installment of The Raven's Mark trilogy, I claimed that Ed McDonald had the potential to be the next Joe Abercrombie. Sadly, I quickly realized that the Redwinter Chronicles was a totally different beast. Especially the YA style and tone, which feel ill-suited for the story the author is trying to tell. And yet, despite its flaws, I felt that Daughter of Redwinter marked the beginning of a promising new series. I was hoping that McDonald could step up to the plate and deliver like he did in the past.

Alas, Traitor of Redwinter proved that it wasn't meant to be. I don't know if it was a case of the middle book syndrome, or if there simply wasn't enough material here to warrant a full novel, but not much happens during a rather big chunk of that book. In the end, it turned out to be a slog to finish.

At the time, I was wondering if I'd read the final volume, Witch Queen of Redwinter. I've invested a lot of my time reading the first two volumes, so a part of me wanted to discover how it would end. However, another part of me couldn't even think of spending another minute reading Raine's POV. So it took a while, but ultimately I elected to give this one a shot. And though it was better than its predecessor, taken as a whole this trilogy can be nothing but a disappointment for me.

Here's the blurb:

Having been saved from execution at the hands of the Draoihn—powerful magic users Raine used to count as allies—Raine finds herself in the Fault, a vast magical wasteland, which is falling apart before her eyes.

Alongside her two closest companions, they are searching for the only person Raine believes can help them get back home: the enigmatic and infuriatingly elusive Queen of Feathers.

But what home are they trying to get back to? Ovitus LacNaithe, power-hungry traitor that he is, has taken control of the Draoihn and is unwittingly doing the bidding of a darker master. He is soon to take control of the Crown of Harranir and plunge the land into unending darkness.

The fate of two worlds hangs in the balance. The stakes have never been higher. It’s going to take Raine’s dark, terrible powers, as well as the unbreakable bond of three friends, to ensure everyone lives to see the dawn.

In my review of Daughter of Redwinter, I bemoaned the fact that McDonald came up with lots of fascinating concepts and ideas, yet à la Mark Lawrence he played his cards way too close to his chest and did not elaborate much on them. He was a bit more forthcoming in Traitor of Redwinter, and those revelations are likely the only reason why I managed to reach the end of that book. We did learn a bit more about Raine's grave sight and its repercussions, and we also discovered that she's not the first person the Queen of Feathers has groomed for some nebulous objective. This third installment finally unveils the truth about Maldouen, the Crowns, the Fault, the Sarathi, the Riven Queen, Empress Song Seondeok, Empress Serranis, and the Queen of Feathers. McDonald finally provides answers to our ever-growing list of questions, yet I often felt that it was a case of too little, too late. Still, in Witch Queen of Redwinter at least, the author delivered on the worldbuilding front. Having said that, the facet which continues to sink this story is the incredibly weak political intrigue that has to do with Ovitus seizing control of the kingdom and everything that follows.

In my opinion, first-person narratives are always tricky things and can easily make or break a novel. And unfortunately, I feel that Raine's perspective could well be the most detrimental aspect of this series. Two volumes into this trilogy, she has become hard to root/care for. In my review of Traitor of Redwinter, I said that there is only so much self-loathing monologues one can take and I've reached my breaking point in that regard. There is such a thing as character development, and then there's flogging a dead horse. To his credit, Ed McDonald did something quite unexpected about that in this final installment. I'm not going to reveal what it is, because it would be a major spoiler. But it does help a little. Once again, the three-way romance between Raine and the other Draoihn apprentices is full of the teenage angst that so characterize most SFF YA works and things don't improve in that regard. Once more, I can't help but feel that multiple POVs would have given more depth to this series.

Although he failed to do so in the first two volumes, in the past Ed McDonald was known for closing the show with style and aplomb. Both Ravencry and Crowfall featured exciting endgames that led to thrilling finales which packed a surprisingly powerful emotional punch. Again, though Witch Queen of Redwinter is by no means a great read, the author came up with a gripping endgame and a totally unanticipated finale. Whether or not this is enough to save the trilogy as a whole, your mileage may vary. The open-ended conclusion may not please everyone, but I feel that it works rather well.

When all is said and done, though the Redwinter Chronicles show some signs of brilliance from time to time, I believe that the YA style and tone are what made this series a failure to launch for me. Which is not to say that other readers might not love everything about it. It just wasn't for me. . .

The final verdict: 6.5/10

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