Book Review: “Red Winter”
My review of the first book in a Japanese mythology inspired fantasy fiction series, Red Winter. Written by Annette Marie and published by Dark Owl Fantasy in 2016.
Summary [spoilers]
The first book of this series details how a “chosen one” shrine maiden, named Emi, uncovers the secret of her role as the kamigakari and must choose whether to embrace her fate or try to refashion it. In modern-day Japan, not many people believe that the gods of old myth and legend are real beings who inhabit the land through the physical bodies of their special kamigakari — human hosts. But for Emi, as well as the higher-ups who tend the shrines, the presence and power of their gods and goddesses can be felt and sometimes wielded, especially when defending against yokai.
Emi first felt her goddess’ touch when she was a child and Amaterasu, god of the wind and sky, placed a mark on Emi’s chest and began the slow process of imbuing the young girl with divine power. The book begins many years later when Emi is only a few weeks away from the goddess’ descent and has been gifted with a great amount of power by the goddess. Unfortunately, Emi discovers that in order to help her goddess take on human form, she will have to give up her own life.
While Emi wrestles with feelings of betrayal and grief that follow this discovery, she also uncovers a plot by another goddess to become sole ruler of the world — an ambition which will undoubtedly unsettle the careful balance of yin and yang, triggering ultimate destruction. Banding together with a pair of ancient yokai creatures, a cursed fox suffering from amnesia and the great crow Tengu, Emi defies the goddess and lesser gods who are trying to kill her and prevent Amaterasu from descending. Meanwhile, Emi must un-learn much of what she knows about yokai, even as she begins to harbor romantic feelings for the fox, Shiro.
Themes
Fear is a strong theme right from the beginning when Emi wrestles with a panic attack as she crosses a bridge over a small pond in her new home. We learn that very recently she had a tragic encounter with yokai in a small creek; in that encounter her best friend was dragged into the water and drowned. The fear of water, even just the peaceful sound of it in the distance, continues to plague Emi throughout the novel. But what haunts her more is the fear that she herself is the real monster, because she accidentally caused her friend’s death and wasn’t able to save her.
Imagery
The only real use of imagery in the book is when Emi dreams. Perhaps because of her connection with the goddess it can be explained as a kind of divine foretelling, or warning, of things Emi should know are coming. But Eli’s dreams do not often make much sense to her. She dreams a lot about the fox, Shiro, being in danger from another more ancient, more powerful fox yokai. Whether or not that dream is prophetic is left to another book in this series.
Recommendation
I thought that this story was a lot like some Japanese anime shows I’ve watched and really enjoyed, so it was strange that I didn’t enjoy the same kind of story in book form. Perhaps the written word brings into focus things that are more glossed over in a film. I certainly felt like the romance was overly sensational and that Eli’s personality was a bit too melodramatic. The plot was pretty slow to get going, in part because there were a lot of explanations of the mythology and religious side of the story. Those pieces are necessary for understanding the predicament Emi finds herself in when she discovers her life will be given to the goddess when Amaterasu descends. But it still wasn’t very interesting to read at length. Because I like anime but didn’t like this story, I don’t know whether I should recommend it for anime-lovers or not? I’m quite torn.
