A review by maxsebastian
The Blood That Burns the Winter Snow by Ryan Cahill

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

"A time would come where hugs from his son were not so freely given, and that was a time for which he held no love."

Fantasy is full of adventure, violence, dragons, and mischief. With many of its elements being otherworldly, it's great when it feels human too. As an author, making fantasy feel real is one Ryan Cahill's greatest strengths, and, while still impressive in his full length novels in The Bound and the Broken series, it's doubly so in a story that is only a handful of pages long. After finishing A Storm of Swords, The Blood that Burns the Winter Snow was just what I needed to remind me how diverse epic fantasy storytelling is and why I love reading it so much.

In this short story, Cahill focuses on one of the characters I've been most curious about in The Bound and the Broken, Vars Bryer.
As the parent of three of the most important characters in the series and shrouded in a mysterious military past,  Vars has always intrigued me. Because of his untimely death in Of Blood and Fire, I wondered how much of his story would remain hidden to the reader.
It is difficult to get into who Vars is without spoiling both The Blood that Burns the Winter Snow and parts of The Bound and the Broken series, so I'll just say that he's a working man with an intense devotion to his family. This short story is one of him doing anything he can to protect those he loves. While I found some of the resulting action a little ponderous, this has little to do with Cahill's writing style and more to do with my general struggles following action scenes.

While the book is plot focused, it also raises interesting questions about the world of Epheria, the setting of The Bound and the Broken. In particular, what really happened during the Varsund War, and, perhaps more importantly, will Ryan Cahill write about it?
It's worthy of note too that Cahill recommends reading this story after Of War and Ruin and The Ice, which makes me wonder about the direction of the next book in the series
. 

The Blood that Burns the Winter Snow is a perfect introduction to Cahill's world and fast paced writing style. If you're looking for your next fantasy story, look no further than this entry in The Bound and the Broken. It's got real heart.