{"id":39266,"date":"2021-06-17T06:30:52","date_gmt":"2021-06-16T18:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=39266"},"modified":"2021-06-16T21:40:09","modified_gmt":"2021-06-16T09:40:09","slug":"from-the-blog-backlist-the-magic-of-winter-worlds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2021\/06\/17\/from-the-blog-backlist-the-magic-of-winter-worlds\/","title":{"rendered":"From The Blog Backlist: “The Magic Of Winter Worlds”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Under snow …<\/p><\/div>\n

As promised on May 31, on the 11th<\/sup> anniversary of the blog, I\u2019m going to be revisiting posts from the backlist on a semiregular basis, because after eleven years there\u2019s a fair amount of backlist to revisit. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

On 31 May, I was tossing up whether to revisit the backlist in a totally random way or go for themes. I still haven\u2019t finally decided, but I suspect it\u2019ll probably end up being a bit of both, i.e. I may settle on a theme for a while, then randomly leap to something else.<\/p>\n

\"\"To kick things off, since winter solstice is almost upon us here in the Southern Hemisphere, I thought I\u2019d revisit a winter-themed post from 2012: The Magic of Winter Worlds<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The post is by no means an exhaustive list of winter-themed works and was never intended to be, but if you like, you can join in the fun by adding \u201cwinter world\u201d fantasies that have been published since 2012 — or from before it for that matter! Particularly if they\u2019re a favourite!<\/p>\n

Otherwise, enjoy!<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

The Magic Of Winter Worlds<\/strong> from<\/em> 21 July 2012<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Recently I posted my poem \u201cNorth\u201d\u00a0here,<\/a>\u00a0and alluded to a journey into the far north of Sweden, to Arjeplog just south of the Arctic circle, which inspired it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Again recently, I have begun reading Australian author Jo Spurrier\u2019s debut Fantasy,\u00a0Winter Be My Shield<\/em><\/strong>, first mentioned under \u201cJust Arrived\u201d\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 and these two posts got me thinking about what a great tradition winter worlds are in Fantasy-SciFi.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are a few of my favourites:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Narnia of\u00a0CS Lewis\u2019s\u00a0The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe<\/em><\/strong>, of course. I have think that moment when, together with Lucy Pevensie, I stepped through the back of a wardrobe and into the snowy landscape of Lantern Waste was definitely one of the most magical of my reading childhood.<\/span><\/p>\n

As an adult,\u00a0Ursula Le Guin\u2019s\u00a0The Left Hand of Darkness<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0provided a similar defining moment, with the physical world of Winter (Gethen) absolutely dominating the cultural, sexual, and political landscape of the story.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>From there, I moved on to\u00a0Michael Scott Rohan\u2019s \u201cWinter of the World\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0series (the first trilogy comprises\u00a0The Anvil of Ice, The Forge of the World, The Hammer of the Sun<\/em>), in which the encroaching ice (think ice age) is an aware power and the Norse myth influences on the storytelling \u2014 perhaps fittingly given the world \u2014 are strong. (Just in case you\u2019re wondering, I think this is a good thing and the series a very interesting, if at times grim, one.)<\/span><\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s\u00a0Mark Helprin\u2019s\u00a0Winter\u2019s Tale<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 which is more like historical urban fantasy (meets the Gangs of New York) and is rich, mythic, magic realist imbued \u2014 and where winter undoubtedly \u2018colours\u2019\u00a0 the entire story.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>More recently I\u2019ve read Kate Elliott\u2019s\u00a0Cold Magic<\/em>\u00a0(the first of a \u201cCold\u2019 trilogy) which also picks up the idea of an ice age realm where the ice influences magic \u2014 but in a world where alternate history means the Carthaginians fought the Romans to a standstill, retaining their maritime empire, and North African (Mali) magicians have emigrated (ahead of a ghoul\/zombie horde) to hook up with Celtic druids, I think you\u2019ll already be getting that the story is going very different places to Michael Scott Rohan\u2019s ice\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Nor should stories such as\u00a0Peter Hoeg\u2019s\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Miss Smilla\u2019s Feeling For Snow<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0be overlooked, if only for the wonderful descriptions of winter and snow; this is a\u00a0very<\/em>\u00a0atmospheric book. And how could I forget\u00a0Joan Vingt\u2019s\u00a0\u201cThe Snow Queen\u201d<\/em><\/strong>? Short answer, I can\u2019t\u2014again it\u2019s a favourite novel and one where the prolonged winter world of Tiamat, but also the imminent transition to an equally prolonged summer is essential to the story being told.\u00a0\"\"<\/a>Picking up on extended winter\/summer worlds again, \u201cWinter is Coming\u201d in\u00a0George RR Martin\u2019s \u201cA Song of Ice and Fire\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0series, even if it is not quite here yet \u2014 but the giant wall of ice and the Night Watch definitely set the scene from book one,\u00a0A Game of Thrones<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

And now I am reading the new Jo Spurrier epic,\u00a0Winter Be My Shield<\/em>, where winter and snow also dominate the world building.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are also distinctive winter elements to wider worlds, such as the Winter Country in my own\u00a0\u201cThe Wall of Night\u201d<\/a>\u00a0series, and the north of the Finnish witches and panzer bjorn in\u00a0Philip Pullman\u2019s\u00a0The Golden Compass<\/em>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The more I think about it, it seems fairly clear that winter worlds hold an enduring fascination, so now I\u2019m thinking about why that might be\u2026 In part, I suspect it is because winter landscapes and worlds are so dramatic, stark and elemental. Physically, they challenge us \u2014 and the white on white of snow worlds is also a very strong aesthetic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Can you think of other reasons for their enduring popularity in Fantasy-SF or literature generally?<\/span><\/p>\n

And what are\u00a0your<\/em>\u00a0great winter worlds that I\u2019ve missed mentioning?<\/span><\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

The books mentioned in the 2012 comments were:<\/h4>\n

JV Jones’ SWORD OF SHADOWS Series<\/p>\n

Brian Ruckley\u2019s GODLESS WORLD series (Winterbirth<\/em>, Bloodheir<\/em>, Fall of Thanes<\/em> )<\/p>\n

John Farrow\u2019s City of Ice<\/em> (which is a thriller not fantasy but it\u2019s set in Montreal during a bone-chilling winter).<\/p>\n

Susan Cooper’s The Dark Is Rising<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018Winter\u2019s Night\u2019 by Boris Pasternak (a poem)<\/p>\n

Matthew Kirby\u2019s Icefall<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As promised on May 31, on the 11th anniversary of the blog, I\u2019m going to be revisiting posts from the backlist on a semiregular basis, because after eleven years there\u2019s a fair amount of backlist to revisit. \ud83d\ude09 On 31 May, I was tossing up whether to revisit the backlist in a totally random way […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,19,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-epicfantasy","category-funstuff","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39266"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39270,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39266\/revisions\/39270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}