Winter Spell by Brenda Murphy is a short fantasy read about a goddess and her chosen warrior.
Mara is a goddess who has been trapped by a sorcerer unhappy that she declined his advances. With no way of escaping his magical barrier she uses her mirror to watch over her warriors, her favourite of which is Reika.
Reika is a feirce leader but even she is not above betrayal and when her lover attempts to kill her she finds herself waking up with Mara, trapped with the goddess.
The two share an uneasy relationship as Reika tries to come to terms with the fact that a goddess who her people thought had abandoned them is now her new lover.
Can they find a way to overcome the misperceptions of centuries and find a way to be together and if so, how do they escape the dome that traps them both?
Pros And My Favourite Parts
I love how original the idea is for this story. A goddess watches her favourite warrior and saves her life, ultimately saving herself in the process. It’s so cool.
The chemistry between characters is great and I do love a good butch/femme dynamic.
Cons And Heads Up
I wish Murphy had spent a little more time expanding on the writing. It felt rushed at times with a lot of telling when I could have happily submerged myself in the world she was building with a much longer, more detailed version of the story.
I was honestly expecting more sex and more power play and while it is there it’s relatively tame and very fast. It wasn’t bad by any means it was just not what I was expecting from Murphy.
A small note for those who are against male sex organs being mentioned there is a very brief scene that does contain a mention.
The Conclusion
This is a short read with an interesting world and a pretty cool concept. If you are looking for something different with a short but graphic bit of power play in sex then this is your next read.
Excerpt from Winter Spell by Brenda Murphy
1
Mara placed the large bowl of popped maize and cup of ale on the table next to her scrying mirror. After settling in her favorite chair, she propped the mirror against a vase of dried lavender centered in the middle of her table. As she spoke the words to summon the mirror’s power, a chill crept up her back. She tugged her shawl tighter around her shoulders.
The mirror clouded and then cleared. A flat dusty brown plain appeared. The sun cast long shadows over a worn and patched tent. A standard flew above the tent, a black wolf rampant on a blood-red field, the flag flapped and fluttered in the wind.
Mara leaned close to the mirror. Reika. Her wolf, as she liked to think of her, although Reika had no idea of Mara’s existence. To her, Mara was a legend, a myth, the sorceress who had abandoned her empire when they needed her most. A name used to curse, and damn.
Mara sighed and straightened her shoulders. After two hundred twenty years, it shouldn’t still sting, but it did. And always would. Mara sipped from her ale, the cold brew soothing. She turned her attention back to the mirror.
Reika was Mara’s most recent obsession. When she had finally been brave enough to call forth images of her empire, the ruined castles and burned-out abandoned villages had cut her to her soul. Worse, people had utterly destroyed every temple bearing her name. The one shining moment had been the images of Reika. A warrior, she was the last of the family which had supplied Mara’s empire with its most fearsome fighters for centuries.
In the mirror, Reika’s tent was surrounded by others like it, pitched on a scorched and barren plain. A crowd of scruffy warriors stood three deep outside the tent’s opening. Mara concentrated, waited while the glass responded to her request. The scene in the mirror shifted, colors swirled, the surface rippled and then stilled.
Reika came into view. Dressed in a loose tunic and breeches, sweat gleamed on Reika’s dark skin. Her brow furrowed. One hand rested on the pommel of her sword, the other on her hip. Her mouth set in a grim line, she listened to the women and men crowded around her. The cacophony of the group, shouting over each other, echoed from the mirror.
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Bits and Bobs
AISN number: B09M6KCMMY
Publisher: Quinby Sideshow Publications
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