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Red Winter
Delivering harrowing adventure and suspense set against an unforgiving landscape, the new novel by Dan Smith will leave you chilled to the bone . . .
1920, central Russia. The Red Terror tightens its hold. Kolya has deserted his Red Army unit and returns home to bury his brother and reunite with his wife and sons. But he finds the village silent and empty. The men have been massacred in the forest. The women and children have disappeared.
In this remote, rural Russian community the folk tales that mothers tell their children by candlelight take on powerful significance, and the terrifying legend of Koschei, The Deathless One, begins to feel very real. Kolya sets out on a journey through dense, haunting forests and across vast plains against the bitter winter, in the desperate hope he will find his wife and two boys-and find them alive. But there are very dark things in Kolya's past. And, as he strives to find his family, there's someone-or something-following his trail . . .
1920, central Russia. The Red Terror tightens its hold. Kolya has deserted his Red Army unit and returns home to bury his brother and reunite with his wife and sons. But he finds the village silent and empty. The men have been massacred in the forest. The women and children have disappeared.
In this remote, rural Russian community the folk tales that mothers tell their children by candlelight take on powerful significance, and the terrifying legend of Koschei, The Deathless One, begins to feel very real. Kolya sets out on a journey through dense, haunting forests and across vast plains against the bitter winter, in the desperate hope he will find his wife and two boys-and find them alive. But there are very dark things in Kolya's past. And, as he strives to find his family, there's someone-or something-following his trail . . .
416 pages, Hardcover
First published July 18, 2013
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1404 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 111 reviews
May 7, 2018
This is a haunting tale, about a man, Kolya, who has had enough of fighting in the revolutionary war, and wants nothing more, than to be with his wife and children. So he and his brother Alek, desert from their unit (Red Army) - and fake their own deaths, hoping no-one will come looking for them. His brother dies on the journey home, from a wound he received, after their unit was ambushed, when entering a village. There are other reasons why they wanted out, as well.
When he finally gets back home, though, he finds the village empty. Not a soul in sight. He checks his home; and the homes of his neighbours, but each abode is eerily the same: the children's winter coats are missing, but not the adults.
Anyway, it soon becomes apparent, that Kolya isn't quite as alone - as he thought he was - which leads to an awkward situation, after he falls asleep; then wakes up, and instinctively attacks a figure he sees, but can't make out, and almost strangles the person to death. - which turns out to be his dead mothers' best friend, Galina Ivanova Petrova. I think that was the only scene that amused me.
Once she's able to catch her breath, Kolya asks her some questions, wanting to know what has happened to the denizens' of Belev - and to know if she knows anything about his family. Unfortunately, she doesn't give him much; except the name Koschei, and a little info, which isn't much or coherent, as she's confused. He finally finds the answer to what has happened to the men of the village - but he has no idea, if his family have suffered the same fate. Galina isn't the only person in the village; there are two others, Tanya and Lyudmila, who've been watching him, too.
I really enjoyed this book, despite it being slow-paced. Although, I couldn't really see it being done, any other way. This is basically one man's journey, searching for his family, looking for redemption, wanting to change his ways - and leave the horrors of war behind.
When he finally gets back home, though, he finds the village empty. Not a soul in sight. He checks his home; and the homes of his neighbours, but each abode is eerily the same: the children's winter coats are missing, but not the adults.
Anyway, it soon becomes apparent, that Kolya isn't quite as alone - as he thought he was - which leads to an awkward situation, after he falls asleep; then wakes up, and instinctively attacks a figure he sees, but can't make out, and almost strangles the person to death. - which turns out to be his dead mothers' best friend, Galina Ivanova Petrova. I think that was the only scene that amused me.
Once she's able to catch her breath, Kolya asks her some questions, wanting to know what has happened to the denizens' of Belev - and to know if she knows anything about his family. Unfortunately, she doesn't give him much; except the name Koschei, and a little info, which isn't much or coherent, as she's confused. He finally finds the answer to what has happened to the men of the village - but he has no idea, if his family have suffered the same fate. Galina isn't the only person in the village; there are two others, Tanya and Lyudmila, who've been watching him, too.
I really enjoyed this book, despite it being slow-paced. Although, I couldn't really see it being done, any other way. This is basically one man's journey, searching for his family, looking for redemption, wanting to change his ways - and leave the horrors of war behind.
July 7, 2015
Red Winter by Dan Smith is a harrowing, desperate novel of pain and betrayal in the cold and unforgiving winter of Central Russia. Kolya has returned to his home village, the dead body of his brother carried on the horse by his side, to find the village empty. Kolya has lost faith in the army he serves as the Red Terror scourges through the Russian countryside. Families are torn apart and whole communities are murdered, tortured or taken to slave camps by the army.
"...Galina put her hand to her head and tapped it with the gnarled knuckle of one finger. 'Remember,' she said. 'Remember, remember, remember. Oh.' Her movement was sudden and she reached out to grab me once more. This time she grasped my forearm with one hand and reached up with the other to touch my cheek. She brought her close to mine. 'Don't let him take me too.'
'Who?'
She spoke with urgency, lowering her voice and putting her lips to my ear. 'Don't let him make me go with the others.'
'Where did they go?' I asked, trying to keep my voice calm despite the questions spinning in my head. 'Who are you talking about?'
She loosened her grip on me and put a hand to her mouth. 'Don't let him take me.'
'Who is he? Can you remember? You have to tell me-'
'Koschei,' she said. 'The Deathless one.'
In the remote countryside of rural Russia the myths and horror stories of old folk tales is coming to life. As the legend of the terrifying is visiting village upon village, torturing the men, beheading others, stealing the boys old enough to fight and raping the women. The women, it is said, the women he likes to drown.
"...The tableau of death before me was as shocking as anything I had seen during the course of the war. I had grown all too aware of the appalling things that one person could do to another, but I had never seen such a variety of atrocity in once place. Most perpetrators of this kind of extermination tended to stick to a preferred method. There were those who flayed their victims while they were still alive. Others opted for crucifixion or hanging or a simple bullet to the back of the neck. Some liked to impale their victims or roll them naked in barrels punched through with nails. I had even heard of men and women forced to stand naked in the cold while water was poured over them, a few drops at a time, until they became ice statues frozen in death..."
Kolya sets out on a chase after the Deathless One. His wife and two sons, taken from the village. He can only hope that they still live. But as Kolya searches for his family, his past is slowly on his trail as well and will the truths of who he is keep him from reaching his family in time?
This novel is up there with such powerful war and survival dramas as the Searchers and the Road. A deserter from the army, Kolya must come to grips with his own actions in the war and the consequences that have upon him and his family as he searches to save them and perhaps in doing so, redeem himself. Red Winter brings to the forefront the true axiom of the brutality of war; one man's freedom fighter is another's terrorist.
The writing is superb, building upon setting and pace, the plot moves steadily along until it becomes a powerful momentum and the hopelessness of Kolya's journey becomes apparent to everyone but him. Smith has written a novel of such intensity that it will become difficult to find its equal this year. This is the kind of novel that has been lost to the market as of late as everyone seems to be reaching out for the much lighter fare. That is too bad because this is the type of story telling that is worth standing up and taking notice of.
A terrific read!
"...Galina put her hand to her head and tapped it with the gnarled knuckle of one finger. 'Remember,' she said. 'Remember, remember, remember. Oh.' Her movement was sudden and she reached out to grab me once more. This time she grasped my forearm with one hand and reached up with the other to touch my cheek. She brought her close to mine. 'Don't let him take me too.'
'Who?'
She spoke with urgency, lowering her voice and putting her lips to my ear. 'Don't let him make me go with the others.'
'Where did they go?' I asked, trying to keep my voice calm despite the questions spinning in my head. 'Who are you talking about?'
She loosened her grip on me and put a hand to her mouth. 'Don't let him take me.'
'Who is he? Can you remember? You have to tell me-'
'Koschei,' she said. 'The Deathless one.'
In the remote countryside of rural Russia the myths and horror stories of old folk tales is coming to life. As the legend of the terrifying is visiting village upon village, torturing the men, beheading others, stealing the boys old enough to fight and raping the women. The women, it is said, the women he likes to drown.
"...The tableau of death before me was as shocking as anything I had seen during the course of the war. I had grown all too aware of the appalling things that one person could do to another, but I had never seen such a variety of atrocity in once place. Most perpetrators of this kind of extermination tended to stick to a preferred method. There were those who flayed their victims while they were still alive. Others opted for crucifixion or hanging or a simple bullet to the back of the neck. Some liked to impale their victims or roll them naked in barrels punched through with nails. I had even heard of men and women forced to stand naked in the cold while water was poured over them, a few drops at a time, until they became ice statues frozen in death..."
Kolya sets out on a chase after the Deathless One. His wife and two sons, taken from the village. He can only hope that they still live. But as Kolya searches for his family, his past is slowly on his trail as well and will the truths of who he is keep him from reaching his family in time?
This novel is up there with such powerful war and survival dramas as the Searchers and the Road. A deserter from the army, Kolya must come to grips with his own actions in the war and the consequences that have upon him and his family as he searches to save them and perhaps in doing so, redeem himself. Red Winter brings to the forefront the true axiom of the brutality of war; one man's freedom fighter is another's terrorist.
The writing is superb, building upon setting and pace, the plot moves steadily along until it becomes a powerful momentum and the hopelessness of Kolya's journey becomes apparent to everyone but him. Smith has written a novel of such intensity that it will become difficult to find its equal this year. This is the kind of novel that has been lost to the market as of late as everyone seems to be reaching out for the much lighter fare. That is too bad because this is the type of story telling that is worth standing up and taking notice of.
A terrific read!
February 21, 2017
4.5 Stars
Human History is quite a bitch. Red Winter definitely had some intense moments but I started following a pattern within this book (which left me to remove a half star from a full five). There was always so much build up in scenes of suspense, only to find out "oh, it was just _____"... All the terror and horrors in this story were more of an afterthought, or after-the-fact than presently occurring.
All in all, this was a great book and a true reminder of what our deep dark inner humanity is capable of in times of desperation and survival. I chose a good time to read this, right in the middle of winter, and coming off a high from Swan Song.
Human History is quite a bitch. Red Winter definitely had some intense moments but I started following a pattern within this book (which left me to remove a half star from a full five). There was always so much build up in scenes of suspense, only to find out "oh, it was just _____"... All the terror and horrors in this story were more of an afterthought, or after-the-fact than presently occurring.
All in all, this was a great book and a true reminder of what our deep dark inner humanity is capable of in times of desperation and survival. I chose a good time to read this, right in the middle of winter, and coming off a high from Swan Song.
October 24, 2014
First of all, I won this book on Goodreads!! And shame on me for waiting so long to read this. I have just stayed up 3 LATE nights in a row reading this book and am 100% sure I will suffer the consequences of sleep deprivation BUT I have not been so drawn to a book like this in I don't know how long!! This isn't like anything I have read in a long time!! I am serious in saying that this book is so scary that I only wanted to read it with my house alarm set and my husband nearby. Crazy?! Yes! When asked by my hubby why I was reading a book that scared me so much I said, "because it's so good!!!" That's all I can say.
**I wanted to add a side note - this book is historical fiction - based during the Bolshevik Revolution so this is NOT a monster book!! No science fiction here! If you are unfamiliar with the Bolshevik Revolution, this will inspire you to google it and then perhaps understand a little more about current events**
If you want to borrow - let me know!
**I wanted to add a side note - this book is historical fiction - based during the Bolshevik Revolution so this is NOT a monster book!! No science fiction here! If you are unfamiliar with the Bolshevik Revolution, this will inspire you to google it and then perhaps understand a little more about current events**
If you want to borrow - let me know!
March 19, 2023
This felt like a very average revenge novel. While I wasn't blown away by The Revenant, it was a more developed and engaging story of revenge than Red Winter. Not bad by any means, but only recommended if you really like the genre.
May 10, 2018
I was right to be nervous, this was pretty rough. I do not normally read such things, and I would find myself closing the book and being like "god, I just can't"
so much death and zero trust and constantly watching your back and losing people close to you, or virtual strangers even and trying to keep hope when everything seemed so bleak
The author did a good job just showing how soldiers often start out completely believing in what they're doing, but after a while, things aren't black and white, they get blurry. Or maybe they don't get blurry, they become clear. What really is important. That the "enemy" often isn't who you thought it was at all. This was rough but a really good read. I would definitely read more from this author.
so much death and zero trust and constantly watching your back and losing people close to you, or virtual strangers even and trying to keep hope when everything seemed so bleak
The author did a good job just showing how soldiers often start out completely believing in what they're doing, but after a while, things aren't black and white, they get blurry. Or maybe they don't get blurry, they become clear. What really is important. That the "enemy" often isn't who you thought it was at all. This was rough but a really good read. I would definitely read more from this author.
January 25, 2015
dark novel based in 1920 Russia during the civil war and the terror where there is so much bloodshed. this is a mans journey to try and find his family after he gets back to his village to find it deserted and also try to avoid capture as a deserter from the red army.
March 5, 2016
I was sick and I don't do tv so I read while I hacked and coughed. All I can say is wow! Right from the start of this you are filled with a dark sense of place and feeling of utter dread as the main character returns home with his brother to find their village deserted. Set in 1920 this author does a fabulous job of capturing the time and place, Russia, still fighting after the Revolution. I was amazed at how he successfully puts you in the main character's head - Kolya is a complex individual who just wants his family back and is willing to do anything to find them. As his history slowly unspools you see who he was, how he changed, is still changing, how he flinches but accepts responsibility for what he has done and makes peace with what he must yet do. This is as dark and bleak as the Russian winter the story is set in but it is also laced with bits of light and warmth and it is excellent historical fiction.
July 21, 2014
Following the success of The Child Thief, Smith takes us back to Russia in 1920. The Bolsheviks have successfully defeated the Whites and are working on the collectivization of food sources. Now the Bolsheviks are faced with the peasant armies resisting the new policies. The Cheka secret police are utilizing terror, murder, and torture to force the countryside into compliance.
Nikolai Levitsky, sickened by the turn to violence against the very people he fought for in the Revolution, deserts, makes his way home and finds his village deserted. His wife and sons are gone. He begins following the trail of the man referred to as Koschei. As he advances toward his quarry,a band of men are tracking him.
Filled with history yet exciting as all get out, this latest by Dan Smith should not be missed.
Nikolai Levitsky, sickened by the turn to violence against the very people he fought for in the Revolution, deserts, makes his way home and finds his village deserted. His wife and sons are gone. He begins following the trail of the man referred to as Koschei. As he advances toward his quarry,a band of men are tracking him.
Filled with history yet exciting as all get out, this latest by Dan Smith should not be missed.
May 11, 2014
I read this book in three days, but I would've read it in three hours if I could have! Every time I picked it up, I wished I could read a little faster. It was like watching an exciting film in slow motion. And each chapter ended in a cliffhanger! The detailed description of people and places, and the play with reality vs. fairy tale just pulls you in, and the reasoning/rationalisation behind the emotional and psychological effects of the war is a two-edged sword making you lose trust in the characters. You soon realise that not everything is black and white, and (like we've seen so many times throughout history), this book depicts how twisted beliefs are used to vindicate horrific acts of war.
March 18, 2015
★★★☆☆
I really liked this book. It's not what I usually read, but I'm glad I picked it up.
The story is set in winter 1920 central Russia and revolves around Koyla, a soldier who has deserted the Red Army and is on his way home to his wife and 2 sons. Once he arrives, he realizes the whole village is deserted. The men have all been shot and branded, all the women and children missing. The story follows Koyla as he searches for his wife and sons.
I really liked this book. It's not what I usually read, but I'm glad I picked it up.
The story is set in winter 1920 central Russia and revolves around Koyla, a soldier who has deserted the Red Army and is on his way home to his wife and 2 sons. Once he arrives, he realizes the whole village is deserted. The men have all been shot and branded, all the women and children missing. The story follows Koyla as he searches for his wife and sons.
July 17, 2013
Following last year’s remarkable Ukranian set thriller The Child Thief, Smith returns with another foray into the dangerous and inhospitable territory of Eastern Europe, transporting the reader to the icy wastes of Central Russia 1920. From the very first page you are instantly filled with a sense of dread observing through a returning soldier’s eyes, a village lying still and silent with only the sounds of nature to fill the void. As Nikolai Levitsky observes the Marie-Celeste like environs of his former home, it becomes clear that something evil has cast its pall over the village; the men have been slaughtered and along with these men’s families, Levitsky’s wife and children are nowhere to be found. Could this really be the work of Koschei, the Deathless One, a terrifying figure from Russian folklore or is Levitsky’s fate tied to the consequences of a country in the grip of political and military terror…
What strikes me most about the book is the breadth and depth of Smith’s depiction of location and atmosphere, as we follow Levitsky’s cross country quest in search of his family. As a reader your senses are assaulted at every turn with the harsh and uncompromising nature of the landscape, chilling you to the core as the weather and terrain hamper Levitsky’s progress. In my naivety I believed that there are only so many ways of describing the biting conditions of a Russian winter, but Smith consistently implements such vivid descriptions of these surrounds that further embed themselves in your mind, constantly enriching your reading experience. Likewise, the grim realities of survival within these conditions are unflinchingly described throughout, so much so that you cannot look away and that touch on your humanity as to how people can carve a life for themselves with so much poverty and fear. Not only do they have to survive the daily grind, but find themselves unwitting victims in a turbulent and blood-stained period of Russia’s political history.
No character embodies these characteristics more than Nikolai Levitsky himself, a soldier and officer, now compelled to desert, who is cast into an emotional turmoil by the death of his brother, the disappearance of his family, and a man striving to come to terms with and escape from the horrors he has witnessed in the theatre of war. Levitsky is an essentially moral man, beginning to question his deepest held beliefs and assuming the role of a questing knight as his journey unfolds, and by his interactions with those the damaged souls he encounters along the way; Anna, a young girl who has lost her family, and with Tanya and Lyudmila, two fearless women who have their own reasons for tracking the Koschei. As their courses collide with the vestiges of Levitsky’s previous military life, there are powerful scenes of violence and heartbreak that are truly haunting, and which typify not only the propensity for immoral actions in a war torn country, but what betrayals people must stoop to in order to survive.
With its spare and uncompromising portrayal of the historical period, the intertwining of perfectly placed references to traditional Russian folklore, the harsh environment that chills you to the marrow throughout, and a cast of characters that cannot fail to engage the reader, Dan Smith has produced another remarkable thriller, that is easily worthy of a place in my best reads of 2013 so far. Superb.
What strikes me most about the book is the breadth and depth of Smith’s depiction of location and atmosphere, as we follow Levitsky’s cross country quest in search of his family. As a reader your senses are assaulted at every turn with the harsh and uncompromising nature of the landscape, chilling you to the core as the weather and terrain hamper Levitsky’s progress. In my naivety I believed that there are only so many ways of describing the biting conditions of a Russian winter, but Smith consistently implements such vivid descriptions of these surrounds that further embed themselves in your mind, constantly enriching your reading experience. Likewise, the grim realities of survival within these conditions are unflinchingly described throughout, so much so that you cannot look away and that touch on your humanity as to how people can carve a life for themselves with so much poverty and fear. Not only do they have to survive the daily grind, but find themselves unwitting victims in a turbulent and blood-stained period of Russia’s political history.
No character embodies these characteristics more than Nikolai Levitsky himself, a soldier and officer, now compelled to desert, who is cast into an emotional turmoil by the death of his brother, the disappearance of his family, and a man striving to come to terms with and escape from the horrors he has witnessed in the theatre of war. Levitsky is an essentially moral man, beginning to question his deepest held beliefs and assuming the role of a questing knight as his journey unfolds, and by his interactions with those the damaged souls he encounters along the way; Anna, a young girl who has lost her family, and with Tanya and Lyudmila, two fearless women who have their own reasons for tracking the Koschei. As their courses collide with the vestiges of Levitsky’s previous military life, there are powerful scenes of violence and heartbreak that are truly haunting, and which typify not only the propensity for immoral actions in a war torn country, but what betrayals people must stoop to in order to survive.
With its spare and uncompromising portrayal of the historical period, the intertwining of perfectly placed references to traditional Russian folklore, the harsh environment that chills you to the marrow throughout, and a cast of characters that cannot fail to engage the reader, Dan Smith has produced another remarkable thriller, that is easily worthy of a place in my best reads of 2013 so far. Superb.
October 17, 2015
Kolya Levitsky returns home in 1920 carrying his dead brother's body (and having deserted after six years of fighting in World War I and the Russian Civil War) to find his village deserted and his family missing. Russia in 1920 is a brutal place, and terror abounds. How he finds his family, and frees himself from being tracked down by the Red Army and the Cheka, makes for an interesting story, even if such constant suffering is hard to take.
January 16, 2019
Very good read
November 29, 2020
I can honestly say the ending of this book surprised me!! This was a bit long and dragged a bit at times BUT the writing was very good (like, very good), and it kept me coming back and engaged.
July 31, 2015
propulsive narrative, action, mystery, pathos of russian wrong-siders being slaughtered, persecuted, and eliminated in the rural area. this mystery thriller is very similar to authors The Child Thief: A Novel set in ukraine during same time period, late teens early 1920's ussr. it is COLD cold snowy, icy, frigid,forests, steppes, farms, trappers, outlaws, apparatchiks, chekas, and just downright meanys. great stories with lots of atmosphere, history and human element of 'right and wrong'.
February 24, 2015
Kolya returns home from fighting the revolutionary wars to find his village deserted and his wife and sons missing. He learns that a group of soldiers are on the rampage killing, torturing and taking people off to labour camps. He sets off to find his family and bring them home. This was wonderful, atmospheric and chilling. I almost felt like I was in Russia in the 1920s. Excellent.
April 29, 2015
I finished this book some time ago but I didn't actually read to the last page because I could see what was happening and what the conclusion would be a mile off so I didn't bother but for atmosphere alone 4 stars!
January 5, 2020
A completely immersive read. The first few pages left me feeling the book was going to be a depressing read, how wrong I was! It's haunting, thrilling, chilling yet exciting. I didn't want to put it down, happy to accompany Kolya on his harrowing journey.
March 20, 2025
I was blown away by how good this was. Picked it off the shelf with little prior knowledge.
It’s a slow burn. Incredibly well written to build suspense, moments of heightening and lowering the tension. Nothing is certain, and it’s hard to predict what will happen, let alone the motives of each character. The action scenes are a fantastic reward to the slow suspense of the rest of the story.
I really love the main character. He’s relatable - he has some obvious flaws but he usually has good intentions. He’s an incredible judge of character, he reads people well. It’s fun to read of his thought process and guessing the motives of others. He’s battle-hardened, which makes him more interesting as he struggles for survival.
A really enjoyable read. I found myself unable to put it down for hours at a time.
It’s a slow burn. Incredibly well written to build suspense, moments of heightening and lowering the tension. Nothing is certain, and it’s hard to predict what will happen, let alone the motives of each character. The action scenes are a fantastic reward to the slow suspense of the rest of the story.
I really love the main character. He’s relatable - he has some obvious flaws but he usually has good intentions. He’s an incredible judge of character, he reads people well. It’s fun to read of his thought process and guessing the motives of others. He’s battle-hardened, which makes him more interesting as he struggles for survival.
A really enjoyable read. I found myself unable to put it down for hours at a time.
July 8, 2020
I can't believe it, but I really enjoyed this book! I am not usually a huge historical fiction fan, but I could not put this book down. It is so well-written, and I just had to know who the main character really was. Russia has such a brutal history, and I recommend you know a little about it before you start. I say that, but I didn't know that much, and I was okay. After I was finished, my son gave me a quick overview of the history. (It's not for the faint of heart.) The folktales throughout the book were really good and added a lot to the story. I can highly recommend this book for book discussion groups, and I think high school world history classes might use it to talk about Russia and the effects of war.
April 15, 2020
Bra och underhållande. Förvånade mig i hur välskriven den var. Lyssnade på den och det var en mycket bra uppläsare som också gjorde att den var så pass underhållande att lyssna på.
June 17, 2025
Franchement très bonne surprise. J'ai vraiment été prise par l'histoire, le mystère démêlé au fur et à mesure
June 17, 2025
Le style d'écriture est succulent, et nous transporte à travers les horreurs de la guerre civile russe sans pour autant qu'on puisse décrocher de l'histoire. Génial.
August 19, 2023
Nothing about this book made it seem like it was set in Russia…
August 29, 2013
Red Winter is a historical thriller set in Russia in the aftermath of The Great War, the time of the Russian Civil War and the time of The Red Terror when the Bolshevik secret police, the Cheka, carried out mass killings, torture and suppressions of the various groups that sought to resist the revolution.
Kolya is returning home with his brother who has died on their trip. Tired from too long spent fighting, first against the Germans, now against the enemies of the revolution. He hopes to find his wife and sons, to bury his brother next to their parents, to live a quiet life. Only when he arrives the village is empty, as if everyone simply walked out. Desperate and unsure if he is dreaming or losing his mind, he comes across the sole surviving member of the village, so malnourished and raving that he does not recognise her at first.
When he tries to ask about what has happened to the villagers and his family, all she will talk about is Koschei, and how it was his doing. Koschei the Deathless, a fairytale bogeyman of Russian myth. Kolya begins to think her insane until she shows him the forest.
What follows is a journey across a country and a culture being torn apart by violence and mistrust. A journey to discover if Koschei is real, if Kolya’s family are alive.
I had heard of Koschei the Deathless, but I didn’t know his tale. Smith, through Kolya, retells the tale(or one of them) and is ingeniously vague about the outcome. I think Smith does a good job of balancing the tension between the outcome of the fairytale and the outcome of Kolya’s story.
I found Red Winter to be deceptively well paced. It’s related in the first person. It initially feels slow and ponderous; a tale in which you very much feel the weight of the landscape, the cold and the despair of a man who has lost almost everything. Like the fairytale form that it shadows though, there is a magic here, born out of a compelling mystery. This is Russia in 1920, it’s not a land of fairytales, no matter how much the reader might like it to be for our protagonist. Much of Smith’s success comes I think from balancing the readers expectations between a fairytale ending and a realistic one.
The tension was so well played for me that I ended up reading it in two sittings, staying up until the early hours because I had to know if our hero triumphs. With a more literary sensibility and by that I mean a focus on the internal landscape of Kolya’s character as much as the external story I was never quite sure, even til the last page just which way it would go.
In tone it felt very much similar to that of Scandinavian crime writing that’s been hitting the shelves. Whether that stems from the characterisation of the setting; bleak northern European winters or from the fact that the period covered is pretty much untouched in the public consciousness, I am not sure.
If you like fairytale as a metaphor, modern European history, or a compelling mystery with an edge of horror, I heartily recommend it.
This book was provided by the publisher.
Kolya is returning home with his brother who has died on their trip. Tired from too long spent fighting, first against the Germans, now against the enemies of the revolution. He hopes to find his wife and sons, to bury his brother next to their parents, to live a quiet life. Only when he arrives the village is empty, as if everyone simply walked out. Desperate and unsure if he is dreaming or losing his mind, he comes across the sole surviving member of the village, so malnourished and raving that he does not recognise her at first.
When he tries to ask about what has happened to the villagers and his family, all she will talk about is Koschei, and how it was his doing. Koschei the Deathless, a fairytale bogeyman of Russian myth. Kolya begins to think her insane until she shows him the forest.
What follows is a journey across a country and a culture being torn apart by violence and mistrust. A journey to discover if Koschei is real, if Kolya’s family are alive.
I had heard of Koschei the Deathless, but I didn’t know his tale. Smith, through Kolya, retells the tale(or one of them) and is ingeniously vague about the outcome. I think Smith does a good job of balancing the tension between the outcome of the fairytale and the outcome of Kolya’s story.
I found Red Winter to be deceptively well paced. It’s related in the first person. It initially feels slow and ponderous; a tale in which you very much feel the weight of the landscape, the cold and the despair of a man who has lost almost everything. Like the fairytale form that it shadows though, there is a magic here, born out of a compelling mystery. This is Russia in 1920, it’s not a land of fairytales, no matter how much the reader might like it to be for our protagonist. Much of Smith’s success comes I think from balancing the readers expectations between a fairytale ending and a realistic one.
The tension was so well played for me that I ended up reading it in two sittings, staying up until the early hours because I had to know if our hero triumphs. With a more literary sensibility and by that I mean a focus on the internal landscape of Kolya’s character as much as the external story I was never quite sure, even til the last page just which way it would go.
In tone it felt very much similar to that of Scandinavian crime writing that’s been hitting the shelves. Whether that stems from the characterisation of the setting; bleak northern European winters or from the fact that the period covered is pretty much untouched in the public consciousness, I am not sure.
If you like fairytale as a metaphor, modern European history, or a compelling mystery with an edge of horror, I heartily recommend it.
This book was provided by the publisher.
October 3, 2014
Dan Smith has the beautiful ability to create, with little more than landscape and haunting atmosphere, books crackling with tension. In RED WINTER, he drops us, shivering, in rural Russia in 1920, at the height of the Red Terror. Battle-hardened Kolya has deserted his army unit and trekked through the forests of central Russia to return to his wife and sons. But he arrives to an empty village and to an old woman's ravings of the mythical Koschei, the Deathless One. Alone in the dark silence of the village, with nothing but his guilt and nightmares for company, Kolya half believes her, that the folk stories his wife would tell by candlelight have come to life. With the stories at hand, he sets off on the trail of a fairy tale in search of his family. As Kolya travels deeper into the forest, he begins to wonder whether the monster he follows is flesh-and-blood, or whether the true monster is himself.
More than a thriller, this is a novel about morality and guilt, belief and disillusionment, idealism and true patriotism. The characters build illusions to convince themselves of right and wrong, but those illusions are as fragile as ice on the snow. Through deft scene-setting, Smith writes an immersive story that firmly sets us in both time and place. An absorbing, thoughtful, yet ultimately chilling novel of human weakness and the strength that can come through love.
More than a thriller, this is a novel about morality and guilt, belief and disillusionment, idealism and true patriotism. The characters build illusions to convince themselves of right and wrong, but those illusions are as fragile as ice on the snow. Through deft scene-setting, Smith writes an immersive story that firmly sets us in both time and place. An absorbing, thoughtful, yet ultimately chilling novel of human weakness and the strength that can come through love.
March 19, 2014
Having read and reviewed the authors debut novel, DRY SEASON , and described him as a 'master story teller in the making' I was intrigued to read this his fourth book.
Every bit as good and even better than his first novel, as well as concentrating on his characters Dan Smith has done a wonderful job in creating a very readable historical thriller.
Set in 1920's Russia Red Winter is a chilling read that is not without its blood fuelled moments and yet at its heart is a powerful story all about relationships, the nature of human behaviour and what it is to have hope.
Beautifully written and obviously thoroughly researched (my only concern being that I had slight reservations about the ending which I thought rather idealised). Not only was my attention and interest gripped from the beginning but it was held throughout no doubt helped greatly by the fact that the author wove some Russian folklore into the story.
Tense, rich in atmosphere (who would have thought a journey through a forest could be so compelling?) and so vividly described that I found myself transported to the most harsh and uncompromising of landscapes, I was right, Dan Smith is indeed a master story teller.
Copyright: Tracy Terry @ Pen and Paper.
Every bit as good and even better than his first novel, as well as concentrating on his characters Dan Smith has done a wonderful job in creating a very readable historical thriller.
Set in 1920's Russia Red Winter is a chilling read that is not without its blood fuelled moments and yet at its heart is a powerful story all about relationships, the nature of human behaviour and what it is to have hope.
Beautifully written and obviously thoroughly researched (my only concern being that I had slight reservations about the ending which I thought rather idealised). Not only was my attention and interest gripped from the beginning but it was held throughout no doubt helped greatly by the fact that the author wove some Russian folklore into the story.
Tense, rich in atmosphere (who would have thought a journey through a forest could be so compelling?) and so vividly described that I found myself transported to the most harsh and uncompromising of landscapes, I was right, Dan Smith is indeed a master story teller.
Copyright: Tracy Terry @ Pen and Paper.
November 24, 2016
This, my third Dan Smith book, is probably the most intense book I've ever read. The unending suspense is gripping and is skillfully maintained by a plot that never gives any hint what's going to happen next. The incidents of highest suspense, like on the train or at the house, are exciting for Koyla's courage and the danger he is putting himself in. The writing is so detailed that the reader sees himself in the dark woods with Koyla and feels the severe cold and deprivation, which adds greatly to the intensity. If I didn't know from previous experience that his books end happily, I don't know if I could have finished it!
Like "The Child Thief," this book is set in revolutionary Russia and gives insight into a history I know nothing about. The author also again spends a lot of time discussing the evolving thoughts of the soldiers regarding the war, and he writes of horrible atrocities. What makes Smith's books better than any other war books I've read is that amidst all of the cruelty and the inhumanity, Smith always has a couple of characters whose humanity shows -- the person who let him go at the end of "The Child Thief" and in this one the commander on the train and the members of his old unit whose loyalty to him was stronger than to the government.
Like "The Child Thief," this book is set in revolutionary Russia and gives insight into a history I know nothing about. The author also again spends a lot of time discussing the evolving thoughts of the soldiers regarding the war, and he writes of horrible atrocities. What makes Smith's books better than any other war books I've read is that amidst all of the cruelty and the inhumanity, Smith always has a couple of characters whose humanity shows -- the person who let him go at the end of "The Child Thief" and in this one the commander on the train and the members of his old unit whose loyalty to him was stronger than to the government.
February 7, 2016
This was a very well-written book...except for when the words got in the way of the story. It was very atmospheric, in a Dr. Zhivago kind of way – frost glistening in the snow, cold you could feel – as well as chilling brutality that was no doubt rampant during the Russian Revolution. Kolya, the main character, was complex and well drawn and the plot was intriguing. So why 3 stars? As I mentioned, there were times when the action was hot and heavy, only to be interrupted by descriptions of the landscape and weather. I actually found myself skipping those paragraphs in order to continue with the action. And the last two chapters were very anti-climatic. To be frank, they needed a rewrite. I'm not suggested the story change; just that how the story was described was not well crafted. If there were half stars, I'd easily give Red Winter 3-1/2. Well worth reading, but just slightly disappointing in places.
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