Winter Tales by Margrét Helgadóttir

Winter Tales Reviews

• 
  Runalong

  Some winter reading for the summer. This is a fine short story collection centred around winter. Ranging from charming to horrifying I think you'll find a few that stay with you! For me highlights were The Bothy by Su Haddrell, Sunday's Child by Fiona Clegg; Cold Hearted by GH Finn and The Coming of the Cold by Adrian Tchaikovsky
• 
  Joanne Hall

  Huddle down by the fire, for the nights are drawing in, and the clawed hand of winter is closing tightly on the land…
  
  (Ironically, I started reading this just as we got our first actually hot days of spring in this part of the world. But not to worry, because now it’s howling a gale and lashing down with rain outside, and what passes for summer in England is as close to winter as makes no difference. But I digress.)
  
  In the eons before Skyplussing and Playstation, people would while away the long winter nights telling stories around the fire. Tales to warm the blood with excitement, or chill the heart at the thought of the terrors that may be lurking in the wild, cold darkness just outside the door.
  
  In Winter Tales Margret Helgadottir has put together a fine collection of short stories that do just that. Winter, snow, ice and frost, all are essential to every story in this SFF anthology, which takes us from mountaineers trapped in a Highland bothy by a sudden storm who find they’re not as alone as they think they are, via the freezing famine of war-torn Leningrad, to a futuristic travel agent where Sadie discovers that her request for a virtual holiday “somewhere cold”changes her life forever.
  
  Highlights – apart from the aforementioned stories by, respectively, Su Haddrell, K.N. McGrath and David Sarsfield – include the warm and funny “Cold-Hearted” by G H Finn, “When the Trees Where Enchanted” by Masimba Musdoza, which brings ancient Zimbabwean magic into a fight against developers in modern-day Middlesbrough, and “The Coming of the Cold”, Adrian Tchaikovsky’s dark take on a wintery children’s classic.
  
  Pick up a copy of Winter Tales. Go swift! for the wolves are running…
• 
  imyril is not really here any more

  Winter Tales is an extensive selection of short stories to be told in the dark or by the flickering of candlelight, as chilly as the season they celebrate. A few are by well-known authors, but most were new to me, which is always exciting. A big shout out to
  Mat Joiner and
  Eliza Chan as to of my favourites, along with the expected tour de force from
  Adrian Tchaikovsky.
  
  While this isn't the strongest anthology I've read this year, there are enough intriguing tales to merit a look and get to know some new voices in the genre as they flex their storytelling muscles.
  
  
  Full review.
  
  I received a free copy from the editor in exchange for an honest review.
• 
  Wendy Bousfield

  I am pasting in a link to my review from FUTURE FIRE: SOCIAL, POLITICAL, AND SPECULATIVE CYBER-FICTION:
  
  http://reviews.futurefire.net/2016/08...
• 
  K.N.

  I have a story in this anthology, so my rating and review are excluding The Siege. I will review the rest of the anthology, and then reflect on my own contribution.
  
  Favorite Story: The Bothy by
  Su Haddrell I wasn't initially invested in this story, but by the ending I fist-pumped the air. It's a suspense-builder with a deliciously creepy ending.
  
  Runner-Up: Spirit of the Season by
  Jonathan Ward This reminded me of It Follows with a delightful holiday twist.
  
  Second Runner-Up: Cold-Hearted by
  G.H. Finn Unlike The Bothy, this story had me hooked from the beginning, but by the end it had stacked one too many hats on hats for me to fully handle and enjoy. The narrative style is fantastic though.
  
  Favorite Poem: Under Your Skin by
  Amelia Gorman
  
  Inclusion Award: Yukizuki by
  Eliza Chan The story is based on Japanese folklore and includes LGBTQ characters.
  
  Honorable Mentions:
  
  Winter in the Vivarium by
  Tim Major The dystopian setting and atmosphere he created were great.
  
  Snow Angel by
  Lizz-Ayn Shaarawi I enjoyed the unusual POV, and, even though mere mention of the Industrial Revolution takes me back to a terrible middle school class, I love facts in fiction.
  
  Favorite "Fanfiction": The Coming of the Cold by
  Adrian Tchaikovsky I thought this added a "fresh" little layer to such a famous and beloved series.
  
  Shout-Out:
  James Bennett, your Mordred description slayed. It painted such a vivid and detailed picture in my head.
  
  Reflections on The Siege:
  
  When I saw the open call for submissions with a winter theme, I immediately thought I should write a story about the "worst winter ever". I considered writing about the infamous Donner party, but, keeping with the cannibal-theme, decided on the much larger-scale and extremely horrific siege of Leningrad.
  
  I wanted to be as historically accurate as possible, so I read a number of sources, most notably
  Shurik, A Story of the Siege of Leningrad and
  The 900 Days, The Siege of Leningrad, which I later purchased because it was a fascinating book.
  
  The Siege went through five extremely kind and helpful hands before it was submitted, so thank you to those that put up with me and gave me tips and feedback (you know who you are).
  
  I had such a pleasant experience for my first published submission thanks to Fox Spirit Books and
  Margret Helgadottir. Not only do I highly recommend and support their business and books, but I'd love to submit to them again in the future.
  
  Love, K