Winter Castle

[Penfeather]

Cool, I wondered where the logo had come from! Thanks for sharing! Is the book good?

It's good but not great. I could find fault with certain aspects of the plot and characterization, but it was rich in atmosphere and that goes a long with with me.

The setting of the book is (obviously) an ancient castle surmounting a fjord in Norway. Although the Vikings did not built huge stone castles, I was inclined to be generous to the author and assume that her liberties with the historicity were taken deliberately, for effect. My real objection was that she gives us a huge, cavernous fortress like that but installs a modern hotel in it. So most of the business of the story takes place in a well-lit, thoroughly contemporary setting despite the outer shell of ancient stone. I would have preferred some sense of antiquity in the hotel itself, some hint of decrepitude and gloom that would seem to seep through the plaster and panelling from the foreboding old exoskeleton. Yet despite this, the author still manages to convey a sinister mood that kept me reading and turning pages, and for this I forgive her small sins.

So yes, I'd recommend the book, but with one or two reservations.