Midwinterblood Book Review

Book title: Midwinterblood

Author: Marcus Sedgwick

“He wonders about them all, all the many lives that have been, and that will be, and wonders why they are not all the same, why they are what they are. It cannot be, he thinks, that when our life is run, we are done. There must be more to man than that, surely?

That we are not just one, but a multitude.”

In Marcus Sedgwick’s award-winning novel, seven short stories weave together a poignant tale of love and sacrifice. Proceeding backwards chronologically, the stories stretch from the near future to the distant past, with a revolving cast of characters that encounter each other in the forms of Vikings, vampires, and high priests.

Eric Seven, a young journalist, is sent by his editor to interview the inhabitants of the reclusive Blessed Island, where rumor has it that an elixir of youth has been successfully brewed from the Island’s unique orchid species. He meets and develops an instant attraction to the beautiful Merle, and despite his eerie sense of déjà vu, they bond and fall in love. However, as events take a grim turn, Eric is unwittingly swept up in a tragic saga set in motion more than a thousand years ago.

Starting with “Midsummer Sun” set in June 2073, the plot travels back in time via the intricately intertwined tales. Connecting details are scattered throughout, and readers begin to glimpse the big picture approximately after reaching the third story. Inspired by the painting Midvinterblot(Swedish for midwinter sacrifice), Marcus Sedgwick writes of a love that transcends space and time, of Eric and Merle’s doomed attempts to find one another in each life.

Midvinterblot by Swedish painter Carl Larsson

As the plot moves back in time, Eric and Merle become Erika and Merle then eventually Eirikr and Melle; Blessed Island is returned to the archaic Blest Isle. The Island, as the constant backdrop of the entire book, almost feels like a solid character in its own right. The mysteries entombed (literally!) on the Island from the orchids to secrets in Viking burial mounds form an interconnected web that tantalizes the reader.

Sedgwick’s prose is haunting and lyrical, and the novel is unsettling without toeing the line into horror. Masterfully constructed, the seven sections cover distinct genres ranging from a ghost story to a World War Two narrative. An aspect that I particularly enjoyed is the variety among the stories in both thematic content and characterization; Eric and Merle do not make up the typical star-struck couple that changes little from one lifetime to the next. In some incarnations they are lovers, in others they are friends, or siblings, or complete strangers that don’t meet at all. It is a continuous thread of love and self-sacrifice that binds them throughout the centuries.

Verdict: Complex and beautiful, Midwinterblood is a novel that I highly recommend for those who enjoy darker fantasy, as well as anyone seeking an imaginative romance devoid of overused cliché elements.

Reviewed by: Sabrina Hsu'20