Hauntingly Dark, A Complex Partnership & Creative Storytelling

Rating: 4.5/5

If you have been looking for a replacement to fill the void left by BBC 4 radio’s Pilgrim series then you will find it in Cameron Sullivan’s debut novel, The Red Winter. Creative storytelling, captivating characters, this historical fantasy offers an alluring concept to the werewolf mythos all the while delving into France’s history and bourgeois society. 

Taking place during events like The Hundred Years War, The Beast of Gervauden and The French Revolution, Sullivan provides the perfect playground for the immortal arcanist, Sebastian Grave and his demonic passenger Sarmodel. His dedication to detail and worldbuilding is clear, his footnotes and shifts between timelines offer up a hauntingly dark narrative filled with heartbreak and longing.

As always the characters are what drew me to the story. Sebastian is the arcane specialist you want in all things deadly and unexplainable. The origin behind his immortality is as unclear to him as it is to us, offering up a mystery we may or may never unravel. The only segment we have of this grand puzzle are the words scribed by the succubus bound to his servitude, the derogative comments made by the very noblemen he is trying to protect and his relationship with Sarmodel; the demon trapped within his body. Sebastian and Sarmodel have a complex relationship. At times its nurturing, at others almost parasitic. Either way their bond provides some comedic and darkly tender moments.

While I am impressed by Sullivan’s work so far, there are a few bits here and there I feel need a little more work. For example, I feel the pacing in The Red Winter to be uneven leading to a rushed conclusion. It left me feeling slightly cheated and wondering where the rest of its pages had vanished. I suspect Sullivan intends to keep to his word and write a sequel. If not then I may have to write a stern letter to convince him otherwise. Readers have only just gotten a taste of Sebastian and Sarmodel’s journey and there are still questions needing to be answered.