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The Winter Boy
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The Winter Boy
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The Winter Boy
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The Winter Boy

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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About this ebook

Reminiscent of Margaret Atwood, Mary Doria Russell and Ursula K. LeGuin, The Winter Boyexplores important political and social issues within a dynamic, character-driven otherworld, wrapped up in masterful storytelling.

The Valley of the Alleshi is the center of all civilization, the core and foundation of centuries of peace. A cloistered society of widows, the Alleshi, has forged peace by mentoring young men who will one day become the leaders of the land. Each boy is paired with a single Allesha for a season of intimacy and learning, using time-honored methods that include storytelling, reason and sex. However, unknown to all but a hidden few, the peace is fracturing from pressures within and beyond, hacking at the very essence of their civilization.

Amidst this gathering political maelstrom, Rishana, a young new idealistic Allesha, takes her First Boy, Ryl, for a winter season of training. But Ryl is a “problem boy,” who fights Rishana every step of the way. At the same time, Rishana uncovers a web of conspiracies that could not only destroy Ryl, but threaten to tear their entire society apart. And a winter that should have been a gentle, quiet season becomes one of conflict, anger and danger.

"...with the kind of mysterious tone and a sense of a complete world apart that is the hallmark of the best.... The Winter Boy... exists in... a mythic, spiritual realm. Even ordinary lines resonate with this sense of the unseen." – Peter Damien Bellis, author of "The Conjure Man"

“…a very rewarding read that raises your self-awareness in a way that only great books do…. A literary triumph” – Dr. Babus Ahmed

“Sally Wiener Grotta blends pain, love, lust and adventure into a tale you may not want to put down.” – Robin Baum

"The Winter Boy is an intriguing story that's unlike any other I have read." – L.A. Sherman
LanguageEnglish
Release dateNov 6, 2014
ISBN9780988387195
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The Winter Boy
Author

Sally Wiener Grotta

An award-winning journalist and author, Sally Wiener Grotta is the consummate storyteller. Her work reflects her deep humanism and appreciation for the poignancy of life. Ms. Grotta has written many hundreds of articles, columns and reviews for scores of glossy magazines, newspapers and online publications. A popular speaker on creativity, writing and photography, she has authored numerous non-fiction books. Her fiction includes the novel "The Winter Boy."

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Reviews for The Winter Boy

Rating: 4.219512170731708 out of 5 stars
4/5

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Impressed beyond belief! What a gem. I look forward to the next book in the series.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I just finished "The Winter Boy" by Sally Wiener Grotta. The book is well written and the intimate relationship between Tayar and Dov kept me interested and wanting more. What kept me from giving a five rating was the lack of explanation of time, place, and a lack of character analysis. I hope the next book will solve some of the mystery that this book failed to divulge.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    DNF @40%Book source ~ NetGalleyA group of widows lives in The Valley of Alleshi. They are known collectively as the Alleshi. They train young boys to be men/leaders of their communities. Their training takes many forms. Yes, that means they also train them in the ways of sex. A Winter Boy just means they are trained during the Winter season. Pretty simple. It also means they have the shortest season but without as many chores as the other seasons. Rishana, a new Alleshi, gets her First Boy, Ryl. He’s a problem boy. But he’s not the only problem. There are other factors at play and their whole world is fracturing from inside and outside foes.The Winter Boy is a great concept with an awful main character. Plus, s-e-c-r-e-t-s that can’t/won’t be shared even though they really should be. I really and truly hate that trope. UGH! Let’s discuss Ryl. So full of himself, impatient beyond belief, and frankly, he’s a 16-yr-old piece of shit. He has no redeeming qualities. Rishana tries to be fair, but she’s too easy on him. He’s unbelievably thick in the head. He thinks MEN are all-powerful and superior and women are only there for sex and to serve MEN. That’s it. They have no value at all. By the time I gave up on this book he’d been with Rishana for weeks on end. And he STILL believed himself to be superior in every way. Flaunted rules because they were stupid to him. Thought he was the best lover ever and that all the women could do is talk about how awesome he is. Way too stupid to live. Just slit his throat and be done with him. Or better yet, kick him out and live with the shame. What a turd. He ruined what I think could have been an awesome book because everything else (except the damn secrets) was actually pretty good. Ah, well.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book has many layers which weave an intriguing tale that will keep you hooked. Rishana takes a troubled boy under her wing, to train and guide him to become a leader. Their world is threatened though when secrets are uncovered. definitely worth a read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The Winter Boy by Sally Wiener Grotta is a highly recommended dystopian science fiction coming-of-age novel.

    Over the years peace has been established in the land by the Alleshi, a group of widows who train young men to become their Alemen, Blessed Boys. A strong bond will naturally develop between Alleshi and Alemen. Rishana, a young Allesha, is about to take her first Boy, Ryl. Rishana has been asked to do this even though she still has four months of training left. Ryl is categorized by all as a difficult young man.

    As an Alleshi, Rishana must teach Ryl sensitivity, communication, and empathy - all things a good leader of men will need in order to maintain the peace, but she also must tutor him in sensual and sexual performance. Ryl must learn diplomacy and tact to help keep the peace someday. As Rishana and Ryl struggle to adjust under the Alleshi system to the many changes and each other, other facts are revealed that may shake the foundations of their orderly world.

    The changes and growth that both characters experience during their time together help propel the story forward, as do the myths and legends that are shared as part of the learning process. What does it take to promote peace?

    Although this is a page turner and a compelling plot, it also requires the reader to buy into the Alleshi system (and all the name changes that apparently accompany it), as well as accept the whole idea of Alleshi using sex to train young men. In the end it was a very good book and well written. I'm sure there will be many 5 star reviews for it.

    Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Pixel Hall Pres via Netgalley for review purposes.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This was an early review....well written and interesting concept, still took me a long tim to finish
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I've recently finished reading The Winter Boy by author, Sally Wiener Grotta. From the very beginning of this story I was impressed by Grotta’s nearly impeccable writing. The Winter Boy is certainly not Grotta’s first foray into the world of writing, and this fact is clearly evident throughout the entire book. Grotta writes with an easy-to-follow and easy-to-understand style. She has formulated this tale with flair; she’s appropriately descriptive with the scenes and/or the personal interactions, and the various characters are believable and certainly easy to empathize with.In The Winter Boy, readers will begin their literary journey in the “Valley of the Alleshi,” a valley that is set in an age far removed from the one in which we live today. Rishana, one of this story’s main characters, has almost finished the three years’ worth of training she needs in order to become one of the highly respected and much sought after Alleshi. The life of an Alleshi was not Rishana’s original life path, but fate and circumstance had entwined and this new path is what came to fruition because of fate’s choices.Existing during the chronological ages found within The Winter Boy, are the Alleshi: a group of women who, at the start of every new season, pick older boys who are nearing maturity – bringing them into their personal lives and dwellings. Each Alleshi will choose just one such boy and she will then spend that entire season training and grooming him, using knowledge and sexual intimacy – skills and lessons that have been honed to perfection and then passed down through the centuries by the many Alleshi women who have come before Rishana.For this ‘winter’ season (her very first as a fully titled Alleshi), Rishana chooses to take Ryl, an exceptionally head-strong and willful boy, into her home. In doing so, she internally hopes that she possesses the needed strength and skills that will be required to fully unlock the true potential of the leader he could become.Of course, in the Valley of the Alleshi, all is not as it seems – over the years the seeds of discord and discontent have been willfully and knowingly sewn. Without warning, tempers boil hotly before violently exploding. The shock, and aftershocks, of unforeseen and horrific actions against the Alleshi now threaten to shatter the peace that this valley, and its neighboring towns and villages, have experienced for the last several centuries. And that’s all of the ‘about’ information that I’m going to provide – the remainder will need to be gleaned via reading the actual book.In summary, though, The Winter Boy was a great book. As I had previously mentioned, it was well-written, and it was also interesting and entertaining. While The Winter Boy didn't have the ending that I’d secretly hoped for, it’s certainly in the ‘must read’ category for anyone who enjoys a cultural fantasy set in the ‘long ago’ of a more prehistoric past – or, one that is actually set in a far distant future that uses today’s day and age as that ‘prehistoric’ and ‘barbaric’ past.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I got a free copy of The Winter Boy in my World Fantasy Convention book bag, and met the author and her husband at the con, where Ms. Grotta was kind enough to sign my copy. The Winter Boy certainly lives up to its billing as a novel reminiscent of Ursula K. LeGuin's classic science fiction and fantasyHowever, her Alleshi, the widows who uphold the Alleshine peace by training Allemen to serve as ambassadors and anthropologists, are also reminiscent of the Bene Gesserit from Frank Herbert's Dune saga. Their methods of training youths to become Allemen harken back to the priestess who tamed Enkidu in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Finally, the setting seems like a null-magic fantasy setting, but little details leavening the story reveal that the Alleshi live in a post-collapse society whose technological re-development has proven somewhat odd. For example, some settlements under the peace seem to possess the industrial infrastructure necessary to make automatic firearms, but a certain commonplace technology remains mysterious.The story unfolds as a series of vignettes and dialogues, and best rewards the patient reader capable of keeping track of the major characters various identities. An Allesha has many names: the name with which she was born, the name she took upon becoming an Allesha, and the names given to her by every youth she loves and molds into an Alleman. This makes explicit the underlying point of the Allesha, that an Allesha is Every Woman. Some of the questions raised by the plot go unresolved, such as what will happen when Rishana's first pupil finally meets the tribe currently threatening to tear apart the Alleshine peace, but I suspect that such a confrontation was too momentous to fit in The Winter Boy, and will have to wait until the sequel. Also, the climax of the story seems to happen offstage, without Rishana's direct involvement, but I may have missed something. Regardless, I heartily recommend The Winter Boy for readers looking for a thoughtful, character-driven adult fantasy.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I would like to thank Pixel Hall Press & NetGalley for granting me a copy of this e-book to read in exchange for an honest review. Though I received this e-book for free that in no way impacts my review.Goodreads Teaser:"Reminiscent of Margaret Atwood, Mary Doria Russell and Ursula K. LeGuin, The Winter Boy explores important political and social issues within a dynamic, character-driven otherworld, wrapped up in masterful storytelling. The Valley of the Alleshi is the center of all civilization, the core and foundation of centuries of peace. A cloistered society of widows, the Alleshi, has forged a peace by mentoring young men who will one day become the leaders of the land. Each boy is paired with a single Allesha for a season of intimacy and learning, using time-honored methods that include storytelling, reason and sex. However, unknown to all but a hidden few, the peace is fracturing from pressures within and beyond, hacking at the very essence of their civilization.Amidst this gathering political maelstrom, Rishana, a young new idealistic Allesha, takes her First Boy, Ryl, for a winter season of training. But Ryl is a “problem boy,” who fights Rishana every step of the way. At the same time, Rishana uncovers a web of conspiracies that could not only destroy Ryl, but threaten to tear their entire society apart. And a winter that should have been a gentle, quiet season becomes one of conflict, anger and danger."This book will make you think, whether you want to or not. It is an extremely well crafted story, with only a few places where the pace became too slow for me, but those lulls never lasted too long. And frankly they likely gave me much needed respite from the intensity of the story, the emotions within it, and that it brought out within me.Rishana is in many ways the true embodiment of "Every Woman," which is what Allesha means. Through her journey we watch and experience a vast range of emotions as the comfortable layers she has wrapped herself in are painfully peeled away. All that she knew and believed in is slowly being taken from her, but in such a way as to leave her trapped within a system that is nothing like she'd been taught it was, and had built it up to be. In her own way Rishanna goes through many of the same Stages as Ryl, though she doesn't seem to be aware of it. Of course her experiences are different, and she wasn't trained to deal with her own emotional journey, but rather the journey of her boy for each season.During the course of these revelations she also must deal with her First Boy. Ryl is an angry youth, a "problem boy." The kind of boy Rishanna had been trained to work with. And there is something more to this boy, a dangerous secret that has been kept from them both. The information, when it comes out, has the power to destroy lives. Yet it may be the one thing that can save all their lives, not too mention their way of life. The only way to know for sure is to stay alive long enough to see which card comes up next in the hand they've been dealt, and to trust that the foundation Rishanna has built with Ryl is strong enough to withstand the blows he will be dealt. The lessons are taught both through what Rishanna teaches Ryl over the course of his Season with her, and through the books that they read to each other on the cold winter nights. It makes for an interesting combination, and keeps things from getting too mired down in the rules and regulations of the Alleshi and the Alleshine Peace. As the characters evolve, which happens to both teacher and student, so to do the lessons contained within the stories they read. Emotional attachments are a tricky topic, for sex is used as a teaching method, so teacher and pupil are bound to grow close, and risk becoming too attached. That may be more of a risk with the problem boys, as the emotions are likely to run higher and hotter, but it also makes the rewards that much sweeter. Of course, as Ryl is her first boy, Rishanna has no prior experience to gauge the situation by, only the advise of her mentor. But the fractions taking place within the Alleshi Valley are taking place between individuals as well. Does Rishanna dare to trust Dara to give her honesty, or will Dara continue to try to manipulate and mold her into what she feels is best for the Alleshi?Framing these lessons is the issue of a violent nomadic people who destroy every village they encounter, slaughtering every person, down to the last infant. How do people of peace protect themselves from such violence without becoming the same as the aggressor? And what happens when those who are at the very heart of that peace have different ideas on how to protect the peace?It is through the questions that Ryl constantly asks, as well as the way Rishana questions the motives of the Alleshi themselves, that we learn the lessons Ms. Grotta is trying to impart. How do you cope when the very foundations of your world are stripped away? What is your response to discovering that those you trusted most have manipulated you into a specific position? Can you continue forward, and trying to fix the system from within, or do you make a break and start a new system using only those pieces of the original method that match your ideals? Should only a few possess the real power, or should it be spread more widely? How do you stay vigilant enough to spot stress fractures before they become cracks and risk breaking away, or worse yet, breaking the entire system? These are just a few of the questions that the characters will be confronted with, and the reader along with them.This book will have you challenging not only the concepts within the story, but also concepts you've always accepted. With just a few decisive words Ms. Grotta will have you questioning the very bedrock of your own personal beliefs, and testing the strength of that foundation. Is your history everything you thought it was? Is there more going on behind the scenes? How did you end up where you are now? Was it of your own choosing or were you subtly manipulated into your position? These questions, and more, we should probably never stop asking ourselves. Never simply accept the surface view as being all there is. Just because it is the status quo now doesn't mean it should remain that way, does it? And of course how do you confront violence and survive, without becoming as bad as the aggressor?
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Sally Wiener Grotta's The Winter Boy is one of the most refreshing stories I have read this year. It is the tale of a group of widows, Allesha, who teach boys how to be peaceful and caring men. They do this by teaching reason, use of dialogue, and training in sexual intimacy. The men then return to their old lives newly inspired to keep the peace and work with others to maintain a unified world. It would seem to be an idyllic life, people living together in peace, working together toward common ends, each community adding to the whole. This could make for a very boring book, there seems to be no strife, each community supplies and takes, in a equilateral bartering system. Everyone loves everyone and nobody has to fight for anything. Well not really.It is much more. It is a tale of internal strife (some members do not want the peace as it now exists) and external conflict (an enemy who slaughters strictly for the sake of slaughter). As may be expected, some boys rebel against the training more than others. When Rishana, a new Allesha, takes Ryl for a winter season of training, he fights her every step of the way. Together, as they learn to work with one another, they uncover truths that threaten to tear their entire society apart. Through it all, one learns that Ryl is not exactly who he has always believed himself to be. He could be the savior of his whole world, or its destruction. I can barely wait until the next book to see which.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The Winter Boy, by Sally Wiener Grotta, is an epic novel. It is so well written that every page is worthy of high praise. The story takes place in an otherworld known as the Valley of the Alleshi and it is run by women who devote themselves to protecting the Peace and to training chosen young boys to become Alemen, men who will honor and protect the Peace. In addition, the boys are taught to develop their skills, awareness and perceptions. The training occurs during "Seasons". Rishana is a new Allesha and her first Season is in winter and her first "boy", Ryl, is described as a "problem boy". However, he is much more than that. The time they spend together goes through several stages and the author describes the process with impeccable detail. Over time a fascinating relationship develops.The women of the Valley of the Alleshi have a complex society which is supposedly based on mutual trust, cooperation, respect and communication. The story is like an adventure with tension building slowly. The frailties and fissures of a seemingly solid society are revealed by using beautiful prose. All is not as it seems in this highly structured world that Rishana thought she knew and understood. There are secrets, deceit and treachery and their very existence is threatened. Has Rishana taught Ryl well enough to be the Aleman he needs to be to face an uncertain and possibly perilous future? What will her future be? This is book is a masterpiece and it is a true accomplishment, as well. The author brings to the reader a meaningful story placed in a rich setting which is populated with masterfully developed characters who have intriguing relationships. This is a novel worth reading. I received this book free of charge from Pixel Hall Press and I give this review of my own free will.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    What a wonderful reading. It's very difficult in which genre I should put it. Is it a fairy tale for adults or more a fiction? It could also be a very realistic story packed in a fairy tale. From the beginning the reader is put into another world, whithout a clue in which date he is landed and at what place. It could be almost everywhere on this planet. The central theme is the story between a young man and his female mentor who leeds the young man into adulthood. Amongst other things they are reading stories to each other. The meaning of those stories are very important to them but also for us because they show how people are living and working together and how peace among everybody could and should be and how it could be maintained or gained. At this so called peaceful place where this young man spends his special winter season, is smouldering displeasure among those wise women and there are some major conflicts which the young men shouldn't know about it. The outcome is a big surprise because finally the timeline where this story is set, is declared. I never would have guessed it.I can strongly recommend this book because the central theme regards everybody.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Rishana is an Allesha, one of a cloistered society of widows whose task is to teach chosen young men to become Alemen, leaders, and to preserve the peace that they have enjoyed for centuries. During her first season as an Allesha, Rishana’s boy is Ryl, a “problem boy” who repeatedly challenges her. Her winter also becomes problematic when she learns that their cherished peace is being threatened from both within and without. This post-apocalyptic novel is reminiscent of Margaret Atwood’s speculative fiction, but it also reminded me of John Wyndham’s The Chrysalids. In the latter there are hints of an earlier technologically-advanced civilization, the Old People, which was destroyed by Tribulation; in the former, the Great Chaos destroyed the advanced civilization of the Before Times.Also, like The Chrysalids, The Winter Boy is a coming-of-age story. David Strorm, the protagonist of Wyndham’s novel, is an outsider who learns that his world is not all it seems to be; Ryl also proves to be an outsider who too realizes that the world of the Alleshi harbours secrets. At the beginning, Ryl is immature: he is arrogant and lacks self-control. Rishana helps him “become the self he had always been, under all his bluster and fear.” Watching his transformation is indeed one of the pleasures of this novel.Speaking of pleasure - Alleshi use various teaching techniques to train their young men, the most original of which is sex. Love and maintaining peace “require the same skills of constant care, creativity and awareness.” Furthermore, as Rishana tells Ryl, “What you learn in passion, you’ll never unlearn.” I loved this twist of women using sex for their purposes, though I question Rishana’s ability to enjoy sex as much as she does and still remain emotionally detached and view sex “only as a teaching aid.”It is not only Ryl who is a dynamic character. Rishana also changes. At the beginning, she claims that “Faith in the wisdom and power of the Alleshi was the foundation of her life.” That foundation is shaken, however, when she feels that the Alleshi have manipulated her. She questions whether she still wants to be an Allesha, a role that embodies both joy and pain.The book has considerable suspense. Early on, it becomes clear that Rishana is not being the truth. Her own training is shortened by four months so she can take on a Winter Boy; she is told, “’Waiting until the spring won’t prepare you any better.’” In a conversation between two Alleshi, however, one of them says, “’Four months could have made such a difference.’” As the novel progresses, suspense increases because it is obvious that there is a lot of subterfuge in this apparently utopian society and it becomes difficult to know who can be trusted. The point of view is third person omniscient. At different times, the viewpoints of various characters are given. This technique adds suspense: two Allesha conclude a discussion with one of them stating, “’But let [Rishana] remain innocent for a little while longer.’” It also is useful for characterization when a reader becomes aware of a character’s true feelings. Point of view is even used to create humour: Ryl’s thoughts reveal his pride in his sexual prowess whereas Rishana’s thoughts are that “he didn’t have much skill.”Rishana is the type of strong female protagonist I look for in a story. The one thing that is missing, however, at least for much of the novel, is her love of family. Certainly her feelings for Jared, her dead husband, are clear. It is her love for her children that is absent for much of the book. As a result, her concern for her son’s safety towards the end of the book seems out of character. In the first three-quarters of the novel, not once does she mention missing her children!A problem for me was the constant name changes. Rishana used to be Jinet, but Ryl names her Tayar. Rishana gives Ryl the name Dov. Dara, Rishana’s mentor, is also known as Evanya and Le’a. And that’s just three of the many characters!The novel certainly gives one much to ponder: Are humans capable of maintaining lasting peace? Is violence ever acceptable as a means of protecting peace? How can cultural clashes be avoided? What is the difference between teaching and brainwashing? I quite enjoyed the novel. It is strong both in terms of characterization and theme. Regardless of the season, I would recommend The Winter Boy.Note: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I really enjoyed this book and I am looking forward to the next one (I am assuming there will be a next one).