Midwinterblood

by Marcus Sedgwick
Hennepin County Library audiobook 5 discs
read by Julian Rhind-Tutt
genre: YA . . . weird sort of fantasy but not

I'll just admit it up front. I did not like this book. I keep trying to think of readers who would enjoy this book and it's just not working for me. From the back, "In 2073 on the remote and secretive island of Blessed, where rumor has it that no one ages and no children are born, a visitor arrives. He is greeted warmly, but something is wrong. Something is hidden on the far side of the island. Something that, as if in a dream, he cannot reach."

Things I liked: the language at times was lyrically beautiful. I am intrigued by the going back in time, but not by how the stories did and did not connect. After 2073, it went to 2011 (with archaeologists), to 1944 (?) and a WWII pilot, to 1902 and an artist who painted Midwinterblood, to 1848 which was referred to as the witch part but was really about two children being told a story of two lovers by their nanny who isn't really there. Next up was tenth century Vikings and a vampire and last was an unknown time during a blood moon when the young lovers are first (last) introduced.

The reader changed his volume and accent so often that I wondered if he has ever listened to his work . . . especially in a car. Parts of the story were incomprehensible even after hitting rewind and re-listening.

Elements that were consistent between the seven "parts" of the story:
- Characters named Merle and Eric (though portrayed as lovers OR siblings OR mother and son, etc.)
- a hare features in each story (humorously, though, it initially sounded like "hair" and didn't make much sense)
- the dragon orchid whose properties (depending on how it is prepared) can heal, maintain youth, provide immortality, cause forgetfulness, cause impotence . . . don't drink the tea!
- references to the devil . . . "well, speak his name and his horns appear"
- the moon (flower, hunter, snow, etc.) I didn't track these carefully because I didn't want to go back and re-listen to the stories

This was a very strange story. Perhaps I'm just not sophisticated enough to "get" it.