Looking for feedback/beta readers!
Hi all, I am always looking for feedback on my draft for my fantasy novel; Snoweater.
Art by cutetanuki-chan
Snoweater is a flintlock fantasy set on an Earth-like where winters are an existential threat to all life, and magic exists in a few gifted individuals who can control heat, channelling it from one source to another. The abilities of these Channellers are neither learned nor genetic, but inherited through a ritual that kills the one passing it on, preventing the total number of Channellers in the world from increasing. A cataclysmic ice age brought humanity to its knees a few hundred years ago and civilisation is still rebuilding and rediscovering lost knowledge. Two of the larger nations have been at war since then, with one worshipping Channellers while the other blames them for the Great Frost.
The four point-of-view characters are Rose, a young, neuro-divergent engineer attempting to enlist with an infamous regiment of military scouts to see the world outside her city. Ari, a cynical Channeller who struggles to reconcile responsibility with her ambitions for power. Karl, a crippled veteran who is searching for purpose now that he is no longer fit to serve in the army. And Kursun, a teenage boy raised in the shadow of his brothers, desperately seeking to prove himself to his community. The characters are from three nations, two of which are at war, and must each question their own loyalty and set aside their own goals when they are eventually forced to work together to protect those they care about.
The Plot Explained Badly would be (spolier alert): grumpy but horny witch, neuro-spicy sniper, disabled veteran, and Sulking Teen accidently befriend depressed Wendigo and cause multiple diplomatic emergencies while struggling to ascertain how magnets work.
If you liked how magic and early firearms both affect conflict in stories like Mistborn era 2, the Powder Mage trilogy, or Guns of the Dawn, you might enjoy Snoweater.
Here is a link to the first four chapters, I would be over the moon if anyone takes the time to read them. I can send the whole draft (about 106k words) if anyone is interested. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PjDwKDf0K8lzCtlquWUFBGR5U-Bxi9GKA2cbgEa7yU8/edit?usp=sharing
Cheers, Thomas
