Warm UpWarm Up by V.E. Schwab(Vicious #0.5)

Genre: Fantasy, Short Fiction

Publisher: Tor Books on August 20, 2013

Source: Tor.com

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It’s been 297 days since David died–and came back.

He may have survived the avalanche, but the aftermath has been far worse. View Spoiler »

Warm Up by V.E. Schwab is a prequel short story to her novel Vicious, which I recently hauled. I’ve been wanting to check out more short fiction from Tor, saw this on their website, and here we are. And seriously, colour me impressed because Schwab can pack a serious punch in only 15 pages.

David has spent almost 300 days in self-imposed seclusion, locked inside his home. But it’s not really his home anymore, is it? Without his beloved wife Samantha and their son Jack, it’s just a sad little reminder of the life that he’s lost.

On his thirtieth mountain climbing expedition David and his friends are caught in an avalanche. Buried alive in the freezing snow, all David can think is “warm up!” If only he’d known how much he would come to regret that desperate plea. For when he comes back from the brink of death, David is no longer completely human. And warming things up is no longer a problem.

For almost 300 days, everything – and everyone – that David touches is horribly burned. No fire, no smoke, no explanation. Just ashes. For almost 300 days, David has mourned the collapse of his marriage and the loss of his son. For almost 300 days, he has worked tirelessly to control the terrible power within him. And now, after almost 300 days, David is finally ready to rejoin the living.

I’m glad that I read Warm Up before diving into Vicious, since it’s given me a pretty good idea of what the tone of the series will be: grim. As most of you probably already know, I enjoy the occasional bleak book now and then, but they’ve never been my favourite. I can honestly say that I don’t think it’ll be an issue here, since Schwab’s gorgeous prose sucked me in immediately. In only 15 pages Schwab made me care about David’s suffering. She also made me insatiably curious about the dangerous young man that David encounters in an alley way on his first night outside in almost 300 days…

I can’t wait to learn more about him in Vicious. V.E. Schwab knocked it out of the park with this one, penning a darkly original prequel short that tantalizes and intrigues. Give me more!