Here at The Quill To Live, we use our words to paint a picture of the stories we read. But as a visual person, I wondered, could I also capture your interest and inspire you to read a book based solely on fan art?
Fan art is my end-of-book treat. As soon as the back cover closes, I set off searching for art to relive my favorite moments and enhance the visual impressions in my mind. As someone who can’t put the images in my head on paper, I greatly admire and appreciate the artists who share their talents and bring these fantastical worlds and characters to life.
A Winter’s Promise by Christelle Dabos was my first real hidden gem that I found in a corner of a local Reno, Nevada, bookstore several years ago. It’s one of my favorite books, and a perfect candidate to take you on a visual journey. It’s so wondrous and magical that my review can only do so much. So today, let me show you how incredible this fantasy story is.
Fan art can easily lead you into spoiler territory, but I’ve curated a selection of images that capture the essence of the book without giving anything away.
The World
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The book begins in Ophelia’s home Ark, Anima, where objects have souls of their own. Anima is the Ark of memory and has a deep fondness for history, whether it be through written text, objects, or the importance of the Ark’s large, connected family hierarchy. The Ark feels proper, antiquated, and steeped in the 1800s. Anima has stuffy social expectations that Ophelia can’t quite get right, traditional gender roles, horse-drawn carriages, formal attire (featuring frock coats, dresses, and bowler hats), and leisurely pastimes like strolling and having tea.
A major method of transportation among the Arks is the flying airships. From the descriptions in the book, I likened the ships to somewhat luxurious train accommodations with private compartments, dining services, and shared spaces like outdoor balconies to enjoy the view. @andy-gendreau’s interpretation of the airships takes on more of a blimp/balloon-esque style, but I love how they captured the grandeur of an ornate machine gliding into a station while the masses of people await below.
The second most notable setting is the Ark of the Pole, where Ophelia’s fiancée, Thorn, hails from. It comes as no surprise that this Ark is blistering cold and miserable. Characters from the Pole are hardy people, donning heavy fur coats to weather the forceful winds and unending blizzard. Transportation comes in the form of dog-pulled sleds, and the Ark residents make a hobby of hunting the enormous beasts that wander the snowy landscape. The Ark’s capital city is said to float above the Arctic wasteland, and I’ll leave you here with much anticipation of what that city entails.
Character Design
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Ophelia is an awkward, clumsy young woman who is described as disheveled. She is decidedly unfashionable with her untamed hair, plain dresses, glasses, and overly animated (and unruly) scarf. She appears slight, small, and assuming. Ophelia often disappears not only through mirrors but also into the background of her large family, so she can avoid anyone’s attention and ire. @Nymbruyn’s drawing captures Ophelia’s dynamic movement, from her mane of hair to her uncontrollable scarf, as she travels through a mirror.
Thorn is an imposing, yet slim figure. He looms menacingly over everyone, his cold and prickly personality making him even more fierce. Thorn is described as severe, which we can get the sense of from descriptions of his sharp-angled nose to his rigid adherence to his schedule. I love how Thorn’s sharpness is portrayed by the artist @murasign, who also honors the character’s obsessive act of checking his pocket watch.
Berenilde is Ophelia’s future mother-in-law and also a notable player in this story. Berenilde is antithetical to everything Ophelia is as a person. She is bright, beautiful, and glamorous with an aptitude for socializing. @patricialyfoung captures Bérénilde’s effortless magnetism as she casually poses with a cigarette holder with a flirtatious smile and a sensual little lean in, which is exactly how I imagine Bérénilde works a room.
Relationship Dynamics
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Many artists, such as @patricialyfoung and @ccrystalclear, adeptly portray Ophelia and Thorn’s relationship through body posture and facial expressions. Ophelia usually has a subdued or frustrated expression, hiding her emotions within because she can’t truly express her distaste for the arranged marriage. Her hair, glasses, and scarf are all important elements that allow her to hide or remain diminutive next to her glowering fiancé or dazzling mother-in-law. Thorn is always a terrifyingly tall figure with a strong presence that looms over Ophelia physically. He is often portrayed facing away from Ophelia with a stern expression because it’s true that he would rather be anywhere else. His posture is also very rigid with clenched fists, and it’s easy to get a sense of his stern nature from the austere planes of his face, body, and immaculate presentation of his clothing.
So much can be gleaned from Bérénilde and Ophelia’s dynamic in @vulturandes’s drawing. It perfectly conveys the startling differences between the effusive socialite and our reserved main character. The way Bérénilde grasps Ophelia’s hands with the largest smile, all while in the most fashionable, put-together outfit, showcases just how much she shines. And Ophelia’s depiction here is just as noteworthy, swaddled in her comforting scarf and meeting her future mother-in-law with some hesitation. This one moment details Bérénilde’s command of Ophelia’s situation and the confidence she possesses in molding her daughter-in-law into her desires.
The world and characters in A Winter’s Promise are described beautifully in the book, but getting to see an artist’s rendition of it is truly jaw-dropping. When I see these works of art, they perfectly capture the same wonder that the book inspired in me, and I hope you’ll consider moving book one of Christelle Dabos’s Mirror Visitor series to the top of your TBR.
