A witty, noir novel set in REYKJAVIK, ICELAND
Novel set in 1939 FINLAND / RUSSIA
20th July 2026
The Winter Warriors by Olivier Norek, set in 1939 FINLAND / RUSSIA
TR: Nick Caistor
The Winter Warriors is Olivier Norek’s incredible, prize-winning account of the actions of Finland’s heroic sniper Simo Häyhä’s during the brief but terrible Winter War of 1939-40. It is now available in English, in a wonderful translation by Nick Caistor. This engrossing novel combines sweeping historical fiction with a domestic level of detail about the everyday lives of ordinary soldiers on the front line, during the Soviet Union’s incursion into Finnish territory.
The book is a thrilling true story of the tiny new nation – Finland – and its defence of its borders against the beast that was the Soviet Union. The central character, Häyhä, was a shy farm worker who was recruited into Finland’s military alongside his friends from tiny villages in the Rautjärvi district, near the border with Russia. As a youngster, he was already fêted as the best shot with a rifle in his province, even beating an army officer in competition. He was by nature a self-effacing person, keen to follow his father’s instructions not to stand out among his fellow soldiers. This, they hoped, would be the key to his survival. However, Häyhä’s skills came to the attention of his superiors and later earned him the nickname ‘The White Death’ for his unerring ability to shoot and kill without being seen. For its part, Finland was pleased to use Häyhä’s reputation as a propaganda tool to demoralise the Soviet troops.
While much of the action took place in the desolate and almost featureless forests of the Finno-Russian border near Lake Ladoga, the setting nevertheless beautifully described. The exceptionally low temperatures that winter (as low as minus 50oC) were a problem for both armies, and the author is incredibly adept at creating an authentic sense of the variety in these frozen wastelands. Häyhä and his friends from Rautjärvi were completely at home with nature, having grown up in a rural farming community where people eked out an existence. This gave them an advantage over their disorganised and ill-equipped Soviet opponents. Still today, much of the border country consists of such forests, and long, snowy winters, though the record-breaking low temperatures of 1939-40 are, thankfully, still rare.
The author contrasts the routine farming lives of the villagers pre-war with the deprivations suffered by both soldiers and civilians. He describes scenes in a manner akin to stage directions and this gives an instant 3D image of events, lending an emotional intensity to the narrative. The book’s accounts of the heroic actions of Häyhä and his fellow Finns are all the more vivid and affecting because we know that they are true. It is almost painful to read about the changing emotions that Häyhä experiences when faced with having to kill his enemies.
I chose to read this book because of the wonderful reviews it has already received. I would recommend it to anyone without reservation, whether or not they usually read wartime history books. It is an incredibly moving insight into how human beings can draw on inner reserves to survive, and to protect what they love, even in the most extreme circumstances.
Sue for the TripFiction Team
Catch our reviewer Sue: TwitterX @SueKelsoRyan / IG @SueKelosRyan / BlueSky @suekelsoryan.bsky.social
Join team TripFiction on Social Media:
Twitter (@TripFiction), Facebook (@TripFiction.Literarywanderlust), YouTube (TripFiction #Literarywanderlust), Instagram (@TripFiction) and Pinterest (@TripFiction) and BlueSky(tripfiction.bsky.social) and Threads (@tripfiction)
Please wait...
