Justin's Notes
Jul. 10, 2026
Cold Victory follows Louise and Arnie Kolski as they arrive in Helsinki for Arnie to start his new position at the American legation. After Arnie reconnects with an old Soviet war friend named Mikhail at a party, they decide to have a 500-kilometer ski race for the honor of their armies. But with the heightening tension between the US and the Soviet Union, along with Louise's complicated relationship with Mikahil's wife Natalya, what starts as a race between friends becomes an international competition that nobody meant for it to become.
This is my second book by Karl Marlantes, with Matterhorn being the first. I loved his writing in Matterhorn and it held up in this story. Cold Victory is absolutely more approachable than Matterhorn in my opinion, both in length and in the heaviness of content. That said, Marlantes is a brilliant writer of wartime stories, being able to effortlessly convey the pressures and dangers of any given political situation. I also think Marlantes does an incredible job representing corruptness and power in political systems in his stories. He effectively uses characters with power to show the consequences their choices have on the lower-ranked soldier or even the common citizen.
I also really love the way Marlantes writes relationships and builds his characters. From Louise, an optimistic girl from Oklahoma who doesn't quite understand the seriousness of political tensions, to Mikhail, the Soviet soldier who loves and fights for his country no matter the cost. I also thought that Marlantes showed through the relationships of Arnie & Mikhail and Louise & Natalya that humans can still bond and love each other even when everything about them says they shouldn't be able to. Even though there is significant conflict in this story between the characters, they care deeply for each other because of their circumstances.
If you enjoy historical fiction or want an entry into the genre, this is a great read that I would absolutely recommend. And if you enjoy this and want a deeper, heavier war novel, go read Matterhorn as well.
