Status
Call number
Series
Collection
Publication
Description
Where magic is dark and gritty, characters troubled and twisted, and victory comes at a heavy price.Deep under the City of Glass in the frozen southern land, an age-old machine called the Heart of the City radiates a power which locals call icefire. Most citizens are immune to it, but a few, always born with physical disabilities, can bend it to their will. For fifty years, the ruling Eagle Knights, who fly on the back of giant birds, have killed these Imperfects, fearing the return of the old royal family, who used icefire to cut out people's hearts, turning them into ghostly servitors.The old king's grandson Tandor only sees the good things icefire brought: power and technology now forgotten while the people of the south live in dire poverty. He's had enough of seeing his fellow kinsfolk slaughtered by ignorant Knights, of Imperfect babies being abandoned on the ice floes to be eaten by wild animals. His grandfather's diary tells him how to increase the beat of the Heart the first step to making the land glorious once more. Arrogant as he is, he sets the machine in motion. All he needs is an army of Imperfect servitors to control the resulting power.Isandor is Imperfect, an ex-Knight apprentice, betrayed by his best friend and running for his life.The queen Jevaithi is Imperfect, living like a prisoner amidst leering Knights, surviving only because the common people would rebel if their beloved queen were harmed.Both are young and desperate and should be grateful that Tandor wants to rescue them from their hopeless situations. Or so he thinks. The youngsters, however, have no inclination to become heartless ghosts, but while they defy Tandor, the Heart beats, and he alone cannot control its power.… (more)
User reviews
It's not my proudest trait but I'm not a big fan of slow beginnings. I love it when we start off in the midst of the action. Luckily, Jansen does just that. In the first few pages, you are given so much information and even more questions. I don't like Tandor personally (although he does somewhat redeems himself) but I do like how human his character is. He's no messiah or even really a hero but he's trying to do what's best. Or what he thinks is best. Thee magic system used is very cool and unique enough so that I'm curious to learn more about it.
As much as I enjoyed the book, there were some things that I didn't like. For one thing, the descriptions were very lacking. I didn't have any idea what Ruko or what Legless Lions look like until two-thirds through the book. Normally, I would be fine with it but it just bothers me how some feature would seemingly appear. For example, the Legless Lion was cornered and tied down. Then it suddenly struck and smacked someone with a flipper. A flipper?! Or better yet, someone who I thought was a boy was suddenly called "a blue giant". That confused me for a bit before I realized they were the same person.
Overall, the book was enjoyable though not perfect (but what books are?). Jansen did an amazing job keeping the reader engaged and interested in what happens to the characters. There is quite a lot of violence (rape, removal of certain parts, etc) so definitely not suitable as a bedtime story. Although there is a lot of magic being thrown around, there aren't too many fantasy elements beyond that. I'd say anyone looking for a good fast-paced novel and not too picky about descriptions should definitely give this book a shot!
Won a giveaway in return for an honest review
The plot WAS unique in some ways. I found the idea of calculating the amount of icefire magic stuff refreshing, instead of the usual people who run around books, brandishing balls of flame or bolts of lightning without a thought to size, shape or catastrophe it may cause if overdone. More could have been done to develop the idea of this icefire stuff in the minds of the reader. The eagle army was interesting, as was the society around them. I would have liked to have read more on many of the smaller aspects of this book, but though I was excited to find I'd won Fire & Ice, I felt a little too left behind as a reader to want to go through the next in the series in order to get closer to the items that interested me.
Worth a 4/5 as it was enjoyable but felt a little too rushed or as if it was trying hard to establish too much foundation in a short time, leaving me feeling as if something was missing. A good foundation for the trilogy that establishes characters & potential story lines for the following books.
For me, personally the book got off to incredibly slow start and continued to be slow through out the whole book. In some places the pacing seemed to be rushed and then went back to it's original slow pace. Overall the story is truly unique concept with plenty of room to grow in background and characters. I will look for this other works in the future.
The concept of this series, whether intended, is an allegorical tale of our times - discrimination, segregation, moral superiority and polar bears. Well, yes, polar bears are not precisely an everyday sight for most of us, however, their use in this novel tells of our own uses of animal for sport and the repercussions of attempting to tame the wild.
The centre of power is the City of Glass, the population ruled by a Regent intent on claiming the crown with help from his Eagle Knights, while the son of the former King, living outwith the city’s borders amasses a force of ‘deformed’ individuals who are able to tap into the world’s largest power source. While these two fight for control, the inhabitants are stuck in the middle, unsure, confused and understandably afraid. Patty Jensen wonderfully crafts this tale adding unpredictable scenarios and expertly paces the tension. Moments of the everyday are fused between chess-like moves by the elite, such as a difficult child delivery and light-hearted moments between young soldiers. The main characters are all connected through complicated webs of blood and association, which also serves as a means to add moral dilemma to the mix - all the things we expect in a world where greed and survival meet in the battlefield.
I have yet to read the other two books of the trilogy, but intend to as this first instalment has gripped me and I am invested in the characters and have made my own predictions, which I expect will be wildly off the mark due to Jansen’s ability to throw curves on the straightest of all roads.
Barely a paragraph in and I can already spot editing errors from the beginning. Questionable word choices as well. Somehow, not sure this is going to trend well.
What the ...?
The entire story to me has been meh. The writing could use another pass of editing. Some clunky sentences. Again I go with, no compelling characters for me. Annoying, but not compelling. Most feel too stiff. I won't allow the cold to be a factor in that.
Most of chapter 5 could have been dropped. I think it was done to bring sympathy to the character, but it doesn't.
After chapter five, I just couldn't. Forced myself to Chapter 10 but nothing made me want to pick it up and keep reading. Not even the concept.
Original publication date
Local notes
DDC/MDS
Fic SF Jansen |