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ifalways's review against another edition
4.0
Many people have mixed reviews about this, saying it's great or crap. I think it's quite nice. the characters are interesting, lovely world building, natural dialogue, steady pace, answers enough questions while still leaving many mysteries unanswered. In my eyes, a delicious brew for a book.
ashkitty93's review against another edition
3.0
As with a lot of books where I don't quite "get it" - I feel like I should reread it, but I also don't want to waste my time.
The Good
- The world-building was really cool. I'm always down for alternate histories.
- Cat. Bea. Rory.
The Bad
- Was I supposed to like the husband? What an insufferable ass. And as far as Cat could describe, it seemed the only thing that attracted her was his physical attractiveness, which, no.
- It felt too long and repetitive in spots.
The Weird
- The characters seem to speak in proverbs. Oooookay.
- Trolls? I can get behind djeli and even dragons in the spirit world, but trolls in the real world? Hm.
BOOK, LET ME LOVE YOU.
kadomi's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars. I have liked Kate Elliot since The Golden Key when I stumbled across her as huge Melanie Rawn fan. *insert forlorn sigh about the Exiles books* The previous series I read of hers was long (seven books) but for the most part enjoyable. The Spiritwalker Trilogy seems to be an interesting beast. Set in the 19th century of a fantasy version of Europe with an extended ice age, it is a wild mix of Afro-Celtic steampunk storytelling with magic thrown in. All sorts of historical influence in a world where technology is ever increasing, with airships, and mages who want to stop the rise of technology, while workers in the Industrial revolution rise to free themselves from oppressive monarchy and mage houses.
As interesting as that all sounds on paper, the start of the book is painfully slooooooow. Not only that, but nothing makes sense whatsoever. We start with Catherine and Beatrice, cousins and members of the Phoenician Bassi Harahal family. 20 and 19 years old respectively, their lives are fairly normal, until an arrogant cold mage called Andevai comes to their home to force the eldest girl to marry him, based on some contract the mages have with the family. Catherine is yanked away, and starts a voyage that teaches her a lot about her own past, her family ties, and the political machinations surrounding her and her cousin.
The book really doesn't pick up until around the 50% mark, but from there, it's quite exciting. I love political intrigues in fantasy, and that's where the setting shines. I am excited to read the next book now. I just wish it won't struggle with the pacing as much as Cold Magic did.
As interesting as that all sounds on paper, the start of the book is painfully slooooooow. Not only that, but nothing makes sense whatsoever. We start with Catherine and Beatrice, cousins and members of the Phoenician Bassi Harahal family. 20 and 19 years old respectively, their lives are fairly normal, until an arrogant cold mage called Andevai comes to their home to force the eldest girl to marry him, based on some contract the mages have with the family. Catherine is yanked away, and starts a voyage that teaches her a lot about her own past, her family ties, and the political machinations surrounding her and her cousin.
The book really doesn't pick up until around the 50% mark, but from there, it's quite exciting. I love political intrigues in fantasy, and that's where the setting shines. I am excited to read the next book now. I just wish it won't struggle with the pacing as much as Cold Magic did.
larissajay's review against another edition
4.0
I wasn't going to post a review, but after seeing a lot of harsh reviews of a book I really, really enjoyed I decided to post one back.
Why I loved Cold Fire: the main character, Cat, is great. She begins the story naive and grows into a strong heroine by the end. Her cousin, Bee, is equally a good character and although isn't present for most of the book, you learn a lot about her through Cat. I also like that the two women are each finding their own paths in the book; Bee has her own ability and the book has a twist I thought was perfect.
And Andevai. He has a LOT of character growth and I think it's one of the charms of this book. He's arrogant and flawed, but that's why you come to love him...
There's complaints to the cultural fantasy, which I didn't particularly mind. I can't say I understood exactly what the author means by some of the lineages, but you can grasp it with a bit of thinking. Afric. Roman. Celt. Really not that difficult.
Plus it doesn't MATTER if you don't quite grasp what tone of skin colour the character has.
There's a lot of political happenings which become clearer as Cat, the main character, becomes to understand them, and it's clear that it is a storyline that takes hold after the one immediately introduced (Cat getting married). Whilst a lot of the talk can be "confusing" for me, it added to an intrigue that I knew more was going on than just a girl-gets-betrothed 1-directional fantasy. It's not necessary to understand every bit, and you follow that as Cat (who is in over her head!)
Why I loved Cold Fire: the main character, Cat, is great. She begins the story naive and grows into a strong heroine by the end. Her cousin, Bee, is equally a good character and although isn't present for most of the book, you learn a lot about her through Cat. I also like that the two women are each finding their own paths in the book; Bee has her own ability and the book has a twist I thought was perfect.
And Andevai. He has a LOT of character growth and I think it's one of the charms of this book. He's arrogant and flawed, but that's why you come to love him...
There's complaints to the cultural fantasy, which I didn't particularly mind. I can't say I understood exactly what the author means by some of the lineages, but you can grasp it with a bit of thinking. Afric. Roman. Celt. Really not that difficult.
Plus it doesn't MATTER if you don't quite grasp what tone of skin colour the character has.
There's a lot of political happenings which become clearer as Cat, the main character, becomes to understand them, and it's clear that it is a storyline that takes hold after the one immediately introduced (Cat getting married). Whilst a lot of the talk can be "confusing" for me, it added to an intrigue that I knew more was going on than just a girl-gets-betrothed 1-directional fantasy. It's not necessary to understand every bit, and you follow that as Cat (who is in over her head!)
readerpants's review against another edition
1.0
I feel like the internet really let me down on this one! I trust the Book Smugglers to guide hours of my reading life, and that's usually a good decision, but man, did this shake my faith. (Although I had in my head that they'd said this was a surefire winner for fans of complex and smart worldbuilding a la N.K. Jemisin... and I may have just made that up in my head or read it elsewhere because I can't find it now. So I probably have no one to blame but myself. Darn.)
This book was a hot mess. Sloppy world-building, clunky but totally ineffectual infodumps, flat characters and some really bizarre insta-love. Maybe if there could have been some thorough info-dumping in the beginning, we could have spent the rest of the book focusing on the characters... but doling out information in odd, vague little monologues left some plot points irritatingly obvious and others irritatingly confusing. Lots of potential and interesting concepts, but this book badly needed an editor.
This book was a hot mess. Sloppy world-building, clunky but totally ineffectual infodumps, flat characters and some really bizarre insta-love. Maybe if there could have been some thorough info-dumping in the beginning, we could have spent the rest of the book focusing on the characters... but doling out information in odd, vague little monologues left some plot points irritatingly obvious and others irritatingly confusing. Lots of potential and interesting concepts, but this book badly needed an editor.
eososray's review against another edition
3.0
This wasn't what I was expecting when I picked up this book. I was looking for a book like many of the authors others. More complicated, dense and detailed. Instead I got more of a typical steampunk genre book, with the young characters, simpler writing and romance.
It's still a good book, especially Elliott's world of ice and magic. And in the end it's that brilliant world that will bring me back to read the next book.
It's still a good book, especially Elliott's world of ice and magic. And in the end it's that brilliant world that will bring me back to read the next book.
paradoxically's review against another edition
4.0
The beginning of Cold Magic was both slow and felt rather cumbersome, and while I did not precisely struggle to read it, I was more than ambivalent about it. There are reasons for this. The world building has to begin and the author balances a delicate line between too much detail and exposition and not enough (well, like all fantasy novels). I wouldn't say that it was clumsily done, but it was a little heavy. I found myself at turns confused and then enlightened and then confused once more, but once all of the preliminary setting is laid out, then the book really hits its stride and I found myself enjoying it.
I found that Cat, the main character, was someone I liked very much. She's a little impulsive and hotheaded, but she does her best to try to temper it without smothering herself. She makes mistakes, but she tries her best in just about impossible conditions, and she does it without going 'woe is me' all of the time. She's a strong character.
But who really interested me (I can't say 'liked', since I like Cat better [I pretty much always like main characters best], but he is fascinating in his own right) was Andevai. What was best about him was the slow progression of his character, that as time went on he became more... not fleshed out, exactly (because that would mean that he was poorly characterized in the beginning), but more familiar to the reader, and so we understood more of what is going on in his mind. You read the book and you understand more about him and it's very skillfully done that you don't get whiplash from 'cold arrogant jerk' to, well, still a cold, arrogant jerk, but someone with more depth to him. It was fascinating seeing him evolve, and learning more about him as Cat learns more about him.
The plot is skillfully done. It races along the pages and you find yourself tense when Cat is, and relaxed when she is (though, yes, that doesn't happen as often as she'd like, heh). The character Rory is great, I feel compelled to give him a great giant squeeze of a hug, and I love the addition that he made. What is perhaps one of the best bits is Cat's relationship with her cousin Beatrice, and how strong it is. They love each other and would do whatever they can to protect each other, and it's a relationship that does not flounder, but only grows stronger.
Overall, a very strong book and I look forward to reading the next.
I found that Cat, the main character, was someone I liked very much. She's a little impulsive and hotheaded, but she does her best to try to temper it without smothering herself. She makes mistakes, but she tries her best in just about impossible conditions, and she does it without going 'woe is me' all of the time. She's a strong character.
But who really interested me (I can't say 'liked', since I like Cat better [I pretty much always like main characters best], but he is fascinating in his own right) was Andevai. What was best about him was the slow progression of his character, that as time went on he became more... not fleshed out, exactly (because that would mean that he was poorly characterized in the beginning), but more familiar to the reader, and so we understood more of what is going on in his mind. You read the book and you understand more about him and it's very skillfully done that you don't get whiplash from 'cold arrogant jerk' to, well, still a cold, arrogant jerk, but someone with more depth to him. It was fascinating seeing him evolve, and learning more about him as Cat learns more about him.
The plot is skillfully done. It races along the pages and you find yourself tense when Cat is, and relaxed when she is (though, yes, that doesn't happen as often as she'd like, heh). The character Rory is great, I feel compelled to give him a great giant squeeze of a hug, and I love the addition that he made. What is perhaps one of the best bits is Cat's relationship with her cousin Beatrice, and how strong it is. They love each other and would do whatever they can to protect each other, and it's a relationship that does not flounder, but only grows stronger.
Overall, a very strong book and I look forward to reading the next.
chirson's review against another edition
3.0
I was bogged down by the detail 1/3 through, but the final chapters were immensely satisfying.
I think I would have enjoyed it less if I hadn't gone so long without reading any guilty pleasure romance novels, but as it was, I really enjoyed the romantic subplot, precisely because of the delicious cliches.
And then the radicals \o/ I also appreciated the worldbuilding (cool, original and impressive) and the backstory (quite engrossing and I was/am really curious about the mysteries).
I think I would have enjoyed it less if I hadn't gone so long without reading any guilty pleasure romance novels, but as it was, I really enjoyed the romantic subplot, precisely because of the delicious cliches.
And then the radicals \o/ I also appreciated the worldbuilding (cool, original and impressive) and the backstory (quite engrossing and I was/am really curious about the mysteries).
_rebeccab's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to love this book but the worldbuilding detracted from the plot. Cutting 200 pages from the book would helped keep my attention throughout. I liked a lot of elements of Cat, Andevai and Rory but any growth or personality introduction came too late in the novel.
hilsaa's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0