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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
I first read this book from the school library. No preconceptions. Loved it. Went looking for it and found it again about 10 years later, re-read it loved it just as much if not a little bit more. It has a lovely bittersweet quality that I've always enjoyed in fantasy books wear the characters act beyond themselves.
Many years ago I read this series and really, really loved it. Entirely forgotten as the decades drifted past, I was reminded of it and ordered a copy of this book to see how it held up. Pretty well, I guess? It's the story of a boy who trains as a blacksmith, in a world where that is a fully magical art, and is duped by his master into creating the most potent and awful tools for the advancement of evil, and then sets about trying to right that. One thing I'd forgotten (or more likely not even noticed) is how Tolkien-esque a whole lot of it is: the writing in places, many of the characters, some of the history and setting. It's not at all Middle Earth (well, not hardly at all) but it is very much in the mode. It was fine, I guess? If the books were readily and cheaply available I'd probably get the other two and finish out the trilogy, and maybe read the fourth much later book that I never got around to, but I don't know if I will do that or not. Seems a lot of effort for something that now I just find pretty all right, and not excellent.
I drank in this book as greedily and deeply as I could. This series has become one of my top favourite fantasy series after just this first book. It gives dark 80s fantasy vibes to the fullest. It still follows the basic parameters of a typical fantasy, and it echoes a little of LOTR, but what fantasy doesn’t take inspiration from that! Michael Scott Rohan has beautiful prose and amazing imagery. I highly recommend this to all fantasy lovers out there!
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
fast-paced
adventurous
dark
hopeful
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Quite good, but you have to be in the mood for mid 80′s fantasy – lots of descriptions, scenery, not much dialogue, etc. It was a slow start for me, but I quite enjoyed the book and will be tracking town the other two in the series. Lots of stuff about smithcraft – tools used, hitting shit with hammers, stuff about metals… if that’s your thing and you like fantasy this just might be your bag.
THREE AND A HALF OUT OF FIVE STARS
THREE AND A HALF OUT OF FIVE STARS
http://agraham.org/blog/2016/05/22/reread-the-anvil-of-ice-winter-of-the-world-part-1/
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I picked up this trilogy second hand on a whim and I'm very glad I did. The first book has the stately feel of a Germanic epic, but the characters are interesting and well created. It borrows from the tradition without slavishly copying it, which made for a more interesting book in my opinion. I did find the occasional metatextual interjections stating that the story was taken from an ancient text to be slightly irritating as they interrupted the flow of the narrative, but otherwise I thoroughly enjoyed this book.