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alexandrabree's review against another edition
3.0
I loved learning more about Therrins Father and lineage but I didn't find it as gripping as the other novels.
The tone was very different. More of a younger audience. The writing was strong but simple. The simplicity is what separates it from the first two novels especially.
The tone was very different. More of a younger audience. The writing was strong but simple. The simplicity is what separates it from the first two novels especially.
daffz's review against another edition
3.0
This book was a lot weaker than any of the others in the Icemark series, and that's a shame. I almost feel like the author wrote himself into a corner by writing a prequel to the rest of the books. It meant he couldn't introduce many new characters because there would be no explanation for their disappearance in the books that took place later, it also meant that the end of the story is already pretty much known by the readers.
A few new characters were introduced, but none of them were very memorable. By far the most annoying one was the cat, it's introduced as a "witch's cat" with special powers and it gets three seperate fight scenes within the book and kills a fairly important character. This cat gets so much focus during the book that I almost started to wonder if it wasn't the real main character. It just felt out of place and weird.
Redrought himself was a little bit of a disappointment too. He felt very different as a main character than his daughter did and I didn't feel like I got to know him very well during the story. It also seemed to me that the way girls were described through his eyes was rather sexist. The book kept acting like girls are aliens who are impossible to understand and talk to as a guy. It would've been one thing it it had been just his insecurity, but an older female character agrees with him. It's an overdone thing and a bit of a pet peeve of mine.
So while it was nice to see more of Icemark's backstory and see more of Thirrin's mother(!), the story itself was weak and the characters fell flat for the most part.
A few new characters were introduced, but none of them were very memorable. By far the most annoying one was the cat, it's introduced as a "witch's cat" with special powers and it gets three seperate fight scenes within the book and kills a fairly important character. This cat gets so much focus during the book that I almost started to wonder if it wasn't the real main character. It just felt out of place and weird.
Redrought himself was a little bit of a disappointment too. He felt very different as a main character than his daughter did and I didn't feel like I got to know him very well during the story. It also seemed to me that the way girls were described through his eyes was rather sexist. The book kept acting like girls are aliens who are impossible to understand and talk to as a guy. It would've been one thing it it had been just his insecurity, but an older female character agrees with him. It's an overdone thing and a bit of a pet peeve of mine.
So while it was nice to see more of Icemark's backstory and see more of Thirrin's mother(!), the story itself was weak and the characters fell flat for the most part.
tlj2781's review against another edition
The pace is too slow. I loved the other three books. But maybe it's because I know redrought is just going to die in the first book.
amirahjantzen's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
sloph's review
4.0
This prequel boo to the Icemark series was a really good read. I loved the new, interesting characters and some familiar faces. This is a very action-oriented book, filled with some love and some mystic and magic, a pretty good blend of what I like. I thought that this was one of my favourite of the series, I enjoyed the characters quite a lot and really got invested into the story. It was an easy read as it took you on a journey with the young prince and you got to see him grow and become a leader to his people. I will have to get a copy of my own as I borrowed this from a friend.
oliwija's review
4.0
I did not like this as much as the trilogy but, it was still very good. just very different from the other Icemark books. But it was different in a good way, but it's tragic that many of the persons we meet in this book, we will know what happens to them in the Cry of the Icemark. But some of them, will we never know what becomes of them.
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