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andrewspink's review against another edition
2.0
From the preponderance of 'young adult' characters, I guess that is who this book is aimed at. Unfortunately that meant it was not so much for me. The bears and knives are doubtless borrowed from Philip Pullman, but the quality of the writing is not really comparable. The invented swearword 'skylights' is just bizarre. Maybe it means something else in Australia, but swearing by a type of window is distinctly odd. This book was supplied by the author for free, but I won't be reading the rest of the trilogy.
metaphorosis's review against another edition
3.0
This is a book with promise that doesn't quite deliver. The central concept (a font of special power, a revolution with a hazy past), while not entirely novel, is well conceived and offers some nice touches (antarctic location, a steampunk-ish approach to magic).
Unfortunately, the book reads as a not-quite finished draft. It starts in media res, and Jansen takes her time to give us enough clues to put the pieces in place. Some of that is deliberate (the murky background of the last regime change), but some is clearly not (who's who, and how they're related). I felt that it just didn't all hang together well, though, frustratingly, it could have, with a little more work.
I like that the key characters weren't simple black and white, though some of the supporting cast were, and others were simple stereotypes. There were some reveals that I felt were unnecessary, and made the story a little mawkish, or at least brought it below the level it could otherwise have reached.
Mostly, the story and world simply wasn't as well realized or described as I would have hoped. A solid beta draft, rather than a finished product. It's for that reason that, though I'm intrigued by the story, I probably won't go on to volumes 2, 3, or .5.
* A note on typos, which seem to feature unusually heavily in the comments, and even led Ms. Jansen to include a note defending Australian norms: Aside from use of single quotes instead of double, I didn't notice or care about the Astralianisms. (There were some cases of inconsistent voice, but that's nothing to do with the variety of English.) I did note a moderate number of typos that I would have expected to be corrected by now (I got my copy recently from Amazon). I'm pretty sure that missing punctuation, misspelling of the heroine's name, mistaken words ('had' for 'and') also have nothing to do with Australian English. But we're talking about 11 instances in a 250 page book (I mark them to edit out later) - noticeable, but not too worrying. I know how hard typos can be to spot, so the concern is not that there were some, but that there still are.
Unfortunately, the book reads as a not-quite finished draft. It starts in media res, and Jansen takes her time to give us enough clues to put the pieces in place. Some of that is deliberate (the murky background of the last regime change), but some is clearly not (who's who, and how they're related). I felt that it just didn't all hang together well, though, frustratingly, it could have, with a little more work.
I like that the key characters weren't simple black and white, though some of the supporting cast were, and others were simple stereotypes. There were some reveals that I felt were unnecessary, and made the story a little mawkish, or at least brought it below the level it could otherwise have reached.
Mostly, the story and world simply wasn't as well realized or described as I would have hoped. A solid beta draft, rather than a finished product. It's for that reason that, though I'm intrigued by the story, I probably won't go on to volumes 2, 3, or .5.
* A note on typos, which seem to feature unusually heavily in the comments, and even led Ms. Jansen to include a note defending Australian norms: Aside from use of single quotes instead of double, I didn't notice or care about the Astralianisms. (There were some cases of inconsistent voice, but that's nothing to do with the variety of English.) I did note a moderate number of typos that I would have expected to be corrected by now (I got my copy recently from Amazon). I'm pretty sure that missing punctuation, misspelling of the heroine's name, mistaken words ('had' for 'and') also have nothing to do with Australian English. But we're talking about 11 instances in a 250 page book (I mark them to edit out later) - noticeable, but not too worrying. I know how hard typos can be to spot, so the concern is not that there were some, but that there still are.
pjmurphy3's review against another edition
5.0
a great story that kept me wanting to read. I looked the idea of the imperfect . it would be cool to see how the idea carries over to the next book.
jimig83's review against another edition
5.0
It has taken me a while to read this book, but it was worth it.
Fantastically written, the author has brought a world full of strange magic and customs to life.
I'm intrigued to find out what happens in the next instalment - I will be purchasing soon!
Fantastically written, the author has brought a world full of strange magic and customs to life.
I'm intrigued to find out what happens in the next instalment - I will be purchasing soon!
brewergnome's review against another edition
2.0
I read the first few chapters of this book, then skipped through to see if I was missing something. This is not common for me.
I couldn't get into the characters, or the world. The world looks like it could be interesting, but I've never been much for post-apocalyptic/broken-world/tech rediscovery sorts of stories, so that's not the book's fault.
The tipping point was the sex. Ok, we've got a fairly typical post-apocalyptic "most of the women are barren so we need Breeders" trope. Ew, but ok. Then we have a rape which... well... let's just say that gayness, sex, and rape don't work like that. At all.
So, I passed. To be fair, other people may enjoy this one. It just didn't tweak my gears.
I couldn't get into the characters, or the world. The world looks like it could be interesting, but I've never been much for post-apocalyptic/broken-world/tech rediscovery sorts of stories, so that's not the book's fault.
The tipping point was the sex. Ok, we've got a fairly typical post-apocalyptic "most of the women are barren so we need Breeders" trope. Ew, but ok. Then we have a rape which... well... let's just say that gayness, sex, and rape don't work like that. At all.
So, I passed. To be fair, other people may enjoy this one. It just didn't tweak my gears.
alwroteabook's review against another edition
3.0
Pretty good. Part Handmaid's Tale with a splash of JV Jones and a pinch of Jon Marco, and we have a decent fantasy set in a harsh frozen land. It's a little too humourless for my taste, and all the cast seem too earnest, but the world is interesting and the ending sets the tone for some big things down the road.
The narrator was good, dealing with a number of different characters, yet giving them unique voices.
The narrator was good, dealing with a number of different characters, yet giving them unique voices.
reubend1ca9's review against another edition
4.0
Surprisingly good indie book. There are two graphic rape scenes however so trigger warning. Dark fantasy, limited setting, almost felt like a novel length short story, but I don't think it suffered for it. Ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. I will read the sequel.
daveversace's review against another edition
3.0
The first part of what promises to be an exciting epic fantasy, most of the elements of Fire & Ice work very well - fascinating magic with some truly weird qualities, an arctic (or at least very cold) setting, political intrigue, fantastic beasts (mainly giant riding eagles, bears under harness and sea lions) and protagonists with a variety of relatable agendas.
Mostly Ice & Fire worked for me, but I didn't quite enjoy it as much as I might for a couple of reasons. While most of the women in the story - in particular the long-suffering midwife and the adolescent queen - were intriguing and appealing, the men were almost all either terrible, stupid or desperately broken.
(Some character spoilers below. Also: major trigger warning)
The main protagonist, a would-be revolutionary called Tandor, makes so many poor decisions for someone who has been planning his big move for over ten years that it becomes almost impossible to get behind his cause. The square-jawed hero fares a little better, but much of what goes wrong is down to his self-involvement bordering on the oblivious.
And then there's a character, Carro, who begins presented as merely annoyingly helpless (due to admittedly horrible circumstances) and is gradually revealed to be mentally ill. This character's plotline involves rape, used as an informal martial punishment - which on the one hand is realistic enough, but on the other hand feels tonally out of whack with the rest of the plot. I won't say it's gratuitous - quite - but it was jarring when it happened and not, I felt, redeemed by the rest of the story. Of course, there's another two books in the trilogy for the consequences to play out, and at this point I have faith that the author knows what she's doing here. All the same, it was a sour tone in the narrative for me.
Mostly Ice & Fire worked for me, but I didn't quite enjoy it as much as I might for a couple of reasons. While most of the women in the story - in particular the long-suffering midwife and the adolescent queen - were intriguing and appealing, the men were almost all either terrible, stupid or desperately broken.
(Some character spoilers below. Also: major trigger warning)
The main protagonist, a would-be revolutionary called Tandor, makes so many poor decisions for someone who has been planning his big move for over ten years that it becomes almost impossible to get behind his cause. The square-jawed hero fares a little better, but much of what goes wrong is down to his self-involvement bordering on the oblivious.
And then there's a character, Carro, who begins presented as merely annoyingly helpless (due to admittedly horrible circumstances) and is gradually revealed to be mentally ill. This character's plotline involves rape, used as an informal martial punishment - which on the one hand is realistic enough, but on the other hand feels tonally out of whack with the rest of the plot. I won't say it's gratuitous - quite - but it was jarring when it happened and not, I felt, redeemed by the rest of the story. Of course, there's another two books in the trilogy for the consequences to play out, and at this point I have faith that the author knows what she's doing here. All the same, it was a sour tone in the narrative for me.
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