You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Scan barcode
A review by medievalwitch
The Cry of the Icemark by Stuart Hill
3.0
This was baby's first epic/military fantasy!! I first read this when I was about 13/14, the same age as the protagonist. You can imagine how pumped I was to be reading about a girl my age kicking ass, taking names and riding giant snow leopards into battle. I remember reading this around the same time I read Harry Potter for the first time. A grand old time for baby me. So I thoroughly expected this to be a nostalgic and 5-star read. It wasn't. It wasn't super disappointing- it was ok- but it wasn't like I remembered it either.
The military bit of it is laughable for someone who is a more hardcore fan of that genre. It's all simplified and too easy for the main character, Therein Freer Strong-in-the-arm Lindenshield, Queen of the Icemark and wildcat of the north to gain allies (and man did that title get tiring to hear again and again)at some points. Things happen the right way almost all of the time. Allies always appear right in the nick of time. Very few of the main cast die. (I've heard this called 'junior Game of thrones'. for that last reason alone i'd have to say that's not true LMAO)
The epic bit was pretty epic. Many great and interesting characters, cultures and concepts. Pretty fun journey. Main character not too annoying. The thing I found nauseatingly annoying was the bickering between Thirrin and her friend/crush Oskaan. So. Much. Bickering. So many inconsistencies and useless arguing. No wonder why I don't care for YA books, I don't deal well with immature protagonists who stay semi-immature throughout the book. Sure they did kind of get better, but they were irritating as SHIT.
My favorite character was Thirrin's dad King Redrought. I want a book full of just him, living his life with his big fluffy slippers with that kitten sticking out of his beard. :3 Too bad he died in the first goddamn third of the book!!
All in all a pretty fun read. I listened to the audiobook and was impressed with the range of voices and eveness of O'nell's narration. Very good, would actually recommend the audiobook over the text alone.
The military bit of it is laughable for someone who is a more hardcore fan of that genre. It's all simplified and too easy for the main character, Therein Freer Strong-in-the-arm Lindenshield, Queen of the Icemark and wildcat of the north to gain allies (and man did that title get tiring to hear again and again)at some points. Things happen the right way almost all of the time. Allies always appear right in the nick of time. Very few of the main cast die. (I've heard this called 'junior Game of thrones'. for that last reason alone i'd have to say that's not true LMAO)
The epic bit was pretty epic. Many great and interesting characters, cultures and concepts. Pretty fun journey. Main character not too annoying. The thing I found nauseatingly annoying was the bickering between Thirrin and her friend/crush Oskaan. So. Much. Bickering. So many inconsistencies and useless arguing. No wonder why I don't care for YA books, I don't deal well with immature protagonists who stay semi-immature throughout the book. Sure they did kind of get better, but they were irritating as SHIT.
My favorite character was Thirrin's dad King Redrought. I want a book full of just him, living his life with his big fluffy slippers with that kitten sticking out of his beard. :3 Too bad he died in the first goddamn third of the book!!
All in all a pretty fun read. I listened to the audiobook and was impressed with the range of voices and eveness of O'nell's narration. Very good, would actually recommend the audiobook over the text alone.