Description: Thirrin Freer Strong-in-the-Arm Lindenshield has been preparing for queenship her whole life, but, at age fourteen, she feels entirely unprepared to take over the country when her father dies in a suicide mission against an invading army to buy time for Thirrin to make war plans and find allies. The mighty Polypontian Empire has never lost a conquest since its army has been headed by the brilliant military strategist Scipio Bellorum, and the comparatively tiny nation of the Icemark will be just another conquered nation before long, unless Thirrin can gain some valuable allies over the long northern winter. Thirrin, along with her young advisor, Oskan Witch's Son, who has magic of his own, must journey into the haunted Land-of-the-Ghosts and attempt to win allies of the Wolf-Folk, the Vampire King and Queen, and many other strange and legendary creatures, some of whom were recently enemies of the Icemark. Thirrin's strange alliance is powerful, but there are doubts about the intentions of some allies, and the sheer numbers of the Polypontian armies, along with their brilliant commander, may yet win the day if Thirrin cannot bridge the gaps between several very different peoples.
Review: The fantasy elements in this book are amazing - it takes a Viking-like society, pits the Roman Empire against it, throws in werewolves, vampires, fae, amazons, witches, and giant talking snow leopards as allies, and makes it work. The main character is one of the strongest female characters I've ever seen - her battle skill isn't about overcoming prejudice against women, she just is a warrior. Despite that, the book is incredibly long, incredibly hard to get into, and sometimes repetetive. I feel that it would have benefitted from a lot of stripping down. There were many unecessary scenes, especially battles. This book is not one that you can read cover-to-cover; you have to stop and set it down every few chapters and come back to it later. Also, the characters aren't quite lifelike enough for the reader to relate to entirely. However, the sheer creativeness of Hill's fantasy world makes "The Cry of the Icemark" worth the read, if you can manage to wade through all 480 pages.
how many books did Stuart Hill write? And what are they? Is there a sequel to The Cry of The Icemark?
Posted by: Gena at June 6, 2005 04:29 PMAs far as I know, "The Cry of the Icemark" is Stuart Hill's first book. My guess is that there will eventually be a sequel, but I can't find anyplace that says.
Posted by: Elena at June 7, 2005 11:14 AM"I feel that it would have benefitted from a lot of stripping down. There were many unecessary scenes, especially battles. This book is not one that you can read cover-to-cover; you have to stop and set it down every few chapters and come back to it later. Also, the characters aren't quite lifelike enough for the reader to relate to entirely. However, the sheer creativeness of Hill's fantasy world makes "The Cry of the Icemark" worth the read, if you can manage to wade through all 480 pages."
I disagree with this because you have to be an experienced reader or the book will not make sense. Also, "Elena", this is only your opinion, you have no right to critisise the publisher's and the author's work.
Posted by: Ash at December 19, 2005 05:09 PMDo you know what book reviews are for, dear? They are so that the reviewer can share his or her opinion about a book.
And have you ever read the First Amendment to the Constitution? I believe that document gives me the right to criticize anything that I want to criticize.
Posted by: Elena at December 19, 2005 11:28 PMPersonally, I loved this book. Perhaps it's simply the inexplicable drive that pushed me to finish several 500+ pages books in mere hours, but I was unable to put this down.
I loved the incredible mix of characters, the relationships between the charaters, and the subtle growth presented through the book. The charachters at the end are exactly the same... And yet, you can tell how the events of the book have changed them, Thirrin and Oskan in particular due to their age, most likely.
I loved the intricacy of the story, with bits of the history of the countries involved deftly threaded in. I can easily see it coming to a sequel. If not, I have at least some faith in the internet, and it's follower's somewhat competance with a word processor.
Posted by: E. Smith at March 2, 2006 07:36 PMWow, I just loved that book. I am 13 years old and I found it in my 8th grade library. It seemed interesting enough and I read it. This book fasinated me extremely. And to be honest, I resemble Thirrin a lot in both physical appirence and attitude. You know how sometimes there is that great place where you can take a break from reading and put down the book for a break? I found nothing of the sort in this book, I found myself un able to put it down. I am working on a book of my own, and I would give alot to learn from this author. His talent astounds me. Email me if you would also like to talk about this story. My email is Bossykitty92@aol.com Thanks.
Sam