This novel
is part of a trilogy that was a staple of my childhood. It’s a story about a
tiny nation (the Icemark) being invaded by a far larger and yet-to-be-defeated
nation (the Polypontan Empire) so it goes to make allies with previous rivals.
With
its magic, mythos and talking animals, it had the same kind of feel (though a
very different style) to Narnia, with ‘The Cry of the Ice Mark’ intended for an
older audience and having more weak points.
Despite
these flaws, the world building was phenomenal. Plus its view on werewolves
complemented my own (i.e. a bipedal wolf-like creature that was neither undead
nor transformative in nature).
And,
as with most author’s first novels, the perspective jumps around too much. It
changing with every paragraph can be hard to follow but likewise can be
permissible. Yet when perspective changes happen within a paragraph, that is no
longer okay and the editors should have corrected that.
***SPOILERS***
The main
character is Thirrin, the 14 year-old Princess of the Icemark, who is made
Queen very early on because her father was killed in the first attack General
Scorpius Bellorum makes on the Icemark. No qualms there. Yet Thirrin begins to
directly rule when one would expect a regent to be put in place. Doubling this
with the fact that the country was under invasion by the best army ever seen
ever (the book mentions this constantly), one would have thought the nobles
would want an experienced leader during this difficult situation. This makes
sense and is logical for a country to do, so the fact that the Icemark didn’t
shows insufficient writing. The only situation where this would be permissible
was if the ruler was divine/sacred, but as Thirrin and her family wasn’t, this
has to be discarded.
One question that has always
lingered whenever reading this was why the vampires agreed to the treaty of
mutual aid. They were so dismissive of it for ages then suddenly changed their
minds literally a sentence after they criticised the plan. There is no
explanation anywhere in any book explaining why this treaty was accepted and
why they changed their minds.
The book progresses nicely from this
point, developing the characters and the friendship between Thirrin and Oskan
Witchson, an incredibly funny warlock. The world is developed well. But then
the final battle came.
It was rather disappointing.
Descriptions of fighting had so far
been adequate, neither bad nor good. It was always pushing it with the amount
of Polyponton soldiers the Icemark and Co. could defeat (considering the fame
of the P’s fighting capabilities) but I let it go. These scenes lasted for a
short amount of time: a few pages at most. But With the final battle where
there’s pages and pages of it? Nah. That’s just not good. I couldn’t let go of
the insane amount of soldiers Icemark and Co. killed. So where description is
lacking lustre, one would think that at least the plot of the book’s climax
would be satisfying?
Again, not really.
All the non-Snow Leopard (book’s
majuscules) allies came late to the fight (a coincidence) and all right at the
very end at the exact same time. Obviously this was done for the convenience of
the plot to really emphasise how the allies came to save the day but considering
the odds of it happening like that are very slim and no explanation is ever
given for the lateness, it always struck me as boring and, frankly, lazy.
When the allies come, the
Polypontans reacted so unhappily that they broke ranks and scattered. Seeing
‘monsters’ come to life and face you in battle (an already horrific thing), I
could understand uneasiness in the army. But no more from the best trained army
ever trained ever. Maybe a few hundred soldiers would break ranks but complete
and utter disarray wouldn’t have been created.
Further,
Thirrin’s bodyguards were werewolves to whom the soldiers DIDN’T REACT
WHATSOEVER! When the rest of the werewolves comes with the rest of the allies,
special mention is made of how the werewolves caused panic with the soldiers;
however, if this was the case, then Thirrin’s bodyguard would have cased that
reaction early (which they did not).
Reviews: The
Icemark (Stuart Hill)
Blade of
Fire (Book Two)
Last Battle
of the Icemark (Book Three)
