***SPOILERS***
Not long after the second book, the Icemark has to do battle with the Dark Realms and the Artimision, Hypolitans of the South. It was fun and sufficiently dramatic for the closing book in a trilogy. My main criticism of the last book was about how not keeping a mystery alove (especially one central to the plot) curtailed suspicion of belief. Throughout this book, the reader is consistently reminded that Oskan has a secret weapon, keeping the mystery alive and thus justifying its existence. Plus Oskan, my favourite human character, got back his personality of humour and grins, even despite stress. That was great.
There were
several things that were done really well. Artemision (the warring nation) is a
clear reference to Artemis, a Greek goddess of war. Adronicus (‘andro’ as in
‘male’), one of the generals, is fighting the female warriors. The Emperor was
very sweet, his meeting with Thirrin was moving, and the pairing of Cressida and
Leonidas is wonderfully adorable. A personal favourite feature of mine was
Medea’s ‘chair-that-was-almost-a-throne’.
There were
also several things that were stupid mistakes. There is no beating around the
bush with any of these.
First.
Sharley looks for snow leopard footprints even though moments before it is
stated that snow leopards don’t leave footprints. How did this get pass
editorial? How did this even get written? It was too stupid to be irritated by.
Second. The Vampire Queen bemoans
the long centuries she will have to rule alone. Then straight after she states
that time has no relevance to her. Well, clearly it does. If maybe time had no
relevance for her until she had to rule long centuries alone, then this would
have been great. But these two statements weren’t linked, directly or in the
subtext.
Third.
I found Medea’s hatred to be unrealistic. The excuse of ‘she was a hormonal
teenager’ just doesn’t justify the scale of her feelings. It seemed more like a
caricature than an actual personality. And whilst she was in the realm of evil,
it didn’t appear to inflate any emotion (bar insanity, which wasn’t what Medea
displayed) of any other individual, so why her?
And
the fact that she, an injured 15 year-old, survived the evil realm when adults
didn’t is farfetched. Yes, she managed to cloud the senses of the most powerful
warlock ever (Oskan) in the last book, but this very same warlock injured her.
Perhaps she was strong enough to survive but the injury and young age gave her
the side-effect of inflated hatred? This still doesn’t persuade me, though.
Now I want
to talk religion.
The Icemark connection to nature and
magic validates a Pagan comparison. The faith of the Mekhmet’s Desert Kingdom
is monotheistic and seems, in form, content and context, to be inspired by
Islam. Finally you have the mythology of the Icemark (which is portrayed as
historical events) in which Valkyrie-like figures take dead warriors to
Valhalla (Nordic beliefs, anyone?) and there is an on-going battle between good
and evil after a cosmic war between angels and demons (Christian/general
Abrahamic influences). The leader of good is the Goddess who the good
witches/warlocks in particular worship (tying it back in with Paganism).
The
book opens with the celebration of Samhain, mentioning that older people called
it Halloween. On the one hand, Halloween was the Christian name for the Pagan
festival of Samhain, so it would make sense if the older people called the
festival Samhain and the newer Halloween. On the other hand, this could be a
nod to the real world, reflecting that people have called the festival
Halloween for so many years now and it’s only relevantly recently that witches
have called the festival Samhain. So either the author is ignorant or
well-aware of the history of the festival’s name.
After
the cosmic battle, the Goddess offered her loving forgiveness to those who
opposed her. But then why did the Goddess throw these ones out? The book made
clear that they were thrown out as much on purpose as those that scorned it.
Why offer forgiveness if you won’t grant it. The book never dealt with this
issue and left me wondering.
Overall,
this book (and the trilogy) was great fun. The blend of religions into a
harmonious whole was well done. The plots and characters were interesting.
There was a good amount of description. It was fantastic to have magic and
animals talking. Werewolves that weren’t evil and didn’t lose control or
transform was done well, characterising a well-loved myth in a different light
as a nation of rational people. Yet whilst I have found a lot to criticise, it
didn’t take away from me enjoying a fantasy world positively.
Reviews: The
Icemark (Stuart Hill)
The Cry of
the Icemark (Book One)
Blade of
Fire (Book Two)
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