Thursday 10 January 2013

FANTASY REVIEW: Ice Forged - Gail Z Martin

Release Date: 10/01/13

SYNOPSIS:

FROM THE RUINS, A HERO WILL RISE Condemned as a murderer for killing the man who dishonored his sister, Blaine McFadden has been banished for years to a penal colony in the frigid northern wastelands of Edgeland. Military discipline and the oppressive magic of the governor's mages keep a fragile peace, as colonists struggle to survive in the harshest of conditions. But now the supply ships have stopped coming, and this bodes ill for the kingdom that banished the colonists ...McFadden and the other exiles must decide their fate. They can remain in their icy prison, or they can return to the ruins of the kingdom that they once called home. Either way, destruction lies ahead ...


REVIEW:

Having read all of Gail’s work to date, I have to say that she’s not a guilty pleasure but one that I happily admit to when anyone asks for a relatively new author to try. She has intriguing idea’s that are explored which when blended with wonderfully adaptive alongside captivating characters really delivers what the reader wants within a book.

So, it was that I grabbed this book during the holiday period when I was looking for a comforting read to help me relax which immediately sucked me in. At least that’s what happened within the first few pages but afterwards, the book felt like it wasn’t as polished or as sharp as I was hoping. Why?

Well the characters felt a little more 2d than usual, the temper that landed the hero into trouble in the first place seemed to have dissipated and after the brief beginning, it felt like a lot of time was skipped in favour of exploring a singular idea almost as if it was designed to give you an overview told by a child to get to the good stuff.

Don’t get me wrong, the concepts explored within not only made me think but really sold itself but without characters that I really cared about it felt more than a little flat, with luck, the next book in the series will develop a little more naturally and with a lot of the background work already done it will have the chance to give the reader more rounded characters and a clearer idea of where the author is heading but for me, this isn’t Gail’s best to date and if you were to ask where to start for a flavour of the author I’d have to recommend the Chronicles of the Necromancer which remain my favourite to date.



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