The Anvil of Ice [Paperback]

Michael Scott Rohan (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Macdonald (1986)
• ASIN: B000OVOJPC
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,805,132 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic fantasy, February 8, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Anvil of Ice (Winter of the World, Vol 1) (Paperback)

Look, the fantasy books world divides into two divisions:
Those who keep you awake all night, and those who don't. The Anvil of Ice belongs to the first category. This is the first book in Mr. Rohan's trilogy: THE WINTER OF THE WORLD.
In this book you will be introduced to the unique world, and to the fascinating characters in the trilogy.

Michael Scott Rohan brings you into a very exciting world in a very descriptive way - that's the magic of the book - as you read you will feel you actually belong to that world. The world combines prehistory of Earth , ancient wisdom, and magic, combined in the mystic smith craft.
The story line and change of incidents are so rapid, you wouldn't want to leave the book, fearing you will miss something... the main character constantly changes, keeps you anxious to read more and more...

Mr. Rohan melts romance, fantasy, action, and smithery all together forming the perfect alloy, a work or art - The Anvil of Ice. Just like his most skilled Smith in the book would have done.

I can keep talking on this book forever, but I guess you should spend your time reading The Anvil of Ice rather than reading reviews on it.
So let me finish with the main point of this review:
I really enjoyed the first book of the trilogy, and I truly recommend it, because this book does to you what all fantasy books are meant to do - take you away from reality into a dream

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read!!, December 12, 2003

By 

Erik1988 "beingawriter dot wordpress dot com" (Folsom, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Winter of World 1 Anvil of Ice a (Paperback)

Rating System:
1 star = abysmal; some books deserve to be forgotten
2 star = poor; a total waste of time
3 star = good; worth the effort
4 star = very good; what writing should be
5 star = fantastic; must own it and share it with others

STORY: When a coastal village is attacked by the seafaring, cannibalistic Ekwesh, a young thrall, Alv, is spared by their leader, Mylio the Mastersmith. In the shadow of the Great Ice, the sinister Mylio makes the boy his apprentice. Thus starts the journey for Alv (later named Elof) who discovers the ability within himself to smith items of power beyond what he or others imagine. His journeys take him to the deepest mountains of the duerger and to the lands of the children of the forest then to the battlements of the Southerners where he alone may have the ability to turn the tides of the coming Ice.

MY FEEDBACK:
Several series I read in High School I?ve hated later as an adult (i.e. Dragonlance). But this series still kept me turning page after page in anticipation of what will happen next. I have no complaints about the setting, characters, plot, sense of originality or overall writing.

The only complaint I have is that it seemed at a couple of points that a female duerger (dwarf in my mind and based on author?s descriptions) spoke in the exact same matter as a Southern Lord. This got a bit irritating for me, but the rest of the story allowed me to overlook this.

This is one of those well crafted stories that build up to a single climatic event vs. the current trend in media where every 15 minutes a climatic event occurs. But nowhere along the lines of building up to the event did I find the story slow, clich?, or boring. This is definitely up there in my top 5 series of all time. Get your hands on a copy ASAP. You won?t be disappointed.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is part of a very under-rated series..., August 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Anvil of Ice (Winter of the World, Vol 1) (Paperback)

Great read. Good solid characters and some interesting concepts throughout.

Whenever I hear folks arguing the merits of various fantasy series, and who's works are right up there, I keep waiting for someone to mention this one.

This book starts off a great trilogy, one that I'd recommend to anyone.