Cavern of Black Ice [Import] [Hardcover]

J V Jones (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: ORBIT (LITT) (January 6, 2000)
• ISBN-10: 0759500495
• ISBN-13: 978-0759500495
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (123 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What A Difference A New Book Can Make!, January 1, 2001

By 

Elyon (Mesilla, New Mexico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Cavern of Black Ice (Sword of Shadows, Book 1) (Paperback)

After reading "The Barbed Coil," a truly unmemorable and rather stale tale, I was reluctant to pick up this work, regardless of an advanced reader's copy given to me or the sfsite's recommendation of the book as one of the best works of 1999. Since January of that year the book has been sitting on my shelves gathering dust and in general ignored as I turned to more obvious and predictable sources of reading pleasure. In hindsight, the only benefit I have accrued by this error in judgment is that I will have less time to wait for the next novel, which I dearly hope will soon be released.

As another reviewer has implied, it is difficult to believe this book was ever written by the same author as "The Barbed Coil." Whereas that book was common and at times self-consciously cute (and continues annoyingly here to err in this direction with an occasional use of Scottish brogue and references to "wee lassies"), this work is well above the ordinary or clichéd work that dominates most fantasy fiction, offering a tale that is complex and written with a skill only barely glimpsed in the earlier book. Interweaving plots with the skill of the best epic fantasists, if Ms. Jones is able to maintain the level of writing found here, this work will surely come to equal the recent work of authors such as Katherine Kerr, Robin Hobb, George R.R. Martin or Robert Jordan. And the author has created a cold and ice-bound world that is largely original---certainly so in terms of the mythic cosmology surrounding it and the deep, oftentimes grim mysticism with which it is imbued. The mythos surrounding this tale is as broad, complex and detailed as any to be found in fantasy fiction, equaled only contemporaneously by Steven Erikson or Robert Jordan. And while her cast follows standard types familiar to any devotee of the genre, the author has made each striking and individual in character, and for the most part has avoided singular or one-dimensional characterizations. Her players' motives are complex, and, like George R.R. Martin or Robin Hobb, the author has wisely given her cast depth and contradictions in character.

This book presents almost an almost perfect balance between slowly unfolding narrative and action, and while a great degree of mystery and unresolved questions continue to nag the reader at the book's conclusion, and no point does once feel obviously manipulated or robbed of satisfaction in the novel's denouement or progress. There is a clear sense of plot progression and resolution to this "chapter" of the series' development, and hopefully Ms. Jones will be able to avoid the extraneous and often episodic plot threads that have in part frustrated the most recent offerings by Jordan and Martin, and even more significantly Goodkind. This is a marvelous and imaginative beginning to a much larger work, already vast in potential scope. My only hope is that it does not come to feed upon itself.

This work stands as further proof for me that one should not discount future work by an obviously talented writer based upon the false starts or less than fully realized efforts of earlier work. There are any number of new and imaginative and potentially exciting authors writing today---Elizabeth Haydon, John Marco, and Juliet Marillier, to name just a few---that have revealed gifts of storytelling far stronger than anything found or ever suspected in Ms. Jone's "The Barbed Coil." "A Cavern of Black Ice" stands as certain admonishment that rewards are to be gained by continuing to follow the work of newer and more recent authors, such as David Farland or Martha Wells, allowing them time to hone and perfect their skills. After all, first-time epics such as Stephen Donaldson's "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant" are rare indeed.

"A Cavern of Black Ice" could easily herald a work in progress that may well become, when completed, a masterpiece of epic fantasy fiction. It certainly shall if successive books prove the equal of this one. I look forward to the second installment with great anticipation, and selfishly wish the author every possible success. And I heartily concur with the sfsite that this was one of the best books of 1999, or, for that matter, any recent year. Sorry it took me so long to heed their advice.

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An epic journey through ice, snow and personal nightmare, April 5, 1999

By 

Denise Ball([e-mail]) (Stafford, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Cavern of Black Ice (Hardcover)

I must admit to be a real fan of J.V. Jones, she is a wonderful author who manages to transport you to her worlds with consumate ease. A Cavern of Black Ice is no exception. As an avid reader of fantasy I can honestly say I have never read an initial book in a trilogy that promises, and gives, as much as Cavern does. It is a sweeping plot set in an ice bound land that has you turning the heating up as you read it. Julie's character's are always excellent, they are believable, human and heroic (or of course demonic and vile!). In any of their guises you very soon become caught up in their epic struggle of good and evil with ancient magic. Cavern is a long book and so much the better for it, the pace is just right the plot and characterisation is given time to develop into a deeply woven and spellbinding epic. If you only buy one book this year make sure that its A Cavern of Black Ice, you won't regret it. Just make sure you wrap up real warm while you read or you'll have frostbite before you know it!

29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Top-notch, first rate work, October 29, 2000

By 

Ed Gantt (Lehi, Utah) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Cavern of Black Ice (Sword of Shadows, Book 1) (Paperback)

What a tremendously delightful and much welcome surprise! Its very easy to get bored with the standard plot lines and two-dimensional characters so often found in the majority of contemporary works of fantasy. Indeed, sometimes one even begins to question whether shelling out hard-earned cash yet again for basicaly the same old drab stories simply dressed up in pretty new book jackets is really worth it. Fortunately, every once in a while it does prove to be worth it -- and sometimes, on even more rare occasions, as with this wonderful new novel by J. V. Jones, it proves to be far more than worth it. Jones paints a world of rich texture and surprising depth. Her characters are psychologically engaging and emotionally captivating. The story is gripping and suspenseful with startling -- though perfectly believable -- plot turns and twists. I've read some of her other work, and while I enjoyed her efforts, this book is by far her most impressive and skillful production. There are only a small handful of fantasy authors whose work has so captured my imagination by its originality and poise that I have been inclined to read them more than once (e.g., J. R. R. Tolkien, George R. R. Martin, Kate Elliott), but this wonderful story by Jones has most definately been added to the list.