Customer Reviews

Ice Song

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sorykah Minuit is an ice miner, an engineer and a doctor of ecology. She is also a Trader. A Trader is a shifter. She can turn into a man, Soryk. But when either shifts into the other, memories are shared.

Sorykah gave birth to twins six or seven months ago. The girl's name is Ayeda. The boy's name is Leander. The children inherited the Trader ability. In a world where somatics (human hybrids with mixed genetics and strange deformities) roam, Sorykah tries to keep their Trader abilities secret. Work takes her away from her children for a bit of time, but their nanny, Nels, cares for them in her absence. Nels is the only one who knows the children are Traders. But when Nels and the twins do not show up at the train station to meet her, Sorykah fears the worse. It soon becomes apparent that the twins and their nanny have been abducted by Matuk the Collector, an egomaniacal sadist with a large somatic zoo within his fortress. Stories abound of the horrible cruelties and experiments Matuk does to those in his collection. Sorykah/Soryk must cross icy wastes and a primeval forest filled with unimaginable dangers in hopes of locating and rescuing Nels and the twins.

*** THREE STARS! Sorykah/Soryk meets many interesting characters during the adventure, each more unique than the last, and those encounters seems to be the best parts of the story. The Trader ability is a wonderful idea and the plot is sound; however, the story does not seem to flow smoothly. Of course, that is only in my opinion. The male alter-ego does not have as much time in the spot light as I would have liked either. Though this is a stand-alone story, I sincerely hope that the author will write more adventures featuring somatics and Traders, even if not with these same characters. Kasai's fantasy world is just too rich and fascinating for only one visit. ***

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

On the surface Ice Song is about a mother (Sorykah) in search of her kidnapped infant twins and that story definitely defines the arc of the novel. On a deeper level we have a harshly realistic description of fearing the other. On a third level we have a family drama-A wealthy family that manages to meddle in the affairs of almost every other character in the story. The 2nd and 3rd levels are what really stick with me after reading the book.

There's a lack of consistency with respect to point of view. In general point of view changes with a chapter or section break, but there are occasional bouts of hopping from point of view character to point of view character in rapid succession. This is a bit jarring since every character sees the world drastically different. Overall, this and occasional lapses into future tense manage to add to the lyrical prose instead of taking away from it.

For a first novel, I'm impressed with Ice Song. A rich world has been created. In the end, I was quite impressed by how it grew in my mind in the wake of Sorykah's quest. Heavy and dark, this is unquestionably a good novel, but not one that everyone will find easy to get through.

My wife recommended this book and I'm glad I took her up on it. This book takes you places you have never been before. Wonderful, compelling story that takes place in a richly created magical world.

This is a completely original fantasy written by a talented new writer, two things which make me excited. Kirsten Imani Kasai has created a beautiful, dangerous, multi-layered, world and a protagonist who is strong, yet completely believable, even as she changes genders. This is the story of a mother trying to rescue her kidnapped children from a mad man known as "The Collector," a woman who is not a superhero, but who faces incredible dangers and trials as she crosses the frozen land. She is also a Trader, a person who changes genders, which makes the world doubly dangerous for her as she tries to hide her secret. To save her children, Sorykah must learn to embrace her male half, Soryk, and integrate the two parts of herself, so that she can face the demons in the Marble Castle where her two babies are held captive.

Discovering a new writer is exciting, doubly so because Kirstin Imani Kasai is writing the sequel right now. I can't wait.

I've never been a big science fiction reader, and so it took me far too long to get around to reading Kirsten Imani Kasai's _Ice Song_. Its beautiful cover would draw my eye again and again in the bookstore, then I'd flip it over to read the back cover copy and think, "Oh. Submarines. Mutations. This is that science fiction book again." Now that I've read it, I wish the blurb had contained one brief sentence that would have had me snapping up the book right away: "This is a fairy tale."

Sure, the setting is an environmentally ravaged future, and the part-human, part-animal beings who populate it are made that way by mutation rather than by sorcery, but make no mistake: this is a fairy tale. Just as the key to Sorykah's quest is hidden within a fairy tale told to her along the way, I believe that the key to enjoying _Ice Song_ lies in approaching it *as* a fairy tale.

Sorykah does work on an ice-drilling submarine, but we're not very far into the story when she leaves her job and everything else behind; her twin babies have been kidnapped by a sinister madman and Sorykah must go rescue them. Like the heroines of such stories as "East o' the Sun, West o' the Moon" and "The Snow Queen," Sorykah sets out into the wilds to find her loved ones, with only her dogged determination and the often-quirky help of a few strangers on her side.

Oh, and there's one more problem. Sorykah is a Trader, which means she occasionally switches genders and becomes a man named Soryk. Some Traders can switch easily and at will, but for Sorykah, the change is usually brought about by intense stress, and she and Soryk have separate memories. Kasai skillfully made me feel empathy for both Sorykah, who identifies strongly as a woman and also fears losing control to Soryk and thereby losing time on this important mission; and Soryk, who has been so long suppressed that he has only a few scattered memories that don't fit together in any logical way. And no matter which body Sorykah is wearing, her secret puts her in danger. Traders -- like the animal/human hybrids known as somatics -- are at best treated as second-class citizens, and at worst subjected to scientific or sexual exploitation.

On her journey, Sorykah meets a motley collection of characters, both human and somatic, who help or hinder her along the way. It turns out most of them are connected, having had their lives shattered by several generations of a ruthless family that includes Matuk the Collector, the man who has taken Sorykah's children. Sorykah, while on her own mission, has stumbled into a web of old grudges and sorrows. Her interactions with these other characters follow a fairy tale structure: she meets someone, receives some cryptic advice and is told where to go next, and so on. Some characters are introduced but then don't turn out to be relevant to the story as a whole, though I suspect some of them may be threads to be picked back up in the sequel, _Tattoo_.

The most unexpected twist, after the reader follows Sorykah through the frigid wasteland for some time, is a detour to a sensual, corrupt paradise. The incongruous nature of this detour makes sense in fairy tale logic, and it also shows us another side of Matuk's coin; while Matuk uses science as an excuse for his depredations, the ruler of this island uses sex. This sequence is uncomfortable, though, because the lush descriptions of these scenes make the reader feel (or at least made me feel) at least partially complicit in the exploitation of Sorykah -- which may well have been Kasai's intent. This island may look like paradise, but it's really another kind of hell.

Overall, _Ice Song_ is unique, striking, often disturbing (Matuk is a *horrible* man), and always emotionally moving. I savored the prose, too, which is evocative and dreamlike as befits a story that feels so much like a fairy tale despite its futuristic setting:

--"The noise of the ocean penned in by the icy harbor was terrific. Ice groaned, squeaked, and bellowed. Water droplets froze in midair and fell toward the wooden pier, bouncing upon its snowy crust like scattered, shining stones. Nearer the surface, one long sheet of ice groaned deep within its white skin, a sound like a woman birthing, or so it seemed to Sorykah, still sentimental from the memory of her own children's birth but a lunar skein behind."

--"Bare feet noiseless against the still-warm path, Sorykah crept catlike toward the manor. She imagined how the sun would soak into the courtyard, how the heavy-headed rosebushes would droop in the heat, cicada song circling as lazy, pollen-drunk honeybees tottered between blossoms trailing chemical bliss to lure their hivemates to the spoils. She paused for a moment, sheltering beneath an ancient weeping willow that mimicked the sound of snakes on the move as its leaves twisted against the stones. Music filled the courtyard and light strained against colored panes, eager to find release in the night."

This book stands heads and shoulders above the run-of-the-mill vampire and swords and sorcery books. They are all just a homogeneous mess of words compared to Ice Song. The book is gripping and original from beginning to end.

A fantastical romp through a world that seems disconcertingly familiar, yet intriguingly foreign. Kasai is an amazing wordsmith akin to Margaret Atwood.

I'm definitely looking forward to what's next for this first-time novelist!

Where do I begin? The storyline is extremely creative. While reading, I kept saying, "How does she come up with this stuff?" I'm in awe. The writing is outstanding! Ms. Kasai's style is uniquely beautiful. The imagery is awesome; pulling you into every aspect of Sorykah's journey...it was like being there. It was a unique story that stimulated all of my senses.

Well done Ms. Kasai! I can't wait for the next one!

Kirsten Imani Kasai's Ice Song is a dark and thrilling action story with a mother's fierce heart at its core. Ice Song Sorykah, a Trader whose body morphs into that of a male alter ego under duress, must navigate a wild and ravaged wasteland to retrieve her stolen children. Along the way, she encounters somatics, creatures of an environmentally devastated world mutated into heartbreakingly human hybrids. Some help her, some try to stop her and some love her. All of this is written in Kasai's rich, evocative style, using language as poetic as a love song to describe harrowing ugliness as well as breathless beauty. She pulls you thoroughly into her vivid world and into Sorykah's desperate journey. A terrific debut novel by a writer to watch.

One of my favorite things about Hiyao Miyazaki movies are the ways in which they defy the 3-act play that most movies follow. Even in the 3rd act, new things are happening. So too w/ ICE SONG--well into the into the last half of the book there are still new ideas unfolding, new elements at play between old friends & foes, & even brighter horrors to witness. A part of the kick of this book is just how grim & pretty it can get--Kasai pulls no punches. Actually, you don't really get the sense she even feels the need to pull punches--she's that comfortable in her world, & perhaps as a writer. Animal-like creatures, the foils of your average Disney movie, engage in horrible, desperate, & redeeming acts of courage. It's the good stuff. I look forward to reading TATTOO next. Nuff said!