Iced: A Fever Novel (Dani O'Malley) [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

Karen Marie Moning (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 30, 2012 | Series: Dani O'Malley

#1 New York Times bestselling author Karen Marie Moning picks up where Shadowfever leaves off with Iced, the first book in her hotly anticipated new urban paranormal trilogy set in the world of the blockbuster Fever series.
 
The year is 1 AWC—After the Wall Crash. The Fae are free and hunting us. It’s a war zone out there, and no two days are alike. I’m Dani O’Malley, the chaos-filled streets of Dublin are my home, and there’s no place I’d rather be.
 
Dani “Mega” O’Malley plays by her own set of rules—and in a world overrun by Dark Fae, her biggest rule is: Do what it takes to survive. Possessing rare talents and the all-powerful Sword of Light, Dani is more than equipped for the task. In fact, she’s one of the rare humans who can defend themselves against the Unseelie. But now, amid the pandemonium, her greatest gifts have turned into serious liabilities.
 
Dani’s ex–best friend, MacKayla Lane, wants her dead, the terrifying Unseelie princes have put a price on her head, and Inspector Jayne, the head of the police force, is after her sword and will stop at nothing to get it. What’s more, people are being mysteriously frozen to death all over the city, encased on the spot in sub-zero, icy tableaux.
 
When Dublin’s most seductive nightclub gets blanketed in hoarfrost, Dani finds herself at the mercy of Ryodan, the club’s ruthless, immortal owner. He needs her quick wit and exceptional skill to figure out what’s freezing Fae and humans dead in their tracks—and Ryodan will do anything to ensure her compliance.
 
Dodging bullets, fangs, and fists, Dani must strike treacherous bargains and make desperate alliances to save her beloved Dublin—before everything and everyone in it gets iced.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Karen Marie Moning is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Fever series, featuring MacKayla Lane, and the award-winning Highlander series. She has a bachelor’s degree in society and law from Purdue University.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

PROLOGUE
Dublin, you had me at “Hello”


Imagine a world that doesn’t know its own rules. No cell phones. No Internet. No stock market. No money. No legal system. A third of the world’s population wiped out in a single night and the count rising by millions every day. The human race is an endangered species.

A long time ago the Fae destroyed their world and decided to take ours. History says they moved in on us between 10,000 and 6,000 B.C., but historians get a lot wrong. Jericho Barrons says they’ve been here since the dawn of time. He should know, because I’m pretty sure he has, too.

For a long time there was a wall between our worlds. With the exception of a few cracks, it was a solid barricade, especially the prison that held the Unseelie.

That barricade is gone now and the prison walls are dust.

All of the Fae are free: the deadly Dark Court and the imperious Light Court, who are every bit as deadly, just prettier. A Fae is a Fae. Never trust one. We’re being hunted by voracious monsters that are nearly impossible to kill. Their favorite food? People.

As if that’s not bad enough, there are fragments of Faery reality drifting around that swallow up anything in their path. They’re tricky to spot; you can drive right into one, if you’re not careful. The night the walls fell, Faery itself was fractured. Some say even the inimical Hall of All Days was changed, and opened new portals onto our world. The drifting is the part that really gets me. You can go to sleep in your own bed and wake up in a completely different reality. If you’re lucky, the climate won’t kill you instantly and the inhabitants won’t eat you. If you’re really really lucky, you’ll find your way home. Eventually. If you’re superlucky, time will pass at a normal rate while you’re gone. Nobody’s that lucky. Folks vanish all the time. They just disappear and are never seen again.

Then there are the amorphous Shades that lurk in the dark and consume every living thing in their path, right down to the nutrients in the soil. When they’re done, all that’s left is dirt that an earthworm couldn’t live in—not that they leave those either. It’s a minefield outside that door. Walk lightly. Your parents’ rules don’t apply. Do be afraid of the dark. And if you’re thinking there might be a monster under your bed or in your closet, there probably is. Get up and check.
Welcome to Planet Earth.

This is our world now—one that doesn’t know its own rules. And when you’ve got a world that doesn’t know its own rules, everything dark and nasty that was once held in check comes slithering out of the cracks to try to take a shot at whatever it wants. It’s a free-for-all. We’re back to being cavemen. Might is right. Possession is nine-tenths of the law. The bigger and badder you are, the better your odds of surviving. Get a gun or learn to run. Fast. Preferably both.

Welcome to Dublin, AWC—After the Wall Crash—where we’re all fighting for possession of what’s left of the planet.

The Fae have no king, no queen, no one in charge. Two psychotic, immortal Unseelie princes battle for dominion over both races. Humans have no government. Even if we did, I doubt we’d listen to them. It’s complete chaos.

I’m Dani “Mega” O’Malley.

I’m fourteen. The year was just officially declared 1 AWC, and the streets of Dublin are my home. It’s a war zone out there. No two days are alike.

And there’s no place else I’d rather be.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Press; First Edition edition (October 30, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385344406
• ISBN-13: 978-0385344401
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.6 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (728 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #47,550 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Karen Marie Moning is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of thirteen novels, including the urban fantasy Fever Series and the Rita-award winning Highlander series. Her novels have been translated into twenty-four languages. She's currently working on a spin-off series set in the Fever world and a graphic novel featuring MacKayla Lane. Visit her at www.karenmoning.com

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#38 in Books > Romance > Fantasy & Futuristic

#39 in Books > Romance > Historical

#84 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy

#87 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Romance > Historical Romance

#38 in Books > Romance > Fantasy & Futuristic

#39 in Books > Romance > Historical

#84 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy

#87 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Romance > Historical Romance

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

272 of 288 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars It's what I expected, just not what I was hoping for November 1, 2012

By RLJJW

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Let me start by saying that I adored the first five books. I have read them over and over and waited anxiously for the release of this installment. I almost took a day off work just to devote to my impending worship of this novel. I, like many others, was initially wary of KMM's plans to make her lead character the 14 year old Dani, who I felt to be mostly a nuisance character in the series. But I trusted KMM, especially when she assured us in her blogs and facebook page, over and over, that we would come to love Dani. That we would forget all about Mac and Barrons. And that the material was in no way YA.

Umm...not so much.

The book isn't terrible, it's just not a consistent continuation of the gripping story like the first five books that originally won my heart. In truth, in my second read, I've upped my rating from the 2 stars I was tempted to give it initially.

Here's what I liked:

Dancer. Finally learned more about who he is and I like him as a character.
Christian. Dramatic turn to his character, I am curious to see where KMM takes him from here.
Lor. I think he's hilarious in a dry, scenestealing kind of way.
Hoar Frost King and Crimson Hag. Creative, terrifying. Doubt we've seen the last of either of them.
Ryodan. Can't tell if he's a good guy, a complete ass, or sometimes both. I like the fact that I'm still not sure.

Here's what I kinda still don't care about, even after two reads:

Dani. Yeah, that's bad when you aren't invested in the main character after two reads of the book.
Kat and Sean. Who were they again?

Here's what I REALLY didn't like:

Dani is 14. I don't want to read about a 14 year old.
2 Grown men sexually attracted to a 14 year old. Eew. Just eew.
Dani is 14. I've been 14. I don't want to be again.

Did I mention that Dani is only 14? No, no, no. Not working.

I see there is the ongoing dispute about this being (or not being) a YA book. Why are we debating this? Who cares? It's not YA and I don't see how anybody really could think that it is. But that's not the point. The point is, and I think I mentioned this earlier, but THE LEAD CHARACTER IN AN ADULT BOOK IS 14 YEARS OLD. Do I think 14 year olds think about sex? Of course. Do I think some 14 year olds have actually had sex? Duh, yes. Do I think Dani is realistically written as a 14 year old? Definitely. But that's the problem. Folks, I only just barely tolerate 14 year olds in my real, non-fictional life. If we're all being really honest, MOST of us can barely tolerate them, with the possible exception of the 14 year olds we're directly related to. Therefore, I really don't want to read an entire book narrated from the voice of a 14 year old. I REALLY REALLY don't want to read 2 more after this one. But, it appears that if I want to continue with the fever series, I will have to.

Or, I could always choose not to.

Oh, who am I kidding. It's KMM. Of course I'm going to read the next one. I'll probably even pre-order it. But, I just hope Dani grows up a little, (or maybe a lot) by the next book.

91 of 105 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, though not Fever October 30, 2012

By Kate

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Well. I was, like many other people, a huge fan of the Fever series and both excited and apprehensive about the release of Iced. Excited because, more Fever! And apprehensive because a) Dani was kind of an annoying narrator whenever she seized the reins in Fever, and b) since she's fourteen, any romantic under-, over-, or just general tones come off as icky.

It was simultaneously better and worse than I thought it would be. Yes, there were times when Dani was an annoying idiot. She thinks she's very smart, and she is, but she's still fourteen, which makes her sort of automatically an idiot. It could, therefore, be argued that her obnoxiousness added realism to the story, but I'm not sure the realism was worth having to deal with all the crap, not to mention the number of times she uses the word "dude". Luckily, Dani is also funny and learning about her is interesting because she doesn't share well. Her intelligence also comes through more in this book, and the contrast between regular Dani and science Dani is really quite fascinating.

Let's take a look at the plot. Iced takes place pretty much right after the end of Shadowfever, so if you haven't read that, don't read the rest of this review.

Okay. I'm going to assume all the infidels are gone now and keep talking. The Unseelie King is off somewhere with the concubine/Aoibheal, Cruce/the Sinsar Dubh is frozen in a block of ice under the abbey, and Faery has merged with our world, resulting in lots of deaths and Interdimensional Fairy Potholes. Most of the action takes place in Dublin, centered at Chester's, Ryodan's weird club/fae hunting grounds. There's conflict between Dani and Ryodan as he tries to mold her into his future...what would you call it? A mate? See, kind of icky. Most of this molding occurs around a series of strangely frozen locations as everyone tries to solve the mystery of the "iced" places.

A lot of what made Fever a really interesting series was not knowing anything about a single thing that was going on, and then learning more and knowing even less. Iced tries to recapture some of that mystique with the question of who or what is causing these strange temperature fluctuations, but as the phrase "temperature fluctuations" suggests, it's not quite as captivating.

And don't make the mistake of thinking that because Dani is fourteen, this is a YA book. There's waaaayyyy too much time spent on sex - not just for YA, but in general too. Granted, this is a matter of personal preference, but when Dani has not one, not two, but three men hovering, waiting for her to grow up a bit so their intentions become a little less creepy, that does seem to be overdoing it. I could definitely have skipped the sections from Christian's perspective, since they were overly angsty and I already knew he was seriously losing it. All he thinks about is getting Dani, along with a little bit of killing Ryodan, which got tiresome really quickly.

The book also included a few peeks into the mind of Kat, now the de facto Grand Mistress of the sidhe-seers. These were more or less unrelated to the main plot and would have been a welcome relief from all the male posturing going on in Dublin, except that they were all about Cruce and how unbelievably hot he was. Basically, the sex was so overdone it just sort of shriveled up into this grayish strip of burned meat. And the main character never even got any (fortunately).

But don't let all my complaining fool you - I enjoyed the book a lot. KMM has an especially enthralling writing style that works in Iced about as well as in the rest of her books. I think that even though I wasn't expecting Iced to be as good as Fever, I was still a little disappointed when I was right. It really is a good read for a Fever fan. It's just not Fever.

75 of 89 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Dismayed- Troubling Elements Overwhelmed A Decent Story w/ Spoilers October 31, 2012

By Lola Jane

Format:Hardcover

First and foremost, if you haven't read the Fever books- then you will probably be pretty lost. The book happens directly after the conclusion of that series and the back-stories are deeply intertwined.

There are two things wrong with this book. The easiest one first- the book is following the Fever series too closely. You have Barrons, oops! sorry! Ryodan chaining Dani (the stand-in for Mac) while they trail some unseelie thing. All through the book there are all these hints dropped just like in the Fever book. What is Ryodan? What is Dani? Why is he really chaining her to his side? Christian/Vlane is being helpful and creepy at the same time. And, must we re-visit the Unseelie King and his human concubine story again? It goes on and on. The Fever books were great- I'm not sure the formula is up to a redo, though. And, it gets a little tiring making continual comparisons.

The second problem is more troubling and it kept yanking me out of the story. You just cannot sexualize a fourteen year old character that much and not creep some readers out. I get that this is a post-apocalyptic world where all the rules have changed. I get that Dani isn't exactly normal so the rules may not apply as strictly as they do to other fourteen year old girls. I get that Ryodan and Christian aren't playing with a mortal deck so our rules may not apply. Except, this is fiction and I'm the reader and the consumer and MY rules do apply. And, you cannot sexualize a fourteen year old girl like KMM did in this book. It got downright icky at times.

Real Spoilers.

Dani is fourteen. She absolutely and totally acts fourteen. When sexual innuendo is tossed around her, she doesn't get it (the vibrating scene with Lor and Ryodan). She is innocent- to a substantial degree. She acts totally immature. Her hormones and emotions are all over the place. She was an abused child who has barely escaped her abuse, chronologically. Yes, she grew up different and in some ways is not a child- except, she is a child when it comes to sex. She is alternately confused, frightened, and appropriately icked out by all the sex flying around in this book. And, an enormous amount of sex (implied and actual) is flying around this book with a fourteen year old protagonist. And, some of it is flat-out inappropriate (you know, the dead girl in Christian's bed or Ryodan's potentially succubus sexual relationship with Dani's dear friend, Jo?). If the protagonist had been older, this would be less creepy. It is like KMM is writing a book without regard, while making it a crucial plot point, to her protagonist's age and her reader's sensibilities. You can't have it both ways. For example, how in the world is it okay to have the heroine fall into jeopardy twice and have her clothes fall off twice and have to be ogled by older men who sexualize her- when she is fourteen? The key here is consent. In books with older heroines whose clothes fall off at convenient times (and that is a much used plot device), the older heroines consent to any sexual activity and it is okay with the readers. Here, you have a minor who can't give consent, who is unconscious, and being ogled by men who are more than slightly morally ambiguous. It crosses the creepy line.

Christian is just beyond creepy (How could KMM do that to a MacKeltar?) He was straight out of a Law & Order SUV skit of creepy and crazy and all focused on a fourteen year old girl. I suspect the author has a story arc for him that will end up in a non-creepy place. Yet, all I can think of is the scene where he strips, cleans her up, and feeds her his blood while she is unconscious. Oh yeah, and the small matter of the dead human already in the bed he puts her. What a squicky scene. And, that wasn't even the only time he saw her disrobed. I get that Christian is a potential hero/potential villain. But, the fact is his fall is directly related to sexual activity- he is a death by sex Fae. The whole glamour thing is a form of date-rape- the woman loses her mind and acts without conscious deliberation. And it gets triply icky anytime it is near Dani (not to belabor the point but because she is fourteen). And, he is attracted to, drawn to, and convinced Dani is his mate.

Ryodan. He acted mostly okay. However, the implications were clear and there- which are disturbing. He views Dani as a sexualized being. And, like Christian, he has some serious connection to sex (as in a potential succubus). Yeah, you are immortal and the few years it takes her to reach the age of consent is nothing to you so why not snatch her up at fourteen instead of waiting until she is eighteen? Aside from not creeping me out, it implies Dani is chattel. He already knows about her abusive childhood. So, if he wants her (and it is implied he does) and he wants her for something more than just a quick roll in the hay (which it is implied he does b/c he is putting a lot of effort into her annoying person)- then why all the disturbing surroundings? If she is to be some kind of "mate" for him, then surely her well-being matters somewhat? Trapping her in a sex club where humans get killed every day- that is not acting in her well-being. That is holding her in an objectionable prison of sorts. And, there was the fact he actually chained her to a wall and hit her more than once. Which, with her back story, shows very little regard for Dani as a person.

All I can say is that it was disturbing and I was totally dismayed. This was way too sexualized a book for a fourteen year old protagonist and much of the sex was... darker. The story had real potential. It was very classic KMM- a complex mystery, action, arcane stuff, and a kick-ass chick. But, I kept getting yanked out of that story by things that just weren't right.