Customer Reviews

The Icemark Chronicles #1: The Cry of the Icemark

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"The Cry of the Icemark" by Stuart Hill was a brilliant adventure/quest/coming of age story about the young princess Thirrin Freer Strong-In-The-Arm-Lindinshield of the small kingdom of the Icemark. Thirrin is a feisty heroine who never gives up when it comes to defending her country. Her beliefs and doubts about the upcoming war that she must face from the fierce Scipio Bellorum of the Polyponitian Empire are very believable and fuel most of her emotional parts of the story. The idea that Thirrin must travel to the land-of-the-ghosts to befriend werewolves, vampires, and giant snow leopards as her allies was very intriguing and were my favorite parts of the story (besides the amazing climax!). Thirrin must accomplish this daunting task with the help of my favorite character from the story, Oskan, a young warlock. Oskan was a different sidekick; he was Thirrin's royal adviser and treated her as no other person had treated her before. When you first meet him, he is a poor peon who did not care that Thirrin was a princess and treats her as any other person, maybe just what she needed. Oskan essentially shows the real person behind Thirrin's masked toughness which Hill conveys through most of the novel. Hill masterfully shows the real people and maturation behind these two young characters who must take on so much at such a young age. Overall, this story had some flaws of a first novel, such as somewhat bad pacing in the beginning; but the reward of Hill's rich descriptions, vivid characters and their emotions and developments as real people, and the sheer imagination and passion that Hill brought to his story and the lessons it shows such as bravery and never doubt yourself, encompass the spirit of this amazing first novel. I look forward to the next book from this talented new author.

Thirteen-year-old Thirrin Freer Strong-in-the-Arm Lindenshield is being groomed as queen of the Icemark, the small snowbound northern kingdom ruled by her father, the larger-than-life King Redrought. Intimidated by social situations and bored by learning traditional academic subjects, Thirrin's only passions are her studies of great military campaigns, her phenomenal skill at axe-throwing competitions, and her lust for battle.

When Thirrin encounters Grishmak, the king of the werewolves, and spares his life, she gains the loyalty of Grishmak's "people," who live in the fearsome Land of the Ghosts. As outside invaders threaten their small land, Thirrin urges King Redrought to form more alliances with the inhabitants of the Land of the Ghosts. Her father brushes Thirrin off, but when he dies in battle, it's up to Thirrin to foster allegiances and lead her unlikely army against the daunting enemy with a cry of "Blood! Blast! And Fire!"

Debut novelist Stuart Hill's THE CRY OF THE ICEMARK is a hefty volume, the first in a projected trilogy. Thirrin is an appealing character, as is her companion Oskan, the witch's son. Hill draws freely from any number of traditional and mythological stories to people his narrative: the text is populated with werewolves, witches and vampires. The Icemark itself bears a resemblance to old Norse kingdoms (King Redrought is taken to Valhalla), and the invading masses (who speak Latin and are led by Scipio Bellorum) seem suspiciously like the Roman Empire.

Unfortunately, Hill's writing style is a little too flat and explanatory, relying on exclamation marks rather than effective prose to convey emotion. The characters, particularly the secondary ones, also are somewhat flat, reduced to one or two defining characteristics (King Redrought, for example, is fearsome in battle but wears fuzzy slippers and dotes on a kitten) rather than being more fully and complexly drawn.

Nevertheless, fans of action-filled, fast-paced adventure stories, particularly those who enjoy battle scenes, will find much to appreciate in THE CRY OF THE ICEMARK.

--- Reviewed by Norah Piehl

Stuart Hill's first novel, The Cry of the Icemark, is a brilliantly written tale of destiny and personal discovery. It concerns a fourteen year old princess, who after her father has just died in battle, finds herself ruler of a country on the brink of war. With the help of a witch's son she makes allies with Vampires, Snow Leopards and Werewolves who agree to join her in her battle against a greedy, unstoppable nation.
The Princess and her advisor, Oskan Witch's Son have to face the Polypontus, a nation whose only goal is to expand their ever-growing borders. They will forge alliances, create battle plans, insure the safety of the Icemark and try to stop an undefeated army, and all of this before their 16th birthdays. The story is set in an imaginary land called the Icemark and travels to exotic places such as The-Land-of-the-Ghosts to visit with Vampires and other fantastic creatures. We follow the princess on a journey to the Hub of the World, to a kingdom known as the Icesheets, where Tharaman-Thar rules the Snow Leopards and deep into the forest, where the Holly King and the Oak King reign over all beings in the wood. Her journey becomes ours as we breathlessly read Hill's book, feeling the character's pain, fears and triumphs.

Hill's characters are rich and realistic, and his writing allows a clear view of his imaginary kingdom, The Icemark. As Thirrin steps through the gates of her home, readers see what she sees, a "fortress dominating the streets from its position high on the hill. The royal banner of a fighting white bear on a blue background was clearly visible as a cool breeze stretched it flat and snapping in the air as though it was leading the charge of King Redrought's cavalry". A rival to the Harry Potter stories, Hill's tale will capture the imagination of young readers and have them eagerly reading the story, caught up in the remarkable journey of Princess Thirrin Freer Strong-in-the-Arm Lindenshield.
The Cry of the Icemark comes with a Compact Disc in the back containing conversations between the author and publisher, with the author reading excerpts from the novel. Although younger readers might not find these conversations interesting, older readers and their parents will be intrigued. Although the book cover suggests that the novel is suitable for readers nine through twelve, it should be recommend it for ages 12 and up because of some mild violence.
Reviewed by Carolyn Devilbiss for Flamingnet Book Reviews
Please visit www.flamingnet.com for more preteen and young adult
book recommendations and reviews.

Books of this size are sometimes difficult to finish. This book just flew by -- and when I had finished, I was so sorry there wasn't more of it! I sure do hope that Stuart Hill is writing another one. I have to know what will happen in the future to Thirrin. I'm 15 years old and if you had told me that I would love this book, I probably would not have believed you. This is a fantastic story about a young princess who must go to war to defend her kingdom. She joins forces with the neighboring countries whose citizens are werewolves, vampires and snow leopards. What's amazing is that this author makes all of this feel incredibly real and believable. This is one fabulous book! Please read it.

Some of my friends told me about this book. With all the talk about a warrior queen, I thought it might be more for girls. I was so wrong. This is a fantastic war story and a moving personal one, too. The young queen has a warlock companion throughout the book who is one of the most unusual male characters I've come across. The villain is strong and the tribes that Thirin must bring into her army are werewolves, vampires and giant leopards. How cool is that? You've got to read this!

This is a wonderfully written epic adventure with something in it for kids of all ages - It's extremely visual and no surprise to me that 2oth Century Fox wants to make a movie out of it - Can't wait to see it!!

I'm not going to write any spoilers... this book is too good to be spoiled. I absoulutely think- not think, know- that this book is one of the grandest books I've read. It is a classic fantasy that I think is in the same area of Lord of the Rings. It's simply phenomenal! 5 stars isn't enough!!

The book The Cry of the Icemark by Stuart Hill is a very adventurous book. It takes place in an imaginary small country called Icemark in the northern continent. The two main characters are Thirrin and Oskan. Thirrin is fourteen and her father is the King of Icemark, and Oskan is her best friend who is a warlock (a male witch).

In the beginning of the book, Thirrin's father died in battle against the strongest empire in the world. I felt so bad for her because if my father died I would be crushed. She had to face the empire at such a young age, but handled things very well. After the first battle, the people of her country had to flee to safety. They go to her mother's home country (her mother also died). She traveled to the-land-of-the-ghosts in search of an alliance with the vampires. I could not believe her bravery to save her country. With the wolf-folks help, she gained the help of the vampires, but is not sure she can trust them, because they are the Icemark's enemies. Thirrin also gained alliance with giant snow leopards. I liked that she was brave enough to meet the snow leopards in defence of her country.

Soon Thirrin and her strange but strong army went back to Icemark. There everyone prepared long and hard for the war. They had to be ready because General Scipio Bellorum was known for his sneaky attacks and his army of large numbers. I was so scared that I could not put the book down because I had to know what happened. Her full name is actually Queen Thirrin Freer Strong-in-the-Arm Lindenshield, Wildcat of the North. She definetly lived up to her name.

This book is part of the Icemark Chronicles and is the first book in the series. The second book, which will be out in Spring of 2007, is called Blade of Fire. I can't wait for it. Also, The Cry of the Icemark is a great action book with lots of detail on the war. I was not too big on war, but after reading this book I really started to realize what goes on in wars and how sad is to see your people die.

I loved this book because of how it explained all the details of how everything looked and explained the thoughts of the characters very well. If you love action and adventure this is your kind of book. Will Thirrin save her country and free her people, or will she fall to the empire and have her people enslaved? If you want to know the answers to these questions, then read The Cry of the Icemark!

Allyson LA-6

Cry of the Icemark has some excellent imaginative material to work with, but it's almost as if once the author struck gold with the idea, he decided to leave it lying in the ground. Icemark therefore ends up disappointing more than rewarding.
It follows 14-yr-old Thirrin, princess and heir to the throne of Icemark, a small northern kingdom threatened by an aggressive massive southern empire and its never-lost-a-battle general. To survive, Thirrin and her father decide to look to their ancient enemies of the north against whom they've fought many battles: the werewolves and the vampire King and Queen.
Luckily, and I do mean luckily, as in barely explained at all, with the werewolves years of being enemies, of being hunted by humans, of being treated like animals is wiped away by a single two-minute encounter between Thirrin and the king of the werewolves. Nothing about this encounter and the subsequent treaty between the two races makes much sense with regard to the speed or enthusiasm with which it happens. It's all glossed over far too quickly. This in fact is the major flaw throughout the novel. The werewolves, vampires, and giant leopards even farther to the north all are swept mysteriously under by Thirrin's charm with no sense that some of them at least have been at war for literally centuries.
Even worse, none of these various species or their lands is explored in any detail. In their oddity and dark strangeness they are ripe for some depth, for some insight into their thinking or their cultures, but we get almost none of that. We're told for instance that the vampires turn their nose up at blood "tainted" by animals, but since they can't (supposedly) get human blood anymore since their loss in battle to Thirrin's father, what then do they eat? The werewolves are so obviously intelligent, compassionate, even humorous--what took so long for rapprochement between them and humans? Questions like these (and ideally their answers) would go a long way toward giving the world creation a sense of reality and substance. Unfortunately though, too often the world seems created simply for plot rather than as a real place where the plot happens to real people.
The same lack of depth mars the characterization as both Thirrin and her young warlock friend Oskan are mostly two dimensional, shifting in maturity as the needs of the plot warrant and showing little growth or depth, or at least natural growth.
The plot mostly divides into two parts. The first is an episodic and somewhat flat march north by Thirrin and Oskan to gather allies. While the allies themselves are a treat, as mentioned, Hill doesn't do enough with them beyond simply introducing them. The second half of the plot deals with the invasion/siege by the southern empire and its psychotic general. Here the pace and tension pick up greatly and though some of the logistics seem a bit implausible (even for fantasy), Hill shows a better hand at crafting exciting battle scenes than he does in world or character building.
In the end, Icemark is a passable book, weak in many respects and disappointing in that its underlying creativity isn't matched by the page-by-page presentation of the creativity. Based on the spark of imagination evident here, I'd pick up a second book by Hill, but probably wouldn't give it a lot of time if its execution were as weak as here. This particular book isn't recommended, but give the author a shot the next time around.

The Cry of the Icemark entralled me from first sentence to last. This book is about the Princess of a small country called the Icemark, with enemies on all sides. When her country is invaded, she tries to turn these enemies into friends.
I loved all the different types of characters, such as snow leopards and werewolves. The battle scene at the end made me feel like I was right there. My favorite characters were Redrought, the King of the Icemark, and Primplepuss, the royal kitten.
I think any fantasy lover would enjoy this book immensely.