I Read Books: Goddess Of The Ice Realm

 

Goddess Of The Ice Realm

Prince Garric, now regent of the Kingdom Of The Isles is on a royal progression, the sort that has the majority of the royal fleet and army with him. He returns to the island of Haft, his birthplace, intending to lay down the law on the count (the former guard captain of the previous count and countess – Garric’s mother) and restore order from the gangs that dominate the capital city of Carcosa – the leading ones being from the rival temples.

Even before they arrive there’s a monster in the harbour. Only quick action by Garric’s friends – Cashel, whose good-natured strength reaches magical proportions, and Chalcus, former pirate, now the partner of Cashel’s sister Ilna – prevents immediate disaster.

Tenoctris, a wizard of limited power but great knowledge, a thousand years out of time, seeks the source, but it’s unclear. Garric sends Ilna and Chalcus north to where flying creatures menace the straits – and the men sent to guard ships may be robbing more ships than the winged attackers. Then Cashel vanishes into another world while investigating one temple, and Garric’s sister is transported by a gift from another temple. She finds herself in a world both familiar and strange; Carcosa in ruins, the sea receding, sucked up into ice, and man-eating monsters stalk the earth.

In the end they all find their way to that world, Garric leading the army in pursuit of those plotting against him in Carcosa. At the heart of that world, under the ice, is the ruler, the spinner of webs. Someone they all know. Someone who Ilna is intimately familiar with, someone who she can, perhaps, face. If she has to.

Sharina gathers followers, including a bloodthirsty talking – thinking – axe (named Beard*). Cashel finds himself having to help out in strange, alien worlds, escorting young women, being told what to do by a fossilised frog. Ilna and Chalcus’s investigation begins with trying to outwit a rogue who has managed to make his sea guard into a lucrative scam, only to learn the winged creatures are real, and forced into the Isles by necessity. And Garric starts by thinking there’s a wizard helping someone plot against him, only to discover that the best plotters are willing to make deals with him and the threads lead into another world. This volume will stand alone but probably works best if you are familiar with the characters as they learn about paths not taken.

Read This: Excellent fantasy adventure, reflecting on what might have happened if our heroes were… less heroic
Don’t Read This: The four main characters are scattered across time space and worlds – again, to be brought back together for a final monster fight – again!

* If you know, you know