J.V. Jones has created such a complexed and quite amazing world you are sucked into her novels! Her previous trilogy i reccomend reading BUT it does not hold a candle to this new series! She is done working on book 4 (watcher of the dead) of this series and soon will start on book 5. So I suggest getting started! haha

You almost want to wrap yourself into a blanket while she describes the vivid, harsh reality of a icy wasteland.

There are MANY characters introduced. And even though i have a very good memory, I still had to go back only a few times to look up names to make sure i had the person right.

but other than that, dont get overwhelmed just stick with it, remember its just the begining. But one he%& of a begining to a great series!

I highly recommend

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I really like this author and the way He keeps the story going. This is the first in this series and he sets the stage with a baby abandoned. The worlds he describes are fantastic but Real- that is the art of a good story teller! It takes a while to connect the diverse characters but each has his/her own story and they are all interconnected. I was impatient to get the next book and then the last in the series!!!

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i only got as far as part way thru the second of this trilogy...this storyline seemed to go on forever and ever. All that trudging thru the snow w/o it seemed much happening--i got depressed and frustrated, so i quit. i wished the author had streamlined her storyline a little better.

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I really enjoyed the cunning, dreary, cold, rough and challenging world Julie created in her latest series. The first book has alot of characters to introduce, but it all seems so flow ok. . At times I felt the pain of the characters and all the frustration many of them felt throughout the book. I read this book in only 2 days! I couldnt put it down,

I feel Julie has really grown as an author from her previous stand alone book and 1st series. She doesnt quite rant as much as she once did. I love that her english humor really shows through even in a very serious novel such as this one.

She is what i like to call an un-apologetic writing, she writes what she wants, the gore, the cussing, whatever is relevent she writes what she wants and holds nothing back, thats why i love her as an author!

Shes a great talent and i reccomend any of her books, but this one especially is a real treat. If you enjoy being lost in the world of Dark fantasy i highly reccomend this book! And the others in the series!!

I give this book 5 out of 5

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Gripping multiple-perspective fantasy.

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The first volume of Jones's (The Barbed Coil, etc.) new trilogy is set in a sub-arctic land so vividly realized that it contributes notably to the book's suspense and emotional impactAeven as it almost overpowers its characters. Ashd March, the adopted daughter of a nobleman; Raif and Dray Sevrance, two accomplished archers; and Angus Lok, a once formidable warrior, are becoming increasingly aware, through alarming signsAa camp of murdered men, a recurring nightmare of ice and blood, an ominous call to armsAof a magical evil coming their way. The destinies of these four, particularly of Ash and Raif, become progressively entwined, even entangled, as the novel lumbers toward its inconclusive ending. Throughout, Jones skillfully mixes bits borrowed from history, folklore, religion (her shamans are particularly well done) and other fantasy works, but her attention to these details and her determination to introduce every element of her trilogy at once slow the pacing and sometimes create more confusion than clarity. Nonetheless, Jones has a real gift for evocative description, and the novel will satisfy most saga lovers.

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