Nicely written, but it's a little too long. The idea of a world in a new Ice Age and the challenges its people face was interesting. And you get a feeling for what life is like for a rural town struggling without electricity or "modern" conveniences. But it seems odd that less than 100 years pass and no one can replicate the technology of the Before time. The emphasis is on a young man coming to grips with his sexuality in a time when Faith based morality has reared its ugly head again, and that part of the story works better. The part I thought wasn't that great was the introduction of dragons (real, flying, fire-breathing ones) and I was confused at the end why they were bred by the government and to what end. The story ends before we really find out what was going on (I believe there is a sequel called "Out of the Ashes" but I think I'll pass on reading that and just wonder what the point was -- not that I'll be thinking about it going forward). An OK tale but not great.
For those of us who dont know, Iris Print is going to be releasing original BL novels and compilations. These are not just translations of Japanese novels, these are brand spanking new stories.
For the first release that the company is doing, A Strong and Sudden Thaw is a very strong piece of work. Its got all the angst and dramatic elements that made me fall in love with the genre in the first place, but is a truly unique story.
It revolves around a futuristic world, where wars and pollution have brought upon another ice age. Theres no electricity, no public transportation, nothing. If you want something, you have to do it yourself or pay someone to do it for you. The past where there was electricity and the weather was warm is only a distant memory, only remembered by the most aged people.
Davids grandmother remembers the warm and she tells her grandchildren about life before the ice and the snow. There have been rumors flying around that dragons have been spotted up in the hills. Theyve even gone so far as to kill one girl who wasnt properly supervised.
Add into this mix a pretty new healer with a gift of making people feel at ease. David is drawn to the healer like a moth to a flame and the healers willingness to share books with David cements an instant friendship.
Problem is that with the ice and the snow a lot of prejudice came flooding back into the U.S. People needed someone or something to blame for the ice and the cold. When leaders began telling people that all the cold was punishment for allowing people to live as they chose, people believed it.
So, yes, were back to the days where any and all homosexual acts are referred to as sodomy and sodomy is a great big no-no. Death is the main sentence for convicted sodomites, but sometimes, if people are feeling lenient, they will let them off with being whipped and then banished.
So not only do David and his would-be-lover have to deal with societys prejudice and the chance that they could be caught together at any time, theres still the problem of those pesky dragons. And how in the hell did they get there in the first place? Are they just a mutation? Were they breed by the government? How in the hell do you get rid of a dragon?
If this is the quality of book that Iris Print is going to be releasing, color me a happy girl and sign me up to get anything and everything they release. Yes, the book had some slow points and I thought that they were beating a dead horse at times with the whole OMG! societys prejudices are bad bits, but these elements didnt stop me from completely enjoying the book.
Heres to hoping that theres going to be more quality work like this coming from Iris Print.
For the first release that the company is doing, A Strong and Sudden Thaw is a very strong piece of work. Its got all the angst and dramatic elements that made me fall in love with the genre in the first place, but is a truly unique story.
It revolves around a futuristic world, where wars and pollution have brought upon another ice age. Theres no electricity, no public transportation, nothing. If you want something, you have to do it yourself or pay someone to do it for you. The past where there was electricity and the weather was warm is only a distant memory, only remembered by the most aged people.
Davids grandmother remembers the warm and she tells her grandchildren about life before the ice and the snow. There have been rumors flying around that dragons have been spotted up in the hills. Theyve even gone so far as to kill one girl who wasnt properly supervised.
Add into this mix a pretty new healer with a gift of making people feel at ease. David is drawn to the healer like a moth to a flame and the healers willingness to share books with David cements an instant friendship.
Problem is that with the ice and the snow a lot of prejudice came flooding back into the U.S. People needed someone or something to blame for the ice and the cold. When leaders began telling people that all the cold was punishment for allowing people to live as they chose, people believed it.
So, yes, were back to the days where any and all homosexual acts are referred to as sodomy and sodomy is a great big no-no. Death is the main sentence for convicted sodomites, but sometimes, if people are feeling lenient, they will let them off with being whipped and then banished.
So not only do David and his would-be-lover have to deal with societys prejudice and the chance that they could be caught together at any time, theres still the problem of those pesky dragons. And how in the hell did they get there in the first place? Are they just a mutation? Were they breed by the government? How in the hell do you get rid of a dragon?
If this is the quality of book that Iris Print is going to be releasing, color me a happy girl and sign me up to get anything and everything they release. Yes, the book had some slow points and I thought that they were beating a dead horse at times with the whole OMG! societys prejudices are bad bits, but these elements didnt stop me from completely enjoying the book.
Heres to hoping that theres going to be more quality work like this coming from Iris Print.
Edit: For those of us who have been living under a rock for the past year or so, Iris Print crashed and burned, leaving this fantastic title to be picked up and re-released by Lethe Press. The quality of the book is unchanged, so were not going to re-write the review. Just ignore all of our babbling about Iris Print.
For those of us who dont know, Iris Print is going to be releasing original BL novels and compilations. These are not just translations of Japanese novels, these are brand spanking new stories.
For the first release that the company is doing, A Strong and Sudden Thaw is a very strong piece of work. Its got all the angst and dramatic elements that made me fall in love with the genre in the first place, but is a truly unique story.
It revolves around a futuristic world, where wars and pollution have brought upon another ice age. Theres no electricity, no public transportation, nothing. If you want something, you have to do it yourself or pay someone to do it for you. The past where there was electricity and the weather was warm is only a distant memory, only remembered by the most aged people.
Davids grandmother remembers the warm and she tells her grandchildren about life before the ice and the snow. There have been rumors flying around that dragons have been spotted up in the hills. Theyve even gone so far as to kill one girl who wasnt properly supervised.
Add into this mix a pretty new healer with a gift of making people feel at ease. David is drawn to the healer like a moth to a flame and the healers willingness to share books with David cements an instant friendship.
Problem is that with the ice and the snow a lot of prejudice came flooding back into the U.S. People needed someone or something to blame for the ice and the cold. When leaders began telling people that all the cold was punishment for allowing people to live as they chose, people believed it.
So, yes, were back to the days where any and all homosexual acts are referred to as sodomy and sodomy is a great big no-no. Death is the main sentence for convicted sodomites, but sometimes, if people are feeling lenient, they will let them off with being whipped and then banished.
So not only do David and his would-be-lover have to deal with societys prejudice and the chance that they could be caught together at any time, theres still the problem of those pesky dragons. And how in the hell did they get there in the first place? Are they just a mutation? Were they breed by the government? How in the hell do you get rid of a dragon?
If this is the quality of book that Iris Print is going to be releasing, color me a happy girl and sign me up to get anything and everything they release. Yes, the book had some slow points and I thought that they were beating a dead horse at times with the whole OMG! societys prejudices are bad bits, but these elements didnt stop me from completely enjoying the book.
Heres to hoping that theres going to be more quality work like this coming from Iris Print.
For those of us who dont know, Iris Print is going to be releasing original BL novels and compilations. These are not just translations of Japanese novels, these are brand spanking new stories.
For the first release that the company is doing, A Strong and Sudden Thaw is a very strong piece of work. Its got all the angst and dramatic elements that made me fall in love with the genre in the first place, but is a truly unique story.
It revolves around a futuristic world, where wars and pollution have brought upon another ice age. Theres no electricity, no public transportation, nothing. If you want something, you have to do it yourself or pay someone to do it for you. The past where there was electricity and the weather was warm is only a distant memory, only remembered by the most aged people.
Davids grandmother remembers the warm and she tells her grandchildren about life before the ice and the snow. There have been rumors flying around that dragons have been spotted up in the hills. Theyve even gone so far as to kill one girl who wasnt properly supervised.
Add into this mix a pretty new healer with a gift of making people feel at ease. David is drawn to the healer like a moth to a flame and the healers willingness to share books with David cements an instant friendship.
Problem is that with the ice and the snow a lot of prejudice came flooding back into the U.S. People needed someone or something to blame for the ice and the cold. When leaders began telling people that all the cold was punishment for allowing people to live as they chose, people believed it.
So, yes, were back to the days where any and all homosexual acts are referred to as sodomy and sodomy is a great big no-no. Death is the main sentence for convicted sodomites, but sometimes, if people are feeling lenient, they will let them off with being whipped and then banished.
So not only do David and his would-be-lover have to deal with societys prejudice and the chance that they could be caught together at any time, theres still the problem of those pesky dragons. And how in the hell did they get there in the first place? Are they just a mutation? Were they breed by the government? How in the hell do you get rid of a dragon?
If this is the quality of book that Iris Print is going to be releasing, color me a happy girl and sign me up to get anything and everything they release. Yes, the book had some slow points and I thought that they were beating a dead horse at times with the whole OMG! societys prejudices are bad bits, but these elements didnt stop me from completely enjoying the book.
Heres to hoping that theres going to be more quality work like this coming from Iris Print.
