The Ice Is Coming

Picked up in a used book store (ABC Books in Springfield MO) because I've become aware that I need to read more soft / social / diverse SF written by women. Looks interesting, so why not... I just hope it stands alone because I imagine the rest of the series (?) is hard to find.

Definitely stands alone but now I want more! A quest fantasy in a world not vaguely medieval, with critters that are not trolls and elves, and a different approach to nature & problems & power, etc. A joy to read, with funny bits like how the Inlander, Morrow, kept the Happy Folk away from the battle, and exciting bits like the encounter with the Bunyip (a cute name for a very not cute creature). A brief glossary to help if one gets confused is not necessary; show more Wrightson's writing is lovely and lucid.

Highly recommended.

Btw I also commented in a current discussion about The Alchemist, which I do not like, that this book is better. I said, "See what I like is inspirational themes tucked in to great stories. I just finished a fantasy set in Australia, [b:The Ice is Coming|2030286|The Ice is Coming (Book of Wirrun, #1)|Patricia Wrightson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1300224727l/2030286._SY75_.jpg|2034935] by [a:Patricia Wrightson|72863|Patricia Wrightson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1300224444p2/72863.jpg], and the quest there is to save the land from the troll-like Ninya's attempt to bring back the ice (glaciers). Right near the end of the book is one actual inspirational message:

"Is not the rockpool a world among the stars? Life and death are in it, and light and darkness; there are journeys and home-coming there. Is a starfish smaller than a star?"" show less

It seems to me we don't have another writer of .Patricia_Wrightson's quality when it comes to absorbing and using the ancient mytholgical heritage of Australia. I think she's much underrated as a truly Australian writer.

I have always been impressed with Patricia Wrightson's ability to write fiction which is so purely Australian and make her work become part of Australian mythology. Some of the Goodreads reviews call her work fantasy. I think she wrote well beyond fantasy. A fantasy simply requires magic. Wrightson created a modern mythology from her own Australian culture, and her people and other creatures are part of that culture.



The 'Ice is Coming' looks at what happens when people ignore their mythology and culture. It's a show more demanding read for Wrightson makes no bones about what the land needs and about what people have done. Her descriptions of the majority of people as Happy folk, her rejection of their ways of life, form a backdrop for Wirren to establish himself as one of the people of the land and not just 'an abo'.



Why is the ice coming? Where is the Nargun who holds the balance of power? Wirrern has to sort all this out and find himself.



It, and the following novels, are a wonderful read, a lovely combination of ancient mythology, modern interpretations of it, an Australian setting so vivid you can see it, and a charming main character. If you want to get a feeling for what ancient Australia is like these books give you an excellent impression. show less

Patricia Wrightson unlocks the Australian landscape, revealing the ancient world of the original people, and the wonderful spirits alive in the land. Wirrun's journey is compelling, through familiar country. As one of the 'Happy Folk' or white settler descendants, I learned from this book how to see and travel the landscape of my birth in a different way. This is a story to banish the illusion of separation, part the veils, and lift the reader into a higher frequency dimension of space-time.

The first of Patricia Wrightson's books about Wirrun, the Aboriginal boy, and his adventures among the spirit peoples of Australia, including the Ninya, the ice-men, the Mimi, the wind spirits, and the fearsome Nargun, spirit of the rocks and fires of the earth. This is probably the best of the three Wirrun books, although only just.