A Fortress of Grey Ice

Second in a series by J. V. Jones, A Fortress of Grey Ice continues the story begun in A Cavern of Black Ice with her usual skill. As with the first, the high-level plot is pretty standard fantasy stuff. Evil that has been locked away is breaking out and the first shadow creature has led the way with an unlikely hero led to kill it to save the world. What keeps this well above the level of standard fantasy is the depth of the world Jones creates and the tangled plot with many story threads that she weaves so deftly.

The escaping evil isn't just some monster that needs to be killed. The world itself is changing and becoming more chaotic, even the geology. The clans have begun warring and armies from the cities are invading. Everything is show more changing, and not for the better. In this mess, Jones also continues the story of Raif and Ash, who must seal all this evil back into the shadow world.

Like the previous book at more than 800 pages, this one's long, coming at 670 pages. The pace of the story and the action flow are better than the first volume, though, so it seems to go quickly. In fact, it's hard for me to see how, given the depth of the plot, how it could have been any shorter.

Good read, but start with the first volume. show less

It's rare that I think the second novel in a series is better than the first, but this is an exception. The first novel seemed out of balance in character development and meandering in plot. This novel flows much better and since you already know most of the characters, less time is spent on mundane interaction and "Clanworld 101", which felt heavy in the first novel. In addition, more colorful characters are introduced (like the Maimed Men) and the ambiguity of character "likability" is pushed further. The interweaving plot threads (which are becoming almost cliche these days in epic fantasy) are frustrating but leave you wanting more. The only really discouraging thing for me was that I thought the Raif's climax was anticlimactic and show more poorly written. This book isn't one of the greats, but it is clearly above the bar in the genre. show less

I thought J.V. Jones really improved the writing style around character POVs in this book. Several new characters were introduced (Crope I liked especially) who had a different way of viewing the world. I thought these perspectives really provided a freshness to the book and made me excited/sad everytime I left/entered a new characters POV.

Ash March and Raif Sevrance face the encroaching darkness of the Endlords, with Ash embracing her sacred Sull warrior heritage while Raif, wrongly accused, must journey into the nightmare realm of the Want to find the titular Fortress of Grey Ice and heal a dangerous breach threatening the world. It delves deeper into Sull culture and clan politics, following Ash's spiritual path and Raif's harsh trials with the Maimed Men, all while a devastating war looms.

The story of Ash, Raif, Rainia and the Dog Lord continues in A Fortress of Grey Ice. Raif and Ash are seperated as they each pursue their seperate destiness. Ash travels through a barren, icy landscape in her quest to find a home with the Sull. Raif joins the Maimed Men and becomes further seperated from his old life in the Clan holds. Rainia makes a fateful decision about her evil husband, Mace, as she watches clan Scarpe slowly take over the Hailhold from the inside out. And the Dog Lord watches his hard fought victories crumble due to the selfishness of his seven sons.

The overall story seems to move only a little bit in this book. What saves the story are the various characters, especially the secondary ones such as Bram from clan show more Doohne and Effie Severance. There is a lot of setting up that occures in this novel for the great battle to come. One hopes that the payoff is worth it to the reader. show less

The 2nd book in the series continued along the same lines as the first. Lots and lots of time spent traveling through freezing cold northlands. The plot continues, but very slowly. It wasn't bad, but dragged in parts and I thought the characters lost something in this book, rather than gaining substance.

a definite improvement over book 1