 | Title: City of Ice
 Sexual Content: None. Rating:
Good - A fun read with minor flaws. Maybe read an excerpt before buying. |
Description
Two-time Newbery Honor Award-winning author Laurence Yep returns with the action-packed sequel to the critically-acclaimed City of Fire
From the islands of Hawaii, Scirye and her loyal companions pursue the villainous Mr. Roland and evil dragon Badik all the way to the city of Nova Hafnia in the Arctic Circle. With the help of a trader, Prince Tarkhun, and his daughter Roxanna, the companions chase their enemies into the vast and desolate Wastes. Scirye and her friends are determined to stop Mr. Roland from getting his hands on the second of the Five Lost Treasures of Emperor Yü, which will give him the power to alter the very fabric of the universe. But few who enter the Wastes ever return, and Scirye has no choice but to call on the spirit of the North for help. As wild and unpredictable as the Arctic itself, will the spirit turn out to be friend or foe?
Review
CITY OF ICE has the creativity and fantastic world-building that I came to love in CITY OF FIRE, but suffers a little bit from "mid-trilogy" malaise. Scirye and her companions struggle through the morality play of working together, deal with magical forces beyond their comprehension, and chase villains that threaten the world as they know it, and this middle book doesn’t offer much by way of resolution on any of these fronts.
Don’t think that my disappointment with a lack of forward momentum is the sum of my reaction to CITY OF ICE, however. This book contains my favorite setting for the series thus far. As fascinating as Auntie Pele and her Hawaiian volcanoes were in CITY OF FIRE, I found the snowy reaches of the Arctic Circle even more interesting. The interaction of myth and magic on the tundra was more than enough to hold my attention, and helped carry the story when I became impatient with the insecurities of Scirye and her friends. Snoring otters, ice palaces, and Inuit mythology combine to create some of my favorite scenes yet.
From a world-building perspective, CITY OF ICE is as lush and interesting as any in this series, but the character development languishes as Yep sets up conflicts for book three. Even with that criticism, however, I know that the beautifully written concepts and landscapes in this book will stay with me long after I finish it. Certainly long enough for me to remember to pick up the last book of the City Trilogy as soon as it's available.
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment