The Girl and the Stars (The Book of the Ice)

“She has lived a life in the jaws of the wind, her eyes trained to find meaning within a hundred shades of white and grey. She has lived as a singular mote of warmth upon a vast and lifeless wilderness.”It’s been a long time that I have read a book where the author had taken such care to describe and narrate the setting, giving it such a strong voice and personality, that it can actually be considered another character. Mark Lawrence’s books have always been character strong--Jorg and Nona are stunning, Jalan truly annoying; his plots are fascinating and complex, the world building phenomenal, his humor wicked. But this is the first time, in all of his books, I have felt the presence of the setting, and let me tell you, the world below the ice on the planet Abeth is quite a character.The Girl And The Stars takes place in the same world as The Book Of The Ancestor, and the reader does not need to read it first, but they should read it. Yaz is a member of the one of the northern tribes, the Ictha, that survive day to day on the ice battling blistering wind and deadly cold. Their life is regimented for survival, or they die. People don’t grow old on the ice, they don’t survive injury, and every four years the tribes meet at the Black Rock where children considered ‘broken’ are thrown into a deep crater and never seen again. It’s a cruel existence. And Yaz feels this time, it is her turn.When she was ten years old, Yaz began to feel and experience what she calls the River. It’s a forbidden magic that gives her power that does not exist on the ice but conversely it also diminishes her strength as an Ictha, a major source of pride, and necessary for survival. She knows she is considered broken and the hole is her fate. Needless to say, Yaz does end up down the hole but not how she imagined she would. And she never ever imagined, not even in her wildest dreams, what she would find down the hole, under the ice, at Black Rock.To go further would spoil the surprises waiting for Yaz under the ice but it is there the reader will get to know the underworld in all its wild, starry, soaring, at times claustrophobic, and monstrous beauty. The ice changes its mind, its appearance, its terrors—it even moans! It is alive.I truly enjoy Lawrence’s writing and I was thrilled by TGATS, and I noted some differences from his other works. There are a few pages at the top of the crater, then the rest of the story takes place under the ice. The pace is frantic and exhausting with little time for rest (character or reader). The story is wild and twisting, parts remind me of Alice In Wonderland. The magic here is stronger and plays a larger part than in The Book Of The Ancestor.The major difference between his other works and this book is the story resembles the people from the ice: stoic, unwavering, and not a humorous bunch. His book Red Sister begins with a fabulous--and frequently quoted--line that sets the flavor of the story, Jalan needed two sentences, Prince of Thorns a paragraph, but we knew we were headed into a world with a wicked sense of humor. The first line in TGATS scared me.I would love to someday meet Mark Lawrence (my favorite writers are my rock stars) because I need to ask him: You quoted Ozymandias in The Girl And The Stars, does that mean Abeth is what I think it is?

We return to Abeth and the world on the ice. Yaz is a girl of the Ictha tribe, on her way to a periodic tribal gathering. There are priests who examine the children and discard rejects into a pit in the ice. Yaz passes but when her brother is cast into the chasm, she follows him into the world beneath the ice.As always, Mark Lawrence does a superb job in worldbuilding, creating a detailed world that can be a lot like Lord of the Flys. There are factions, danger, and desperate striving for survival as Yaz negotiates her way, trying to find her brother. I think it's helpful to have read the Ancestors trilogy previously, as this is a different aspect of that world and those books lay the foundation for what we have here. The lost technology and genetic/magical traits explained in those books give the reader a better base to work within this complex world.She meets a varied group of characters, all interesting whether good or evil, and I enjoyed them all. This is a YA book (not something I mind), but I dislike the 'Mary Sue' trope which Yaz definitely is. Untrained, she seems to always save the day. Also, there are hints of a reverse harem with Quell, Thurin, and Erris but I'll have to wait and see how that all pans out in the next book. I definitely will continue reading and I recommend the book because the world is so fascinating and the characters genuinely interesting. One warning: the ending is definitely cliffhanger and a shock!

I finished this book a couple of weeks ago. I would have posted a review sooner, but I'm still in withdrawal. My mind wants to go back to that world, but there are no more pages to read.Yaz is different from her ice tribe. And different equals bad. Her secret powers don't make up for her lack of stamina, and she knows it's just a matter of time before she's rejected by her tribe. In their world, only the strongest can survive. Those who are any less than strong become a burden the others cannot afford to carry.But Yaz doesn't die when she falls down the pit. Instead, she finds a whole other world. Others who, like her, were flawed and thrown down. And she learns that very little of the tales she has been told about life and death on the ice is actually true.This book is every bit as amazing as the Book of the Ancestor trilogy. The world-building is unique, layered, and complex. The characters solid and relatable. The story a fascinating puzzle of bits and pieces of ancient history coming unravelled into a dire, urgent disaster taking place over their heads.It's a masterpiece of epic fantasy, and I cannot wait until the next book is out.

Love it

For those about to complain, how dark this book is not, and for those expecting to look into an abyss..I saw lots of disappointed rewievs and readers claiming the story to be short and half the book to be irrelevant.I can agree and disagree at the same time, for the story of the individual book is one part" action" and one part world expanding.So little we knew about Abeth after having The Book of the Ancestor read, and got a marvelous story instead, now we have a rather simple story with some amazingly great character.And we got to know about the world so much more than what the previously mentioned trilogy provided.Lest we forget I say, this is The First book of Ice, not the entire Book.I say:Have some faith!All the "haters" expect a world to be built, a full story to be told..But has he ever made anything dull?Who would expect such from a man who's books are all connected by weak threads, the spider needs time to make the web, and belive me, if you ever liked his works, all you have to do is to trust him..for this was only the prologue for the story.How can anyone expect little from an already written trilogy?His greatest perk is that he finishes the trilogy before the first book gets published, leaving space to write everything to slowly build up the world and to finish it with a snap.Have some faith, for we have only started our journey on the Ice!

I was lucky enough to recieve a free advanced copy to review ( ARC ) however i also pre purchased the book allready on Amazon. Due to coronavirus / funerals etc. i ended up taking far longer to read the book than my usual week / few days, so long that halfway through the book was published and i finished reading the last half on my kindle.This is the first book in the 2nd trilogy set in the freezing world of Abeth, though you can read this trilogy without having read the first. As soon as i realised this is it gave me hope this might mean another trilogy in the world of Impossible Times.For those who have yet to partake of the pleasure that is the book of the ancestor's trilogy ( Red/Grey/Holy Sister ) Abeth is a world mostly covered in ice, whose sun is old and feeble, unable to fully warm the world. The Hero of the story, Yaz, is a young woman who is part of an Eskimo like tribe, living in extreme cold where the tribe needs each other to survive, simple mistakes and weakness can kill. The varied tribes living in snow covered lands are meeting at a Black rock in the ice, where a priest makes sure no mutations weaken a tribe, killing those too weak to survive the harsh extreme cold. A pit of death exists at the black rock, a hole in the ground children are thrown into, thrown to die.It is here the story really begins, for reasons you'll have to read, Yaz passes though the hole and ends up in a subteranean world bellow the ice, pretty soon we're introduced to a plethora of different wonders in this the new world deep underneath the ice. Hero's and demons, magic and science, robots and mutants, things old and things new. Those who survive the fall are divided between the normal survivors, and those infected by the black shadow like taint that lurks in parts of the ice, creatures who live in the light verses those who thrive in the dark.As usual for Mark the world building is prodigious in scope and complexity, with myriad gossamer threads hinting at potential future plots in the trilogy. The prose is enchanting and the book is a pleasure to read. If you've read Marks previous books then i would dive straight into this one. For those who are new to Marks books i recommend you start with Prince of thorns, you'll have 4 entire trilogies you can read first by which time hopefully the next two books in this series would have come out. I've enjoyed reading the book and impatiently await the next two in the trilogy.

I received 2 of the same books , both paid for. No problems will donate 2nd book. Excellant book by the way.

Great characters, compelling storyline, interesting world. I had a hard time putting it down. Can’t wait for the next book to come out!