"A Satisfying Paranormal Fantasy"
Although my fellow PNR reviewer has stated that reading
STRANGE BREWS (Damir and Eliana's story) first is not
required to follow this story, I rather wish I had. I felt
that the first half of PRINCE OF ICE went rather slowly for
me because I had a constant feeling I was missing
background details and character information that was being
alluded to frequently. Having said that, my attention was
definitely captured once the romance and the current plot
became more active.
The Arch Mage (a powerful and evil sorcerer) who had been
temporarily defeated in STRANGE BREWS now has reached out
to cast a spell putting all of the mages of Amrodel into
stasis. Long ago he had sought to steal the power of their
Queen, but she had thwarted him by taking her own life. Now
the Arch Mage sought another of her line in order to do the
same. Eliana, having married and borne a child was no
longer eligible, since her power was divided. This left
Cahira, daughter of the late King of Amrodel, or Eliana's
infant daughter. Cahira has been hearing the Arch Mage
calling to her in her mind to come to him. She knows that
while he lives her people will never be safe, she will
never be safe. As the darkness swept over the land
stealing the consciousness from her fellow mages, Damir
grants Cahira his shield which will protect her from the
darkness, leaving her the alone among the Woodland mages to
defeat the Arch Mage. Before he loses consciousness, Damir
also gifts Cahira with his Dragonfly sword. He instructs
her to go to the Norsk lands to find the one of true light.
This warrior alone would be able to wield the sword that
could defeat the Arch Mage and restore life to her people.
Aren, the leader of the aggressive Norsk people is the man
she seeks. Cahira had seen him once when they were both
children and had felt a strange connection. But the grown
warrior is not what she expected at all, nor is he very
willing to take up her quest. He and his warriors do not
trust mages and fear that Aren will be sorcelled by the
witch as his older brother had been.
Aren concedes to join his band with Cahira's but he still
considers her plan to be suicide and secretly hopes to find
an alternative plan elsewhere. Still, he too feels the
strange connection between himself and Cahira. Tempers
clash as those loyal to one or the other try to dominate
the group. Not all of among them have loyalty however,
which creates further conflict. Still the pair has one very
special advantage. Their company is joined by a talking bat
with amazing wisdom and foresight. Although the reader may
discern the bat's identity before it's actually revealed,
it's rather fun to watch the by play between him and the
rest of their little band as he leads them toward the
proper resolution.
As Cahira and Aren are beginning to realize that they are
very old souls and that they had been "one before they were
two", they journey to Damir's homeland and what they find
there gives them the last piece of the puzzle that is
required to defeat the Arch Mage. Conditions there leave
the door open for a future story as does the resolution of
Cahira and Aren's final battle with the Arch Mage, the
conclusion of which was most unexpected. Without spoiling
the tale I can only say that the ending of PRINCE OF ICE
contains an extremely satisfying twist. Information is also
imparted regarding Cahira and Aren's future child which
also leads me to believe that another tale could be
forthcoming. I enjoyed this tale of timeless love and truly
hope that the saga will continue in the near future. In the
meantime I expect I will be seeking out STRANGE BREWS in
order to fill in some of the blanks. From what I gleaned
Eliana was quite a terror. Sounds like fun!
Posted June 22, 2006
Copyright © 2006
Reviewed by Leslie Tramposch
Posted November 2, 2006
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