The Girl and the Stars: The Book of the Ice, Book 1

“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?

Having browsed customer reviews for the Ancestor Trilogy and this Ice Trilogy, I can confidently say that the reviews fall into two general categories: disapointment/letdown because this is nothing like the Thorns and Fools Trilogies, and excitement because it's even better than the Thorns and Fools trilogies.I did not read the Ancestor series because the two top rated reviews compared it to a YA series and being nothing at all like the Thorns and Fools series. That brings me to the Book of Ice trilogy, which I basically picked up blind, not realizing it was a companion/sequel series to the Book of the Ancestor trilogy. The setting/exposition is competent. The characters are clearly drawn. There isn't anything new or unique about anyone or anything in the book and/or series. There is a rather unnecessary running theme of "which boy will she end up with?" thing throughout the books. I don't object to how the love quadrangle was resolved, but I also feel it was unnecessary (both to require girl gets a boy but also as one of the primary tropes for her rebellion against social expectation...only to pick one anyway).That said, there's nothing BAD about this book. Book or the series. There's just nothing that stands out either. And yes, it is basically another "chosen one" story. That's not by itself a detractor. Chosen one is literally the most universally successful archetype/template throughout Western culture (and beyond). It's done competently, but it isn't done in any way that stands out or transcends.No. My problem with this book (and the series) isn't that it's not good (3/5 stars amounts to a trash rating on Amazon, but it's actually a GOOD rating. It's more positive than negative!). My problem is that it's so drastically different in mood, tone, and character from the Thorns and Fool books while, at the same time, being so much like them in setting. I absolutely loved Prince of Thorns. And that enjoyment continued through the rest of the series. What I liked about the series was the edge of the main character. He's a "chosen one" and an "anti-chosen one." He's funny and ironic. In Prince of Fools, I get a main character who, again, defies convention. He's both a fool and a coward who does "the right thing" for either the wrong reasons or because he's literally dragged kicking and screaming. It's great fun to watch him squirm and to see what are really just generic, paint-by-numbers heroic lit fodder filtered through his quasi-bystander, jaded eyes.The Girl and the Stars and the subsequent books of the Ice trilogy are nothing like this. You're literally just following the chosen one as she discovers more about her world, her powers, her power-ups, and...uh...which boy she's going to end up with. The execution of the story isn't bad. But it's disappointing. It's just a generic story. And it keeps everything about the world of Thorns/Fools that I disliked: they're living is a "post-apacaplyptic" or "fallen" world in which human technology has been "forgotten" or reduced/limited to a medieval fantasy level, and it is counter-balanced by a magic system reliant on human will-power (with some genetic coding thrown in). The setting isn't actually earth this time, but the ancestor race and so forth are technologically advanced humans who have either abandoned humanity or "fallen." and the guiding "star" as well as the solution to save everything involves working with a partially fragmented computer program(s). So...yeah. The fun and unique part of Lawrence's first two trilogies is replaced with the generic hero's journey, and the unique content that had me laughing or cackling with glee is replaced with...a girl trying to decide which boy she wants to ultimately impregnate her.Again, I don't mean to poop on Mark Lawrence or the Book of Ice trilogy. They are decent books. But there's nothing unique or memorable about them vis-a-vis his other works. And that was...disappointing.

The story of this book as a start of a series is cleverly done. There is a plot and maybe some sub plots and a broader story and as a whole, it’s well done and polished.Our protagonist fights to improve her power through a torrent of misfortunes and hardships which leave little room for a slow pace.I didn’t expect such a frantic pace continuously, but I guess it works. There is a lot of information to chew on, a lot of background story, but I confess it felt strange having read the book of the ancestor series some years ago. Maybe the information felt given too easily.I think that Lawrence is working on automatic mode after so many post apocalyptic-ish world books and it reminded me of Cosmere after the Elias crossover.I should also mention that the book captured my interest and I read it fairly quickly, which is always a bonus when I score books.So far so good, but what are the cons? Well, the protagonist feels a bit generic and I can’t say I am invested in her favour. I felt I liked Thurin more for instance. I don’t remember Nona, but Jorg or Jalan were certainly more interesting characters with more of a special personality.I did not feel emotionally swayed so powerfully as in other books (to be frank only Sanderson consistently moves me). There were many parts that our girl gave her all, maybe too many but I think there could be less and more impactful, but hey, who am I to judge.Of course I will continue with the rest of the series. If you haven’t read the book of the ancestor maybe you should read that first - I think I liked that a bit more but it’d too early to say.As a conclusion, this is a fine book to read. Not. 5/5 but one you will not regret if you like Lawrence’s works.

I am a huge fan of the „Book of the Ancestor“ trilogy, so I of course I was game immediately when I read that there was another trilogy set in the same world, Abeth the planet with a dying sun and covered in ice.Yaz is a young woman living with the ice tribe named Ictha and she knows nothing but ice, the northern sea and the long night. That is, until she and her family gather with the other tribes at the meeting where the teens are either deemed adults by the „regulator“ or thrown into the pit to die. I have to add a mild spoiler here or this review would be finished right here: she ends up in the pit, but there isn’t death down the hole, at least not an immediate one, but a kind of society made of the „broken“, the tribes’ rejects. Yaz doesn’t take too long to find out how they are all special rather then „broken“, and that not all is the way it is told by the priesthood. She also discovers a lot about herself, the so called Missing and the Ancestors and starts devising her own plan for her life and the lives of others she wants to attempt to save.If you’ve read the „Ancestor“ trilogy, you know about a lot of things world building-wise and you‘ll get some interesting additional information that was missing in the original series. That I liked a lot when reading this book. I also mostly liked Yaz, although let’s be frank, she is no Nona… oh she is a special snowflake and she is powerful, but she carries around a lot of guilt and insecurities that get repeated a lot. She is a good person, though, and well enough fleshed out. The others around her, not so much. I mean, I don’t know about their moral compass or anything, but that’s because I just didn’t get to know them. And I actually have no idea, how Yaz should have become so attached to them in such a short time to have it drive so many of her decisions.The world building is fabulous insofar that I felt the claustrophobic darkness under the ice, I felt as if I were there. But the great world building is also one of the things that made me somewhat detached to the outcome of Yaz’s struggles, no matter where on this planet, it’s all just surviving, not at all living. The caves, the ice - every outcome is bleak and I wouldn’t wish any of it on anyone. So I didn’t know why I would root for any plan to come to fruition. I know that sounds probably harsh, but so is this world. It’s not the world of Nona or the Sisters in the abbey, who do fight for a good live together, nope. It’s desolation everywhere you look. That made parts of the story feel long and as I said, prevented me from being wholly invested.And as the cherry on top of that cake, there is a huge cliffhanger, a really bad one, and I really really hate these with a vengeance.Put it all together, you have the explanation for my unexpectedly low rating. And believe me, I am really sad about it… I was very optimistic for this book, because Abeth and stuff, so I already bought the next book and will have to give the trilogy yet another chance. Let’s just hope it get’s better…

As I knew it would be. A dark story that will have u guessing till the end. Just as u think Yaz has come out on top she finds herself in another desperate situation. Yaz has some great friends and some awfully scary ass enemies, who r also not really her enemies. What do I mean by that? Well no spoilers here! You will just have to read the story to find out!I highly recommend this most awesome ebook. The author is a good writer who I also highly recommend. He draws u in from start to finish. And now I want more!!!! But unfortunately there's only one other book we .ca get our teeth I to as it's not out on kindle yet. So it's now a frustrating waiting game.Do I read the next book now or wait until the next book is out? Assuming of course that it's a trilogy! If it's not I'mgoing to have to wait for knows how long to finish this ebook. I hate that!!! Not patient when it comes to wanting to read a good story one book after the other when it's a series.Well enjoy folks. I certainly did.

I am a huge fan of Mark Lawrence having read his frankly impressive range of writing he writes a post apocalyptic style of fantasy and his work on the one word kill series has it seems refined his talents further.While the girl and the stars lacks some the poetry of his Holy Sister trilogy he writes probably his most sympathetic character who presents clearly and grows the mythology and draws you on a fast paced story line with an engaging flow, it helps to have read Red Sister and the other books but it also stands on its own as a solid offering.

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!

Love the idea behind this trilogy and the opening book is well-worth your time. Occasionally, it drags and is little repetitive, but the characters are well rounded and the plot substantial. Top level fantasy that grows on you. Recommended.