Reviewed by Dan
TITLE: Tower of the Ice Lord
AUTHOR: Anne Mok
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 77 Pages
BLURB:
Don’t you believe someone can love enough to die for another?
Arius the sorcerer has lived in solitude for centuries, watching over his frozen tundra and sending his ice wolves against the kingdom of Evernesse. Only a sacrifice of royal blood can end the war, and it comes when Loren, son of the king of Evernesse, arrives at the Ice Lord’s tower, willing to die to procure peace. Though stunned and mistrustful, Arius agrees. But as the fateful day draws nearer, Arius learns Loren’s bravery and commitment run deeper than he suspected, and Loren begins to see the lonely man beneath the Ice Lord’s mask. Arius’s god demands a sacrifice, Loren might be his people’s only hope, and both men must choose between the conflicting demands of duty and love.
REVIEW:
It isn’t often that I finish a book and feel almost ambivalent about the overall package. I’m not sure of my overall impression of this book, so here goes.
I feel that Tower of the Ice Lord suffers from being a novella length work. I knew it was a novella going into it, but novellas aren’t bad things, as long as they are complete. This story moved way too fast because of its length, and at times seemed quite rushed. The world building was ok, but a lot of details were missing.
From the time the book begins and Loren, the son of the King of Evernesse arrives at the Ice Lord’s tower, I felt like I was missing pieces. It was clear that there had been a centuries long war between the Ice Lord and others like him (?) against the kingdom of Evernesse. It was clear that a sacrifice would somehow make it better and end the war, but there wasn’t enough detail to get a full picture of what was going on.
I really feel the author did herself a disservice by not making this a longer novel. The world building that has occurred kept me reading from cover to cover. But there was so much more detail that wasn’t there. Who were these watchers that include the Ice Lord? What exactly did the former King of Evernesse do to violate the agreement with the god? What of Arius’ people? Who were they, when did they live? Even the relationship between the two MCs was vague…
I would have to say that the book didn’t do it for me. I loved the concept, enjoyed the story for what it was, but wasn’t in love with the overall product. From the positive side, the book was very well edited, and was well written. There just needed to be more. It was a good book, that could have been great with another hundred pages. I look forward to other books by the author.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: