elusivity's review against another edition
4.0
Bee and Cat are a pair of well-bred but impoverished young women on the cusp of their 20th birthday, with Cat 2 months older. They go to school, study, banter like normal girls, until a coldly handsome, arrogant young man strolled into their house one day, demanding to be wed to the eldest daughter of the house to fulfill a long-standing contract.
So Elizabeth meets Darcy, so pride meets prejudice, and as with the original story, it is unclear who is which.
My main nitpick is that the villain is weakly realized, one-dimensional, posing merely very abstract danger.
For 600 pages, not much time passes, and we are treated to detailed descriptions of the world, its history, surrounding environments, style and fashion, not to mention vivid descriptions of completely throw-away random characters like inn keeper maids. The effect, though occasionally tedious, is of a well-realized world populated with real people.
Cold magic, sword fights, independent young women of intellect and autonomy, world-changing politics, burgeoning love. Highly recommended!
So Elizabeth meets Darcy, so pride meets prejudice, and as with the original story, it is unclear who is which.
Spoiler
She is forthwith dragged off to Four Moons House, chased by hordes of enemies, where we learn (without warning) she has training in fighting and spycraft. There she learned she was the wrong daughter, not even a member of Hassi Barahal at all but an altogether strange creature with kin in the spirit world. She runs, he chases, ordered to kill her so as to break the marriage in order to wed Bee before she turns 20. Adventures ensue. She learns inadvertently his slave background, being taken from the fields into the House, with the safety of his entire village held over his head. Ultimately, she arrives home in time to warn Bee.My main nitpick is that the villain is weakly realized, one-dimensional, posing merely very abstract danger.
For 600 pages, not much time passes, and we are treated to detailed descriptions of the world, its history, surrounding environments, style and fashion, not to mention vivid descriptions of completely throw-away random characters like inn keeper maids. The effect, though occasionally tedious, is of a well-realized world populated with real people.
Cold magic, sword fights, independent young women of intellect and autonomy, world-changing politics, burgeoning love. Highly recommended!
brokenrecord's review against another edition
3.0
This book sounded so relevant to my interests, but unfortunately I just couldn't connect with it at all. It felt like a bit of a chore to get through at points. The story picked up a bit when Cat gets married (I feel like the first 50 pages could've been cut completely), but it still never managed to be as great as I wanted it to be. I was never able to get a good handle on what this world was like, despite the great amount of info-dumping. And while I was super into the idea of the romance based on what I read from reviews (arranged marriage!!! One of my favorite tropes!!!), it didn't completely work for me either (although it was by far my favorite element of the book). I also didn't really buy what Andevai says at the end about I was really looking forward to this trilogy, but now I don't know if I care enough to read the remaining two books. I might still try the next book in the series solely for the romantic arc, because even if it didn't work for me as well as I would've liked, I was still mostly pretty into it, and I'd like to see how things develop further. But I'm definitely not going to be picking up the next book immediately, unfortunately. This review is probably more negative than it should be, since it's not like I hated it. But it was just so much more mediocre than what I was expecting.
Spoiler
realizing she was the other half of his soul the second he first saw her.ginnikin's review against another edition
It was actively putting me off instead of pulling me in.
thirdnewscaster's review against another edition
too ya for me at this point in my life
kblincoln's review against another edition
4.0
Catherine lives with her Aunt and Uncle and beloved cousin, Bee, in an alternate history Europe where the Roman Empire never really crumbled and America is a wild, unknown land populated by Trolls (a reptile, sentient race)
And there's magic. Princes and Mage Houses control pockets of land in a feudal system that leaves very little room for free choice.
When a Cold Mage appears on her doorstep one evening, her world, her paternity, and the life she had taken for granted is called into question.
The Cold Mage marries her, and drags her back to his House, where she enounters more danger, and learns more about the continuing friction between Cold Mages and the scientists hoping to further mankind's industrial progress.
I hesitate to make comparisons, usually, but reading Kate Elliott's prose reminded me of the luxurious, info-packed sentences of China Mieville. This world is vividly imagined, down to small details, and it is presented in doses that leave you hungering to understand more of the layers of politics, spiritworld, and more importantly, the background of the main characters.
But unlike, for me at least, Mieville's worlds, Cat, her cousin Bee, and the Cold Mage Andevain have layers of emotions themselves. These are characters not only interesting for who they are in the book, but also for the their relationships with eachother. While I often find myself distanced from Mieville characters, in Cold Magic I was instantly attracted to Cat and Andevain, and even the minor characters who help them on their journey, each one packed with so much backstory I wished for a novella-length "extras" at the end to reveal the full breadth of their history.
So why only four stars? Two things niggled a bit at my enjoyment of the book. One, Cat and Andevain spend a rather large amount of the book running from the other mages and each other. At times I wished for less hustling and more delving into relationships.
The other cmplaint I have is that Cat tended to repeat bits of history of her world or background explanations of her father or her trading clan. With all the fascinating world to explore, I sometimes tired of hearing the same stories told over and over again in almost the same words.
Despite that, this is a very promising start to a series I shall definitely keep my eye on.
This Book's Food Designation Rating: A rich, layered lasagna redolent with garlic and basil, with layers of creamy ricotta and spinach flavoring with noodles cooked to perfection for the layers of characters and worlds one can delve into and freely without hitting bottom.
And there's magic. Princes and Mage Houses control pockets of land in a feudal system that leaves very little room for free choice.
When a Cold Mage appears on her doorstep one evening, her world, her paternity, and the life she had taken for granted is called into question.
The Cold Mage marries her, and drags her back to his House, where she enounters more danger, and learns more about the continuing friction between Cold Mages and the scientists hoping to further mankind's industrial progress.
I hesitate to make comparisons, usually, but reading Kate Elliott's prose reminded me of the luxurious, info-packed sentences of China Mieville. This world is vividly imagined, down to small details, and it is presented in doses that leave you hungering to understand more of the layers of politics, spiritworld, and more importantly, the background of the main characters.
But unlike, for me at least, Mieville's worlds, Cat, her cousin Bee, and the Cold Mage Andevain have layers of emotions themselves. These are characters not only interesting for who they are in the book, but also for the their relationships with eachother. While I often find myself distanced from Mieville characters, in Cold Magic I was instantly attracted to Cat and Andevain, and even the minor characters who help them on their journey, each one packed with so much backstory I wished for a novella-length "extras" at the end to reveal the full breadth of their history.
So why only four stars? Two things niggled a bit at my enjoyment of the book. One, Cat and Andevain spend a rather large amount of the book running from the other mages and each other. At times I wished for less hustling and more delving into relationships.
The other cmplaint I have is that Cat tended to repeat bits of history of her world or background explanations of her father or her trading clan. With all the fascinating world to explore, I sometimes tired of hearing the same stories told over and over again in almost the same words.
Despite that, this is a very promising start to a series I shall definitely keep my eye on.
This Book's Food Designation Rating: A rich, layered lasagna redolent with garlic and basil, with layers of creamy ricotta and spinach flavoring with noodles cooked to perfection for the layers of characters and worlds one can delve into and freely without hitting bottom.
susie_pendragon's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
xeni's review against another edition
5.0
Well, this was an amazing book. Well written, great cast of characters and a world set up not quite like our own.
Elliot created a very interesting world here: essentially the Roman empire reined control a lot longer than in our history, and the major conflict is science vs magic (not the science vs religion that we have in our history books). Aside from that, there are a lot of similar events that take place in this world in comparison to ours: discovery of another continent called Amerike; new discovery of combustion engines and steam engines; etc etc. One of the greatest differences is that the ice shelf extends all the way down past the Baltic Sea, and that even in October it is bitterly cold in middle Europe.
Set in this world there is a very wide cast of characters. I loved how the focus wasn't on Cat's (the main character) love life but rather on her quest to find out the truth about herself and her world. She was, what I consider more and more to be a "perfect main character", in that she had all the necessary skills and resources in order to meet every problem she encountered with a solution. It got a little annoying, since most of us in our everyday lives manage to cope, scrape by or even just endure, and here is Cat who just happens to know how to ride, happens to be educated in sword fighting, happens to have maps of Europe memorized in great detail... all the 'happens to' started bothering me after a bit, since there is no one that perfect at the bare age of 19!
What pleased me most about Cat, though, was her resilience. She wasn't beaten down by much; she could face up to the scariest cold mage and to the most fearsome creatures from the spirit world with the same courage. Some people are just like that, I suppose! (Although, don't get me wrong, she did feel fear, and was clumsy and sometimes made stupid choices, but none of them were overly lasting.)
Other than Cat, the other main character is a cold mage, Andevai. He is one of the most powerful ones around, and yet he acts like a spoiled brat. Understandable, seeing what environment he grew up in, but still annoying as hell. I loved seeing him grow throughout the book. And by the time the novel came to a close I didn't hate him so much anymore.
Most of the other characters were very interesting. The trolls and the humans (or "rats") make an intriguing mix of races, as the mages vs nobles make an interesting mix as well.
The plot was very very active. Things were happening constantly. There wasn't any time where I was bored or was waiting for action to happen or felt that Elliot was taking too much time out to explain things. There was just enough explanations between the plot to make me understand what was going on. I was a little incredulous at times (for instance, how hospitable some of the people could be... it just doesn't seem realistic to me) but in general it was a great plot. It moved forward at a fast pace, definitely.
Elliot did have some recurring themes throughout the story that she would refer back to often; sometimes too often. The theme of cold and freezing weather was hit home more than once; and each time harder than the last. I am not sure if this was her way to deal with the current issue of global warming, or if she just decided that writing about how freezing people are and how the cold makes them feel immobile and their lips turn blue was a fun idea. But it was well written (if a bit over the top).
There is a lot of emphasis put on respect and customs in this book. Like, a lot. Arrogant young mages will listen to an elder even if they are of lower birth, lower income and lower power. Just because they are old. It was rather odd to see how that worked, but I was charmed by it. We could use more respect like that (though, two ways please) in our societies. On the other hand, the arrogant nobles and mages demanded respect in a way that just left a bad taste in my mouth. Honestly, they deserve to be overthrown, just so they can finally realize how rude they are/were.
Another theme would be the historical aspects... a lot of political situations were reminiscent of our own history (at least, that which is told to us in school). It was fascinating to see how our world history could be rewoven to make sense in a very different world view. It didn't detract from the story for me, but it also didn't add much. (Well, the ghoul's with the salt mines in Africa were a bit distracting, but it wasn't only addressed a few times.)
As to the ending, which a few of my friends have already reported as having hated, I did't mind it too much. It was set up for the second in the series, obviously, but I didn't feel like there was no conclusion. The adventures were over (for the moment), the girls were safe (for the moment) and had found help. They still have a way to go if they want to 'live long and prosper' but somehow I feel that they'll make it! The girls were having adventures up until the very end of the book, so I can see why some people would not think that the ending was conclusive enough. But for this 'part' it worked for me.
I enjoyed the book immensely. It was a fun story to read and something new. Not too much focus put on love lives and paranormal creatures and science fiction battles but rather just an innocent young woman trying to figure out her life. It really resonated with him, which is why I gave this book 5 stars.
Elliot created a very interesting world here: essentially the Roman empire reined control a lot longer than in our history, and the major conflict is science vs magic (not the science vs religion that we have in our history books). Aside from that, there are a lot of similar events that take place in this world in comparison to ours: discovery of another continent called Amerike; new discovery of combustion engines and steam engines; etc etc. One of the greatest differences is that the ice shelf extends all the way down past the Baltic Sea, and that even in October it is bitterly cold in middle Europe.
Set in this world there is a very wide cast of characters. I loved how the focus wasn't on Cat's (the main character) love life but rather on her quest to find out the truth about herself and her world. She was, what I consider more and more to be a "perfect main character", in that she had all the necessary skills and resources in order to meet every problem she encountered with a solution. It got a little annoying, since most of us in our everyday lives manage to cope, scrape by or even just endure, and here is Cat who just happens to know how to ride, happens to be educated in sword fighting, happens to have maps of Europe memorized in great detail... all the 'happens to' started bothering me after a bit, since there is no one that perfect at the bare age of 19!
What pleased me most about Cat, though, was her resilience. She wasn't beaten down by much; she could face up to the scariest cold mage and to the most fearsome creatures from the spirit world with the same courage. Some people are just like that, I suppose! (Although, don't get me wrong, she did feel fear, and was clumsy and sometimes made stupid choices, but none of them were overly lasting.)
Other than Cat, the other main character is a cold mage, Andevai. He is one of the most powerful ones around, and yet he acts like a spoiled brat. Understandable, seeing what environment he grew up in, but still annoying as hell. I loved seeing him grow throughout the book. And by the time the novel came to a close I didn't hate him so much anymore.
Most of the other characters were very interesting. The trolls and the humans (or "rats") make an intriguing mix of races, as the mages vs nobles make an interesting mix as well.
The plot was very very active. Things were happening constantly. There wasn't any time where I was bored or was waiting for action to happen or felt that Elliot was taking too much time out to explain things. There was just enough explanations between the plot to make me understand what was going on. I was a little incredulous at times (for instance, how hospitable some of the people could be... it just doesn't seem realistic to me) but in general it was a great plot. It moved forward at a fast pace, definitely.
Elliot did have some recurring themes throughout the story that she would refer back to often; sometimes too often. The theme of cold and freezing weather was hit home more than once; and each time harder than the last. I am not sure if this was her way to deal with the current issue of global warming, or if she just decided that writing about how freezing people are and how the cold makes them feel immobile and their lips turn blue was a fun idea. But it was well written (if a bit over the top).
There is a lot of emphasis put on respect and customs in this book. Like, a lot. Arrogant young mages will listen to an elder even if they are of lower birth, lower income and lower power. Just because they are old. It was rather odd to see how that worked, but I was charmed by it. We could use more respect like that (though, two ways please) in our societies. On the other hand, the arrogant nobles and mages demanded respect in a way that just left a bad taste in my mouth. Honestly, they deserve to be overthrown, just so they can finally realize how rude they are/were.
Another theme would be the historical aspects... a lot of political situations were reminiscent of our own history (at least, that which is told to us in school). It was fascinating to see how our world history could be rewoven to make sense in a very different world view. It didn't detract from the story for me, but it also didn't add much. (Well, the ghoul's with the salt mines in Africa were a bit distracting, but it wasn't only addressed a few times.)
As to the ending, which a few of my friends have already reported as having hated, I did't mind it too much. It was set up for the second in the series, obviously, but I didn't feel like there was no conclusion. The adventures were over (for the moment), the girls were safe (for the moment) and had found help. They still have a way to go if they want to 'live long and prosper' but somehow I feel that they'll make it! The girls were having adventures up until the very end of the book, so I can see why some people would not think that the ending was conclusive enough. But for this 'part' it worked for me.
I enjoyed the book immensely. It was a fun story to read and something new. Not too much focus put on love lives and paranormal creatures and science fiction battles but rather just an innocent young woman trying to figure out her life. It really resonated with him, which is why I gave this book 5 stars.
emmascc's review against another edition
5.0
I really need to write a proper review for these books because they are so good!!!! Honestly, you need to put these on your to-read list
jwels's review against another edition
4.0
It took me a bit to pick up this book and start reading. I had read some reviews regarding the book and was scared that it wouldn't hold me interest but it did and I'm glad that I finally got it read! I'm looking forward to the rest of the story.
itabar's review against another edition
3.0
Liked it mildly.
Didn't care for the "hero" and thought his transformation from total unsympathetic jerk to less-of-a-jerk was only mildly believable.
The ending was unsatisfactory. Yes, I know it's a trilogy, but still. It was a stopping point, but this is *not* a book you'd read by itself.
The world building was complex, and frankly, a bit confusing and i suspect a lot of the info we're given is unnecessary (i.e we're given us a lot of historical information that I'm not sure we need for the story.)
Didn't care for the "hero" and thought his transformation from total unsympathetic jerk to less-of-a-jerk was only mildly believable.
The ending was unsatisfactory. Yes, I know it's a trilogy, but still. It was a stopping point, but this is *not* a book you'd read by itself.
The world building was complex, and frankly, a bit confusing and i suspect a lot of the info we're given is unnecessary (i.e we're given us a lot of historical information that I'm not sure we need for the story.)