A review by beckiebookworm1974
Shadow and Ice by Gena Showalter

3.0

3.5 Stars.
This is the start of an imaginative new series by this author and though this wasn't my favourite of her books I have read to date I still enjoyed myself and this was an intriguing start that has stacked the deck nicely for future story progression.
So this is the 103 rd All-War, This is a process that is enacted many times on many worlds whenever a new realm is discovered.
To stop the pillaging and fighting over resources worlds get to send a single combatant to fight for there sovereign for ownership of the new world.
Gladiator style fight to the death with an entire planet as the battleground, last man standing wins all or at least the ruler of his world does.
He is Knox of Iviland a stone-cold combatant who controls the shadows and will stop at nothing to win.
Already an All-War four-time winner he now after the death of his daughter else has nothing to lose.
His end game? win the war, gain his freedom and then annihilate his king.
One who he is compelled to obey because of the slave bands on his body and he will allow nothing to stand in his way, not even the lovely Vale London.
As a new player Eric, the Viking unwittingly joins the melee and Knox and his fellow warriors find themselves imprisoned and encased in ice for over a millennium.
Upon his eventual liberation from an icy prison and sensing that this strange female is an integral part of his future survival Knox absconds with her taking her to his hidden bunker.
So character-wise Knox is very rough and ready and a bit of a brute understandable considering his violent background.
He is literally a weapon of war and he doesn't tolerate any weakness.
Vale herself is such a liability and where usually he would annihilate he finds himself going against his very own nature and protecting her.
Vale is his perfect foil an orphan who has grown up in the system she is all hard edges and prickly attitude.
She has been metaphorically kicked back down so many times she refuses to show her weaknesses hiding behind a gruff and snarky persona to protect her soft underbelly.
These two had instant chemistry though Knox initially did fight it somewhat.
Enemies but also reluctant allies while they both are of use to the other.
So, This did get a tad cheesy at times and the language used could be somewhat juvenile but this was essentially at heart a fun read.
Fast-paced and jumping headfirst into the action this was such a unique and imaginative concept.
and I will definitely be reading the next book in this series.
One final observation because there were so many players here it sometimes did get a trifle confusing and I did get lost in regard to some of the fight scenes other than that this was all grand an enjoyable experience.



Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
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