Ice Forged

Written by Gail Z. Martin

Narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds

Condemned as a murderer for killing the man who dishonored his sister, Blaine "Mick" McFadden has spent the last six years in Velant, a penal colony in the frigid northern wastelands. Harsh military discipline and the oppressive magic keep a fragile peace as colonists struggle against a hostile environment. But the supply ships from Dondareth have stopped coming, boding ill for the kingdom that banished the colonists. Now, as the world's magic runs wild, McFadden and the people of Velant must fight to survive and decide their fate ... From Gail Z. Martin, author of the beloved series THE CHRONICLES OF THE NECROMANCER and THE FALLEN KINGS CYCLE, comes a new fantasy adventure for the ages. Welcome to the end of the world. Welcome to the beginning of THE ASCENDANT KINGDOMS SAGA.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Sep 13, 2013
• ISBN: 9781470361037

Reviews for Ice Forged

[sjusyp · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

An interesting premise, well-executed without regard for genres or expectations. I found the story itself entirely entertaining, but it did seem to take a long time to get not very far. As this book is the first of a new series, final judgment should be reserved. My free copy was courtesy of the author and goodreads.com.

[mamaove · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I recieved this book as an early reviewer but I have not allowed this to influence my opinion. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I found myself wanting to stop doing anything else so I could finish it but then again not wanting it to end. I look forward to the next installment of this series. First it melded two of my favorite genres....fantasy and vampires. It is well plotted with characters that are easy to like. The banter between the characters can be stiff occasionally but I did find myself chuckling at times. The world building is well thought out and described with appropriate amounts of detail, the fight scenes are well crafted.and it has lots of political intrigue as well. All in all I highly recommend this book to fantasy fans.

[sasham-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Really liked this story. First time I've read this author and I can see I've been missing out. Well paced action and good characters. The only thing I'm upset about is having to wait 12 months for the next instalment!
All the traditional elements that make a good epic fantasy were there only instead of elves and dwarves there were mages and vampires. There are a few characters that could turn out to be on different sides and a presumed dead old lover that could reappear maybe. Looking forward to how it continues.

[altheaann · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This was my first book by Gail Z. Martin. From the cover (I’m not really sure why) I was expecting something a bit more military-SF flavored. Nope. This is straight-up fantasy, and I’d recommend it for anyone in the mood for a big, chunky, entertaining but not-too-demanding tale in the genre.

We’re introduced to a Scottish-tinged land, a feudal realm dependent on magic. Blaine McFadden is heir to a manor, but his father’s atrocities finally drive him to kill the man. This action gets him exiled to the northern penal colony of Velant. Fast-forward a few years (this part felt a bit rushed), and Blaine, now calling himself Mick, has made a life for himself in Velant. Life is hard, and the governor has a grudge against him, but he’s become a self-reliant man, and has gathered friends around him. Then – a magical catastrophe strikes. After quite a lot of chaos, dithering about, messing with enigmatic maps and pendants, and meeting with vampires, among other events, it transpires that Blaine may be the very last heir to the Lords of the Blood who, generations ago, tamed magic for the use of the kingdoms. And that means he may be the only one who has a chance of restoring the power that everyone depends on to keep civilization running.

At some points, the book felt a little bit uneven. I had some issues with the beginning, and it felt odd how there were two POV characters, but one was featured far more prominently than the other. Once the story hit its stride, though, I found it very entertaining, even if the Featured Quest wasn’t the most original concept. It’s also a big ol’ cliffhanger, so it’s a good thing I have the next book in the series on my e-reader and ready to go (thanks to NetGalley!).

I’d say this tale might be enjoyed by fans of Janny Wurts and/or Tad Williams.

[majkia · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Interesting first of a series, with well drawn characters, a complex magical system and world-building that is intriguing. I'll be reading book 2

[wyvernfriend · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really did enjoy this story of an exiled noble who gathers a group around him who fight to restore the balance of magic when it goes wrong. It's an interesting read and I liked the characters. I also like how they survived in the frozen wastes they were exiled to and had created a community of their own. It does resemble a group of role-players with different roles to play in the story and with different skills but for me it was done well. Shortly after reading book 1 I went out and bought books 2 and three.

[kenzen-2 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The writing was so-so. I felt a bit rushed through the story. And just way too many vampires for my taste. That bit should be advertised more.

[autumnturner76 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Was a little skeptical at first, but I enjoyed this book and look forward to the next one. If you like spec fic, check this out.

[lostinalibrary · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When Blaine kills his aristocratic but evil father, he is stripped of his title and banished to Edgeland, a penal colony far away from civilization. He soon realizes that beheading may have been the kinder punishment. Edgeland is a bitter cold wasteland and the Warden is a cruel man who takes his own bitterness out on the prisoners with the aid of his mages who are just as cruel. But Blaine is determined to make the best of this bad situation. First thing, he changes his name to Mick. After a few years, the prisoners are given a modicum of freedom. They are allowed to leave the prison grounds and earn the status of citizens. Mick and a group of fellow prisoners have begun to make a decent life for themselves when war breaks out and supply ships stop coming. Then the unimaginable happens: in a world dependant on magics both big and small, in an act of mutually assured destruction, the world in broken and Blaine may be the only one able to fix it if only there was a way back from Edgeland. Ice Forged is the first book in author Gail Z. Martin’s The Ascendant Kingdoms Saga and, as is the case of many epic fantasies, it felt like a setup for the rest of the series. We are introduced to the main characters and there are many as well as the secondary characters. For the most part, I liked the characters but they did feel like they were taken right out of some RPG lineup: we have the aristocrat, the thief, the soldier and, of course, the one female character, the courtesan turned spy. The only thing missing is the wizard but there are a couple of vampires and a mage’s assistant to make up for this lack. I also found the ending something of a letdown. With the first book in a series, a cliffhanger wouldn’t have been a surprise but here it just kind of …ends almost as if the story lost momentum and came to a slow rolling stop.Still, despite this, I quite enjoyed Ice Forged. The characters may be stock but they’re likable and the world-building was interesting, especially Edgeland. I also liked the idea of a world where almost everyone has a touch of magic, just enough so that food doesn’t spoil, ships are guided safely through the shoals, and some are given an advantage in battle and then what happens when it is suddenly gone. I also appreciated how Martin combines epic fantasy with dystopian making what could have been a fairly standard tale into a much more interesting one. The vivid images of the world’s breaking made up for any hesitations I had about the story and I look forward to the rest of the series.

[libstaff2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An epic fantasy with a traditional quest and an interesting ice and snow setting that's illustrated well. At times, it feels like The Hobbit or Game of Thrones. The pace slows just a bit about 3/4 through, but epic fantasy readers shouldn't mind because of the extensive setup for the sequel.Net Galley Feedback

[stefferoo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've long been curious about Ice Forged. Though I also own The Summoner from her Chronicles of the Necromancer series, for some reason I just knew I wanted this one to be my first Gail Z. Martin book. They're both stories set in high fantasy worlds, but lands of ice and snow have always fascinated me, I don't know why. Maybe because I think these harsh settings are often fertile ground for exceptional protagonists, driven to be harder in an environment marked by extreme temperatures and scarcity. I love to read about characters becoming shaped by those experiences and overcoming those challenges. So it was a pleasant surprise when the book began by throwing its main protagonist into a situation that was even more harrowing than I'd expected. Blaine McFadden is convicted of murder, and though his reasons for the killing were honorable, the young nobleman is sentenced to live out the rest of his days in a penal colony on Velant, an icy wasteland at the edge of the world. Six years later, Blaine (now known as "Mick") is a new man, emerging as a natural leader in the eyes of the other convicts and colonists. Still, they are kept under the thumb of an oppressive governor, and are at the mercy of the mages who are always too keen to administer their swift and often cruel discipline. But one day, the supply ships stop coming. War has torn Blaine's former home of Dondareth apart, and the magic that civilization had always depended upon has been lost. It changes everything. Without the mage's power holding them back, the colonists of Velant take back their freedom but afterwards they too must decide their own fate. For many, this frigid land has become home, and they would like nothing more than to stay. Blaine, however, still has a far greater destiny to fulfill. This is good old fashioned down-to-earth epic fantasy. And I use that description as a compliment. In many ways, this book reminds me of the pure delight and enjoyment I felt when I read Michael J. Sullivan's Riyria Revelations series, which I also loved; both share that same easy, straightforward writing style with story elements and character-types that won't be anything new to the avid fantasy reader, and yet I felt warm and comfortable wrapped in their familiarity. I was also glad to see I was right about the strong characters, all of whom are wonderful and likeable in this novel. They are what drives this story, and makes the reader care about what happens in this book. When the magic went away, I found myself completely gripped by the consequences, shocked by certain deaths I never expected or kept on edge about what characters would do in response to such a big change in their world. Despite how I described the novel in the previous paragraph, scenes like these are what sets Ice Forged apart and makes it special. I'm particularly impressed with the world which Gail Z. Martin has created, with emphasis on the background of the lore and magic. Not that the descriptions and details of the places in Velant or Dondareth weren't rendered well either, but I was much more drawn in by the histories of the land and people that she has woven. I love stories that establish a long, vivid past, because then the effects on the present and the future feel more impactful. That is the case here. All in all, Ice Forged is a solid start to a new series. I eagerly await the next Ascendant Kingdoms novel to continue following Blaine on his quest to restore stability to his world.

[raistlinsshadow · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book had a solid, interesting plot, with a few jarring moments of anachronistic speech and some missing (or easily skimmed-over, I'm not sure which) pieces.The premise is intriguing—what happens when magic dies, particularly when it's an intrinsic part of life? Blaine McFadden is immediately pegged as the unwilling leader type, landing in a penal colony after he kills his father and scraping together a lifestyle there with other "colonists" after serving time in the prison.My main complaints were about the dialogue. This is clearly a book set in medieval/Renaissance-type fantasy time, but every so often, one of the characters would say something extremely 21st-century-sounding. This wouldn't be a problem if the rest of the book were written like that, but it seems like the author couldn't think of a different way to phrase a particular concept or expression in a way that would sound more in keeping with the setting.There also were a few places where I'm not sure if I was reading too fast or if parts of the plot had just not been included, but I'd come across those and have that distinct feeling that I missed something along the way. Whether that was my fault or the author's I'm not sure...Once in a while the innuendo (for violence or for sexy things, or sometimes for swearing) would get obnoxious. The book doesn't have a PG-13 rating to maintain, and I couldn't tell if the author was using innuendo and vague terms to be funny (highly out of place in a battle scene) or because not everything got thought through (which not everything does when writing) or because it just didn't seem like the right place or time to write something out. It could work, and sometimes it did, but there were other times that I'd read something like that and wonder why she's not just coming out and saying what she means.After all that, am I looking forward to the upcoming books in the series? Sure. I'd give them a read. This was entertaining and easy to read. It wasn't particularly dense or hard to follow, and there aren't a lot of storylines to keep straight. I generally liked the characters (although two of them are very similar and it's difficult to keep them straight). Borrowing a phrase from a friend, this book makes for good "brain popcorn", and the ending certainly left me wondering what was going to happen.

[ljbryant_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Like the early books in most epic fantasy series, Ice Forged is mostly about setup. A great deal of time is spent on world and character building, for future novels. This is pretty typical for this kind of story. However, Gail Martin does her world building quite well, and I found myself, at the end of this book, wishing that the rest of the series were already available.I quite enjoyed the idea in this novel of magic as a pervasive aid to everyday life -- and found it interesting how much the characters in the story relied on that magic without even thinking about it. Of course, there are higher powered magic users, but almost all average citizens seem to have some small talent (improved ability with a sword, luck at cards, strength -- you get the idea). This one small thing has a huge impact on the otherwise medieval setting. I greatly look forward to the remainder of this series.

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Ice Forged by Gail Z Martin is the first book in the epic fantasy series called The Ascendant Kingdoms Saga. Being the first book, it devotes much of it’s time to setting the scene, creating a back story and introducing the characters. Lord Blaine McFadden has been sentenced to spend the remainder of his life in the arctic penal colony of Velant, while back in his homeland war has broken out. This is an almost medieval society but they rely on the power of magic for many things. When something goes horribly wrong with the magic, the homeland is almost destroyed and the penal colony finds itself isolated and alone.Overall, I found this book to be a mixed bag. I loved the idea of the colonists struggling to survive in such harsh conditions, but unfortunately this wasn’t the book the author had in mind. The first half of the book was about bringing a group of characters together, the second half about having these characters return to the homeland to help restore the magic. I found my interest being watered down by having two main characters to focus on. At over 500 pages, this book dragged at times and I thought the introduction of vampires overly complicated the story. One reoccurring thought kept coming back to me. If this is a society where many had magic abilities, why had it not progressed beyond a feudal lifestyle.Ice Forged is very readable with plenty of action and likeable characters but it just didn’t have that special spark that I was hoping for. I would say this is a book that would appeal to avid fantasy lovers, but it isn’t going to make you hold your breath with amazement.

[saltmanz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've picked up a number of books through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program over the years. Some have been phenomenal, and some have been pretty good, but a lot of them have been pretty mediocre, if not downright bad. So when I signed up for a chance to win a copy of Gail Z. Martin's upcoming novel, I had my fingers crossed: all I really wanted was an enjoyable, competently-written fantasy from an established author at a well-known publisher.Ice Forged delivered exactly that.The basic premise was an intriguing one: an arctic penal colony gets cut off from the rest of the world after the magical version of nuclear Armageddon. Has the post-apocalyptic scenario been done before in a fantasy world? If so, I haven't read it yet, which isn't saying a lot, other than that the idea here was new enough to me to be exciting. Anyway, the main character, a nobleman's son by the name of Blaine McFadden, gets sentenced to Velant, the aforementioned penal colony at the top of the world. There's some quick jumps in time as we see Blaine adjusting to his new life, while back on the mainland we're introduced to a secondary protagonist, a functionary of the royal court named Bevin Connor. It's through his eyes that we witness the magical strike which lays waste to the country of Donderath, while Connor himself escapes aboard a vessel headed for...Velant.Martin's an established author with a couple of published trilogies to her name, and it shows here. There's nothing flashy, her prose isn't noteworthy in the slightest, the characters aren't particularly deep, and the book doesn't make you think. But it is eminently readable; the pages and the minutes fly by in a blur. If nothing else, Martin shows herself to be a polished and professional storyteller.Having said that, I can't help but lament what Ice Forged could have been. Granted, this is just the first book in a series, so Martin's laying the groundwork for future volumes, here, but. As much as I enjoyed Bevin Connor's storyline, imagine if events on Donderath went unexplained and unwitnessed by the reader. Suddenly, the supply ships stop showing up in Velant, and Blaine McFadden's got a mystery on his hands, and the reader is just as bewildered as he is. Suddenly, the mystery of the book becomes "What happened to Donderath?" instead of—well, that would be telling. But I think it could have been pretty amazing.And while we're on the subject of Blaine McFadden, one thing with him that bugged me: during his years in Velant, he adopts the nickname "Mick" to hide his true identity. Later on, his true heritage comes back to haunt him, and he's forced to decide: is he truly "Mick" or is he "Blaine"? But it's really a false choice, because the narrative has referred to him as "Blaine" for the entirety of the novel, and the only time the reader is reminded of the "Mick" persona is when a character (very rarely) calls him such. Instead, imagine a book that begins with the exile of Blaine McFadden, before switching to The Arctic Adventures Of Mick And Friends, and only after a large portion of the book is it revealed that Mick and Blaine are in fact the same character. Perhaps this is just a side effect of having read too much* of Gene Wolfe and Steven Erikson, two authors who thrive on strategically withholding information from the reader. But sometimes it's worthwhile not to let the reader in on everything. (*I'm kidding, there's no such thing!)I haven't mentioned it yet, but one of the other conceits of Ice Forged that was new to me in the genre was its use vampires. To the best of my knowledge, vampires have traditionally been used as a fantastical element in otherwise-contemporary settings. Here, Martin deploys more-or-less traditional vampires in a fantasy setting. Apparently, this is also true of her other series(es). I found out about this beforehand via the Author Q&A in the back of the book, and went in expecting to hate them. To the contrary, the vampire characters made for one of the more intriguing aspects of the book. Although I should say, Martin may have taken too much of her readers' knowledge of vampires for granted, and not have explained them as thoroughly as she could or should have: I remember being jarred out of the story at one point when one of them was implied to be flying, and I couldn't figure how that was possible, and certainly couldn't remember it having been mentioned before.But those are minor nitpicks. When you get right down to it, the end result is that Ice Forged is a well-written, enjoyable fantasy. Sometimes, that's all you want. [3.5 out of 5 stars]

[sdobie_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Noble Blaine McFadden is exiled to a remote northern colony after killing his father for raping his sister. Meanwhile, the major countries in his world become involved in a major war that culminates in a use of magic that devastates the continent and seems cause magic to stop working. Blaine learns that he may have the key to restoring magic and looks for a way to get back home.Ice Forged seemed like it might have promise as a sort of post-nuclear story in a fantasy setting, but I found the whole book to be fairly bland.It is set in a culture where magic use was supposed to be pervasive, yet seems to not be any different from standard medieval Europe. A large portion of the book is just the characters wandering to different places where they meet someone who gives a long lecture on history or the nature of magic. The characters all seem fairly generic and interchangeable. Ice Forged is just unexceptional fantasy that did not leave me excited to read the rest of the series.

[twolfe360 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As an early reviewer, I looked forward to reading Gail Z. Martin's Ice Forged. I had thoroughly enjoyed The Summoner and it's sequel The Blood King. I found reading Ice Forged to be an enjoyable experience although not as enjoyable as the those earlier works. Having said that Ice Forge does deliver well enough that I look forward to its sequel to find out how the saga continues. Ice Forged is a good book but unfortunately is pales against the earlier works. It is slower paced at the beginning, starting out with a bang like The Summoner but then slowing down by immediately shifting to 6 years in the future. Martin's writing keeps the reader engaged as we meet the main characters, Blaine and Connor, with the action being split between the two and their two settings. The action follows the classic quest formula with Blaine gaining companions who bring their individual skills into play while Connor discovers a secret and embarks on the quest. Like The Summoner, Ice Forged has the additional vampire mythos. With the mythos being the same, I am sure that the earlier series and this series is part of the same "universe". I recommend Ice Forged to fans of Gail Z. Martin and to fans of heroic quest. It is well written with interesting characters although a little slower starting then her earlier books.

[thebooknerd · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've never read anything by Gail Martin before, and now I think I've been seriously missing out. If Ice Forged is anything to judge by, this is one incredibly skilled author. This book is a hole-in-one success -- the plot is intriguing, the characters are memorable, and the world Martin creates is both familiar and fantastical. From cover to cover, I enjoyed every word. Thank goodness this book marks the start of a series because I defintely want more.

[bookgirl59 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Ice Forge is the first of a new saga by Gail Z. Martin. As such, it starts out jumping around between different characters and I had a hard time getting into it. However, as the tale unwinds the characters come together and I became interested. The down side of that is that it left me hanging at the very point when I really started to care what happened. I may pick this saga up again when the whole series is written, but until then, I don't like cliff hangers.