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"Cry of the Icemark" by Stuart Hill
- Author:
- Stuart Hill
- Publisher:
- Scholastic/Chicken House, 2005
- Reviewed by:
- Holly Sanhuber, Muskego Public Library
Although werewolves and talking snow leopards number among the species
in this well-crafted first novel, fantasy is only one- lesser- strand
in the lush tapestry. This is a coming-of-age novel, a story of war’s
devastation, and a hymn to honorable and courageous humanity. Unlikely
heroes include a fledgling queen and her advisor, the mysterious Oskan.
At the beginning of the tale, both teens are unsure of their powers,
and untested. Both face challenges and grow through grief and
adversity. They have believable moments of fear and weakness, and must
fight the desperate desire to thrust their burdens onto those older and
more experienced. While the nearly 500 page book requires a reader with
staying power, the author rewards his audience with rich descriptions
of people, landscapes, weather, and battles. The king is described as a
huge man, with a voice “…like a storm in the mountains, with a laugh
like a rockslide…” (p ll3) A leopard runs “…with the grade and beauty
of muscled water.” (p. 290) Hill also takes delight in his characters’
foibles, and their unique names. Valiant King Redrought’s fate is made
more poignant when his massive warrior might is contrasted with his
kindness, his fondness for pink fuzzy slippers, his affection for the
palace kitten, his love for his daughter, and the care he takes in
designing her education. While not fond of book learning, Thirrin Freer
Stong-in-the-Arm Lindenshield, Wild Cat of the North, has been trained
as a doughty and fearless warrior. Her temper and pride are also
fearsome, and she must battle both, searching for the diplomacy
necessary to make alliances- the only way to arm the Icemark against
invaders. Some writers see war as a grand adventure. Hill does not make
that mistake. He shows war close-up, as a grim, bloody business, made
necessary when the brutal General Scipio Bellorum, and his hoards of
soldiers invade the Icemark. While the dichotomy may be too neat: total
good threatened by total evil, the crafty vampires add some leavening.
Hill also shows Bellorum behaving as a despicable bully, instead of
merely telling the reader that he is one. With such careful
preparation, the ending is satisfying and believable. It could be said
about the inhabitants of the Icemark, as is written in the old Scots
song, “Ye stood against them…and sent them homeward tae think again.”
An accompanying CD holds an interview with the author, and readings
from the book.
