MY ⭐️ RATING: 5/5
Format: Advanced Reader Copy
BOOK DESCRIPTION
In Epheria, you are the predators. Here, you are the prey.
Almost four hundred years have passed since the fall of The Order. Four hundred years since the empire rose. Four hundred years since the last dragon egg hatched.
In the icy wasteland of Valacia, Aeson Virandr searches for the one thing that could turn the tide of war: hope.
But there is a reason no soul has ever returned from Valacia.
Hope comes at a cost, one that can only be paid in blood.
*Note: this is a companion novella to The Bound and The Broken series, not a standalone novella. Previous books in the series should be read first.*
MY REVIEW
Cahill must have sold his soul to be able to drop masterpiece after masterpiece the way that he does, it’s like witnessing Leonardo DaVinci create works of art or witnessing Ludwig van Beethoven compose sonatas over and over, something is fishy here. The Ice is a frozen hell of a good time, it’s every bit mesmerizing, as it is edge of your seat terrifying. The name The Ice doesn’t do this story justice, it should be called The Bloody Ice because Cahill turns the dial up on the gruesomeness to another level with some intense action that had me feening for more. The Ice is a chilling blend of fantasy and horror, with a gripping tale of hope and survival. Though this is book 3.5, the events of this story takes place right before and leads up to the start of Of Blood and Fire, it also comes with cameos of some very familiar faces that you know and love, as well as introducing some new ones that we won’t see again, and some that we will likely see again.
I love when a story such as this, has a fast pace to it, but still never feels rushed, Ryan is able to cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time and deliver an unforgettable experience. The story follows Aeson in his quest to get a valacian egg to give the rebellion hope, and it is either going to change your perspective or give you a better understanding of why he does things that he does. Ryan adds a lot of depth in this story and it gives a better understanding of why Erik and Dahlen act the way that they do, which was definitely needed. I love that there is a lot more of the personal side to Aeson in this story to show what being a father to Erik and Dahlen means to him.
“Our legacies are in the lives we change, the words we keep, the legends we create and the people we create them with.”
I loved what Ryan did with this story, by going back to tell us how Aeson Vrandir was able to get the Valacian dragon egg. This story reminds me a little bit of Pitch Black because it has an eery darkness to it with creatures lurking around every corner and well, they are doing everything in the dark. It also kinda reminded me a bit of The Terror and even Kong: Skull Island in a way, as they are on a foreign land having to deal with all kinds of new predators they’ve never faced before. Speaking of that, Cahill introduces some new creatures that could easily haunt your nightmares the way the depthstalkers and the kerathlin already do, which shouldn’t come as a surprise because Cahill really likes to dig into that dark side of his and bring out some nightmarish creatures to play with. I also must say, I did a re-read in preparation for Of Empires and Dust, and Derek Perkins narration is just phenomenal!
Cahill does a great job of bringing Valacia to life with its many horrors as I felt the tension of going into the unknown of Valacia with the likelihood of the trip leading to nothing but death. Every scene I feared for characters even when I knew certain ones would be alive, I was nearly brought to tears on more than one occasion because Ryan not only has an insatiable lust for death but also wants to pull on your heart strings too, on top of that, there’s also a great mix of humor, even during the most inopportune times which made the scenes even better. Oh yeah, I didn’t mention that there are freaking massive white dragons! Yes, MORE DRAGONS!!!! So put your coats on because Valacia is no easy place to survive and you’re in for one frozen hell of a good time!
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