A Cavern Of Black Ice: Sword Of Shadows 01 by J. V. Jones

From The Week of July 04, 2010

There's a kind of darkly epic fantasy fiction that has been growing in popularity over the last 20 years. A backlash against Tolkienism and its many, many knockoffs? Perhaps. In my opinion, the standard for this fiction was set high by George R. R. Martin who, in his A Song of Ice And Fire series, redefined grim humor and twisted fate in fantasy. If Martin, then, is the standard that must be met, Ms. Jones comes up uncomfortably short.

In a grim world of ice and snow, governed by corrupt feudal states and the barbaric tribes that border them, a girl is born with the power to beat back the darkness. Her powers, which are largely beyond her own control, are keenly sought after by various strongmen in the world. But despite their covetousness, she falls in with an outcast barbarian clansman who is willing to lead her into the harshness of the tundra in order for her to complete her mission, the mission for which she may or may not have been born.

If A Cavern of Black Ice is your first exposure to the Dark Epic, it might perform well enough. Our two protagonists are interesting enough. Raif, the clansman, is a young and tragic figure who has had his family and his innocence stolen from him in a series of slowly developing cruelties that mostly animate him. Ash, the girl, and her need to believe in someone, anyone, after her orphaned childhood is equally potent and sympathetic. But beyond this, there's almost nothing about this tale that's new or terribly inventive. A quest to save the world? Check. A journey against all odds? Check. Young, tormented love? Half check. And though not everyone can, or even wishes to, write the great, unique novel, it's incumbent upon an author walking well-trodden ground to unearth something new: a plot twist, a kind of magic, an unexpected conclusion, a reconfigured quest... But none of that is here. What's more, the sheer amount of suffering Raif is forced to endure made me wonder why he didn't just end it all. The deck is so clearly stacked against him that there seems, at numerous points, nothing for him to do but lay down and let it all go. The author's hand is too obvious here, as disaster after disaster lines up to kick Raif where it counts. I needed more. But hey, if you like your fantasy with three scoops of savagery and torture, about on par with Joe Abercrombie, you need look no farther. (2/5 Stars)