A Cavern of Black Ice opens J.V. Jones's Sword of Shadows trilogy. (Her first novel was The Baker's Boy.) The story is set in a land divided among small warring clans of hunters and more sophisticated southern cities whose lords covet the clan territories.

Young clansman Raif has a touch of "old blood" magic that guides his arrows to the heart. Bad times come when a hunting party that includes his father and clan chief is wiped out by a supernaturally aided attack, and Raif's open suspicion of the brutal new leader eventually drives him into exile. Meanwhile, Iss, overlord of Spire Vanis city, keeps a chained-up sorcerer whose powers he channels by revolting means, and has unexplained but shuddersome plans for his "foster daughter" Ash--herself an unwilling focus of dread forces. Raif and Ash find themselves fleeing together through wintry, hostile clanlands, pursued by Iss's vilest henchmen, seeking the dubious goal of the Cavern of Black Ice.

What lifts this tale far above routine quest fantasy is Jones's deft characterization, relentless intensity, and unsparing depiction of pain and slow-healing injury. She has a flair for memorably horrid images. Here a sorcerer gloats over one of his nastier tricks: "A man could not fight when his corneas were snapped from his eyes like badges from a chest."

This hefty volume is over 800 pages long, but the narrative grips hard once it's gained momentum, and the pages turn increasingly fast. Strong meat. Next comes book two, A Fortress of Grey Ice. --David Langford, Amazon.co.uk


From Publishers Weekly
The first volume of Jones's (The Barbed Coil, etc.) new trilogy is set in a sub-arctic land so vividly realized that it contributes notably to the book's suspense and emotional impactAeven as it almost overpowers its characters. Ashd March, the adopted daughter of a nobleman; Raif and Dray Sevrance, two accomplished archers; and Angus Lok, a once formidable warrior, are becoming increasingly aware, through alarming signsAa camp of murdered men, a recurring nightmare of ice and blood, an ominous call to armsAof a magical evil coming their way. The destinies of these four, particularly of Ash and Raif, become progressively entwined, even entangled, as the novel lumbers toward its inconclusive ending. Throughout, Jones skillfully mixes bits borrowed from history, folklore, religion (her shamans are particularly well done) and other fantasy works, but her attention to these details and her determination to introduce every element of her trilogy at once slow the pacing and sometimes create more confusion than clarity. Nonetheless, Jones has a real gift for evocative description, and the novel will satisfy most saga lovers. Agent, Russ Galen. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
A fugitive from his clan and an orphan driven by inner voices join forces to prevent the return of ancient powers whose coming presages the end of the world. The author of The Book of Words trilogy (Master and Fool, LJ 10/15/96) begins a new fantasy epic set in a harsh world of warring clans and ruthless sorcerers. Jones's skillful storytelling creates an atmosphere of rising tension and dark foreboding that sets the stage for future sequels. A solid choice for fantasy collections.Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Review
"Tough, incisive, character-driven fantasy."


Book Description
HIGH ADVENTURE ON THE SWORD EDGE OF DESTINY

As a newborn Ash March was abandoned--left for dead at the foot of a frozen mountain. Found and raised by the Penthero Iss, the mighty Surlord of Spire Vanis, she has always known she is different. Terrible dreams plague her and sometimes in the darkness she hears dread voices from another world. Iss watches her as she grows to womanhood, eager to discover what powers his ward might possess. As his interest quickens, he sends his living blade, Marafice Eye, to guard her night and day.

Raif Sevrance, a young man of Clan Blackhail, also knows he is different, with uncanny abilities that distance him from the clan. But when he and his brother survive an ambush that plunges the entire Northern Territories into war, he yet seeks justice for his own . . . even if means he must forsake clan and kin.

Ash and Raif must learn to master their powers and accept their joint fate if they are to defeat an ancient prophecy and prevent the release of the pure evil known as the End Lords.



Download Description
It is said in the Known Lands that when one prophecy dies in its fulfilling, somewhere another moves into place. When Jack, the baker's boy, successfully fulfills the prophecy that centered around his birth, a new prophecy arises to the north, where lie other lands, harsher places, populated by people just as intriguing and complex as those we met in the Book of Words trilogy. Two young residents of the northern territories--Raif Sevrance, member of the Clan Blackhail, and Ash March, a girl who is suddenly overtaken by powerful dreams--find themselves first drawn together, then swept up in a series of events that will bring their peoples into a vast war. Dark magic, great bravery, treachery, danger and heroism join in a three-book series that brings to a new level the writing talents of J. V. Jones.


About the Author
J. V. Jones is the author of the bestselling Book of Words trilogy, The Barbed Coil, and A Cavern of Black Ice, the first book of the Sword of Shadows series. Born in England, she now makes her home in San Diego, California, where she's working on the third Sword of Shadows novel, A Sword from Red Ice.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Once in one thousand years an innocent is born with the uncontrollable power and need to reach across the barrier of worlds, into the realm of the dead - and release the Endlords from their eternal prison, to annihilate all life. Now, after a millennium of truce, war erupts between the cold giants of the far north. As the great and ancient clan of Blackhall brings war to the Dog Lord of Clan Bludd, two warriors are caught in the bloodshed. Raif and Drey Sevrance are brothers and clansmen alike, but soon the cold-blooded schemes of their new chief will tear them apart and brand Raif a traitor to his clan. Meanwhile, in the cool limestone caverns of Mask Fortress, Ash March stumbles upon an old and terrible evil hidden away from the light. Penthero Iss, uncrowned king of Spire Vanis and the man who calls himself Ash's father, has discovered a monstrous way to steal magic from his captives. And Ash fears she will be next.

SYNOPSIS

It is said in the Known Lands that when one prophecy dies in its fulfilling, somewhere another moves into place.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

The first volume of Jones's (The Barbed Coil, etc.) new trilogy is set in a sub-arctic land so vividly realized that it contributes notably to the book's suspense and emotional impact--even as it almost overpowers its characters. Ashd March, the adopted daughter of a nobleman; Raif and Dray Sevrance, two accomplished archers; and Angus Lok, a once formidable warrior, are becoming increasingly aware, through alarming signs--a camp of murdered men, a recurring nightmare of ice and blood, an ominous call to arms--of a magical evil coming their way. The destinies of these four, particularly of Ash and Raif, become progressively entwined, even entangled, as the novel lumbers toward its inconclusive ending. Throughout, Jones skillfully mixes bits borrowed from history, folklore, religion (her shamans are particularly well done) and other fantasy works, but her attention to these details and her determination to introduce every element of her trilogy at once slow the pacing and sometimes create more confusion than clarity. Nonetheless, Jones has a real gift for evocative description, and the novel will satisfy most saga lovers. Agent, Russ Galen.

Library Journal

A fugitive from his clan and an orphan driven by inner voices join forces to prevent the return of ancient powers whose coming presages the end of the world. The author of The Book of Words trilogy (Master and Fool, LJ 10/15/96) begins a new fantasy epic set in a harsh world of warring clans and ruthless sorcerers. Jones's skillful storytelling creates an atmosphere of rising tension and dark foreboding that sets the stage for future sequels. A solid choice for fantasy collections.

Des Moines Sunday Register

Filled with great characters￯﾿ﾽstrings out the suspense right up until the very last word.

The Pilot

Dark sorcery, adventure and peril￯﾿ﾽa sparkling first volume in this new trilogy.

Kirkus Reviews

New doorstopper fantasy (and first of a trilogy entitled Sword of Shadows) set in the same world as Jones's Book of Words trilogy, but otherwise unconnected. Frigid winter grips the Northern Territories. Ambitious, malignant Penthero Iss, Surlord of Mask Fortress, possesses a broken, captive sorcerer whom he tortures to obtain magical power. To weaken and distract the barbarian warriors of the Clanholds, he's sent his agent, the sorcerer Sarga Veys, to set clan against clan and brother against brother. And his adoptive daughter, Ash March, is terrified of him: she realizes she's being raised for some dreadful purpose. As a result of Sarga Veys's maneuvers, young Raif Sevrance is outcast from Clan Blackhail; his father, the clan chief, lies dead, while the new chief, the treacherous Mace Blackhail, commits his fellow-clansmen to slaughtering women and children. And poor Ash, driven almost mad by the terrible, seductive voices that plunder her spirit through her dreams, steels herself to run away. Luckily, Raif and his uncle, Angus Lok, happen by. Angus, a member of the good-magic Phage, at once recognizes Ash's innate magic powers and fights Iss's men to prevent her recapture, while Raif's sorcerous Old Blood taint enables him to tap into Ash's tormented visions. Helped by the Sull (elves, sort of), they learn that Ash is a Reach: she has the power to break into the Blind, the underworld where ancient, evil sorcerers are confined, and release them into the world. But even if Ash can resist their dreadful siren voices, the magic growing within will kill her-unless she can reach the remote Cavern of Black Ice and discharge the magic energies. Imaginative and vivid,with a showdown that, after 752 well-padded, sometimes unpleasantly sadistic pages, falls flat. Still, Jones (The Barbed Coil, 1997, etc.) has talent, and it shows. .