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City Trilogy #2
City of Ice
Two-time Newbery Honor Award-winning author Laurence Yep returns with the action-packed sequel to the critically-acclaimed City of Fire From the islands of Hawaii, Scirye and her loyal companions have pursued the villainous Mr. Roland and evil dragon Badik all the way to the city of Nova Hafnia in the Arctic Circle. With the help of a trader and his daughter, the companions manage to chase their enemies into the vast and desolate Wastes. They are determined to stop Mr. Roland from getting his hands on the second of the Five Lost Treasures of Emperor Yü, which will give him the power to alter the very fabric of the universe. But few who enter the Wastes ever return, and Scirye has no choice but to call on the Spirit of the North for help. As wild and unpredictable as the Arctic itself, will the Spirit turn out to be friend or foe?
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 19, 2011
About the author
Laurence Yep
123 books303 followersBorn June 14, 1948 in San Francisco, California, Yep was the son of Thomas Gim Yep and Franche Lee Yep. Franche Lee, her family's youngest child, was born in Ohio and raised in West Virginia where her family owned a Chinese laundry. Yep's father, Thomas, was born in China and came to America at the age of ten where he lived, not in Chinatown, but with an Irish friend in a white neighborhood. After troubling times during the Depression, he was able to open a grocery store in an African-American neighborhood. Growing up in San Francisco, Yep felt alienated. He was in his own words his neighborhood's "all-purpose Asian" and did not feel he had a culture of his own. Joanne Ryder, a children's book author, and Yep met and became friends during college while she was his editor. They later married and now live in San Francisco.
Although not living in Chinatown, Yep commuted to a parochial bilingual school there. Other students at the school, according to Yep, labeled him a "dumbbell Chinese" because he spoke only English. During high school he faced the white American culture for the first time. However, it was while attending high school that he started writing for a science fiction magazine, being paid one cent a word for his efforts. After two years at Marquette University, Yep transferred to the University of California at Santa Cruz where he graduated in 1970 with a B.A. He continued on to earn a Ph.D. in English from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1975. Today as well as writing, he has taught writing and Asian American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley and Santa Barbara.
Although not living in Chinatown, Yep commuted to a parochial bilingual school there. Other students at the school, according to Yep, labeled him a "dumbbell Chinese" because he spoke only English. During high school he faced the white American culture for the first time. However, it was while attending high school that he started writing for a science fiction magazine, being paid one cent a word for his efforts. After two years at Marquette University, Yep transferred to the University of California at Santa Cruz where he graduated in 1970 with a B.A. He continued on to earn a Ph.D. in English from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1975. Today as well as writing, he has taught writing and Asian American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley and Santa Barbara.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
February 20, 2013
I loved this book and can not wait until the third book releases. "City of Death" I love the characters and how the book continues to try and capture the same people. How the catch up to them and then some how loose them. I also like how the keep trying and trying to catch up and are there together for each other. In my opinion I liked the first book because it first introduced you to the characters and what is going to happen. Because in the second book it seems that the characters change.
September 5, 2018
Scirye, Kles (a miniature griffin), Bayang (a dragon), Leech, and Koko are far from finished with their quest to catch Badik the dragon and Roland, who stole a pair of priceless artifacts and are certain to do worse if they aren't called to account. Our caravan of justice seekers follows Roland and Badik to the Arctic Circle, where the waters are frozen and temperatures dip to an excruciating minus sixty degrees. Riding on Bayang's back through the icy wind is almost too much for Scirye and her companions to endure, but no one wants to choose a slower mode of travel when Roland and Badik are getting away. Bayang alights in the city of Nova Hafnia for a needed rest, where Scirye finds a new ally: twelve-year-old Roxanna, who is the same age as Scirye and Leech. Roxanna's father, Prince Tarkhun, attempts to detain Scirye because her pursuit of Badik seems suicidal, but Scirye isn't about to be stopped from avenging her sister Nishke, whom Badik killed. Joined by Roxanna in defiance of her father, the group continues along the frigid route toward their enemies.
The full danger of the Arctic becomes apparent when a mystical polar bear attacks. It turns out Lord Resak is no normal bear; he's an amalgamation of every animal spirit in the Arctic, their strength, passion, and dignity in a single powerful body. Lord Resak sympathizes with the goal of eliminating Roland and Badik. His kingdom's location is secret, but would a modicum of risk not be appropriate if Scirye and her friends could deal with these villains once and for all? Roland and Badik haven't survived this long without being perceptive, however. They mount an all-out assault on Lord Resak's kingdom, a battle Scirye's side must win if they are to continue pursuing Roland and Badik. Their resolve is unbroken, but how many beloved allies will die to win the day?
I like City of Ice slightly better than City of Fire, but I'm not sure this trilogy is to my taste. I get mired in the prose and have difficulty processing what I'm reading. I would almost consider rating City of Ice one and a half stars, but it's just not for me. A certain breed of fantasy fan will enjoy it, though, and because I know Laurence Yep is capable of good things, I retain some hope that I'll like the final book. I'm ready for City of Death.
The full danger of the Arctic becomes apparent when a mystical polar bear attacks. It turns out Lord Resak is no normal bear; he's an amalgamation of every animal spirit in the Arctic, their strength, passion, and dignity in a single powerful body. Lord Resak sympathizes with the goal of eliminating Roland and Badik. His kingdom's location is secret, but would a modicum of risk not be appropriate if Scirye and her friends could deal with these villains once and for all? Roland and Badik haven't survived this long without being perceptive, however. They mount an all-out assault on Lord Resak's kingdom, a battle Scirye's side must win if they are to continue pursuing Roland and Badik. Their resolve is unbroken, but how many beloved allies will die to win the day?
I like City of Ice slightly better than City of Fire, but I'm not sure this trilogy is to my taste. I get mired in the prose and have difficulty processing what I'm reading. I would almost consider rating City of Ice one and a half stars, but it's just not for me. A certain breed of fantasy fan will enjoy it, though, and because I know Laurence Yep is capable of good things, I retain some hope that I'll like the final book. I'm ready for City of Death.
January 16, 2014
It was great! Loved it, so, so much!
January 23, 2014
Bears... Badgers... Dragons... People reborn... Warriors... AWESOME!
September 22, 2017
Pretty good! A little less cohesive than the previous book, but I really dig Laurence Yep's earnestness about mythology and arctic wildlife and everything, really. Plus Bayang having to struggle against her star-crossed parental feelings for Leech is hilarious. She just wants to be his mom!
September 13, 2018
Look forward to the next book in the City trilogy and I need to go back and read book #1. The characters were lively. Their interactions with each other were good, amusing, and well written.
April 29, 2026
This one was fine. The most interesting thing is the inner conflict going on with the flying kid (I can't remember any of the names) and waiting for him to burst into something evil. The banter is fine, the characters are fine, the plot just seems to drag for me. I don't know what it is about this chase, this quest, that just doesn't strike my interest, but I have a hard time caring about the world-building, the dragons, the weapons, the lore. I guess the 2nd most interesting thing is the potentially revengeful goddess who will "hold you to your word". And I will read Book 3 to finish the series, and because I own it. But I am reading a bunch of speedy chick lit beforehand as a palette cleanser since this was just really slow for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 2, 2011
Stuck in Canada Post forever (seriously, this book took almost two months to get to me), City of Ice was one of those books I was dying to rip into. I loved City of Fire and was dying to dig into more of the adventure.
Although filled with the same sweeping fantasy vistas, the same characters and the continuation of the same story, City of Ice wasn't as enjoyable to me as the first part City of Fire. My main gripe was I didn't feel the same draw to his characters I did in book one. Three of the 5 companions have discovered things that make them secretive and unsure in their group and it stilted the reading for me somewhat. There was too much internal monologuing and it really hurt their outwards interactions, which was one of the main draws of the first book for me.
I also feel like some of the historical/fantasy blend I loved so much in the beginning was continuing to be fairly complex and a bit confusing. Although I love that Yep has enough respect for his readers to keep it intelligent I'm wondering if it should be so complex that lengthy descriptions and explanations are still in order to follow the story. By book two I feel like the ground work should be solidly built and its time to start to delve deeper into the adventures and the character development. Instead I spent too much time trying to understand new cultures and places. If as an adult reader this bored me then I suspect it would be dull for younger reader.
My other really big issue with the story was continuity. If in the middle of an action scene someone is being stuffed in a bag, and then suddenly they are untouched on the floor and the bag is doing something else, somewhere else, you have a problem. I had to read several sentences a couple times over, due to continuity mistakes like these, and they were really frustrating. Talk about killing the drama. If it had happened only once I would consider it just a typo, but there were several action scenes that had this issue, just in the first half of the story.
An intriguing trilogy with some really great aspects too that I really really want to like, but I've stalemated on part two and am not sure I would pick up part three.
Although filled with the same sweeping fantasy vistas, the same characters and the continuation of the same story, City of Ice wasn't as enjoyable to me as the first part City of Fire. My main gripe was I didn't feel the same draw to his characters I did in book one. Three of the 5 companions have discovered things that make them secretive and unsure in their group and it stilted the reading for me somewhat. There was too much internal monologuing and it really hurt their outwards interactions, which was one of the main draws of the first book for me.
I also feel like some of the historical/fantasy blend I loved so much in the beginning was continuing to be fairly complex and a bit confusing. Although I love that Yep has enough respect for his readers to keep it intelligent I'm wondering if it should be so complex that lengthy descriptions and explanations are still in order to follow the story. By book two I feel like the ground work should be solidly built and its time to start to delve deeper into the adventures and the character development. Instead I spent too much time trying to understand new cultures and places. If as an adult reader this bored me then I suspect it would be dull for younger reader.
My other really big issue with the story was continuity. If in the middle of an action scene someone is being stuffed in a bag, and then suddenly they are untouched on the floor and the bag is doing something else, somewhere else, you have a problem. I had to read several sentences a couple times over, due to continuity mistakes like these, and they were really frustrating. Talk about killing the drama. If it had happened only once I would consider it just a typo, but there were several action scenes that had this issue, just in the first half of the story.
An intriguing trilogy with some really great aspects too that I really really want to like, but I've stalemated on part two and am not sure I would pick up part three.
August 5, 2011
CITY OF ICE still has the creativity and fantastic world-building of CITY OF FIRE, but suffers a little bit from "mid-trilogy" malaise. Scirye and her companions continue to struggle with the morality play of working together and deal with magical forces beyond their comprehension, and they continue to chase the villains that threaten the world as they know it. Luckily, their adventure into the arctic offers thrilling new landscapes, new mythologies, and new friends to meet along the way.
As fascinating as Auntie Pele and her Hawaiian volcanoes were in CITY OF FIRE, I found the snowy reaches of the Arctic Circle even more interesting. As an added bonus, we are able to dive straight into this new landscape from chapter one, as our heroines and heros were winging their way there at the close of book one. The interaction of myth and magic on the tundra was more than enough to hold my attention, and helped carry the story when I became impatient with the insecurities of Scirye and her friends. Though the emotions were completely plausible for children in their position, it wasn't a compelling part of the story for me.
CITY OF ICE from a world-building perspective is as lush and interesting as any in this series, but the character development languishes as Yep sets up conflicts for book three. Even with that criticism, however, I know that the concepts and landscapes that were so beautifully written in this book will stay with me long after I finish it. Certainly long enough for me to remember to pick up the last of the City Trilogy when it's available.
Full review to follow.
Sexual Content: None.
As fascinating as Auntie Pele and her Hawaiian volcanoes were in CITY OF FIRE, I found the snowy reaches of the Arctic Circle even more interesting. As an added bonus, we are able to dive straight into this new landscape from chapter one, as our heroines and heros were winging their way there at the close of book one. The interaction of myth and magic on the tundra was more than enough to hold my attention, and helped carry the story when I became impatient with the insecurities of Scirye and her friends. Though the emotions were completely plausible for children in their position, it wasn't a compelling part of the story for me.
CITY OF ICE from a world-building perspective is as lush and interesting as any in this series, but the character development languishes as Yep sets up conflicts for book three. Even with that criticism, however, I know that the concepts and landscapes that were so beautifully written in this book will stay with me long after I finish it. Certainly long enough for me to remember to pick up the last of the City Trilogy when it's available.
Full review to follow.
Sexual Content: None.
May 2, 2013
The plot line was ok, but I didn't really see any developement in the events. I mean, the entire book they were out in the ice and they didn't do much except meet Uncle and almost get eaten by that old hag. So the plot line was flat. I spent more time than usual just trying to slog my way through this book. Not sure if I'm going to read the last book in the trilogy. Some of the things that happen in this story just didn't make any sense or didn't have any relation to the mainplot event. i mean, the dancers and the bracelet that Leech had was pretty pointless. So overall, a three star book.
April 7, 2015
This second book in the trilogy was an improvement over the first. It was smoother and easier to read, and it moved along more steadily. The characters are fully developed and three-dimensional, and the story itself is likewise well developed and well crafted. Enjoyable, and not a bad read at all.
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June 10, 2011Please see my review at http://evasbookaddiction.blogspot.com...
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August 2, 2012I love the first book's premise and like its execution well enough; this second one is a bit of a jumble.
August 15, 2012
This was a good sequel to "City of Fire". It is the further adventures of Scirye, Kles, Leech, Koko, Bayang, and some new characters. They are continuing the quest to find Roland.
March 7, 2014
Keeps getting good
June 5, 2016
This was definitely better than the first book in the trilogy, but still not well written. the plot is good, but how we get to the plot points... not so great.
March 30, 2017
I really like the character Bayang and Leech!
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews