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Singers of Nevya #4
Singer in the Snow
Gifted with the ability to channel psi energy and light to create a warm environment for the "ice planet" of Nevya, Mreen, known as a Singer, is unable to speak aloud and must join forces with her interpreter Emle when a young Singer's psi-Gift talents are exploited by her abusive stepfather.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 2005
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206 people want to read
About the author
Louise Marley
35 books129 followersLouise Marley, a former concert and opera singer, has published nineteen novels. As Louise Marley, she writes fantasy and science fiction, including THE TERRORISTS OF IRUSTAN and THE CHILD GODDESS. Writing as Cate Campbell, she published the historical trilogy BENEDICT HALL.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
November 16, 2012
Reviewed by Dena Landon for TeensReadToo.com
In this inventive and well-told fantasy, Marley creates a world bound by ice and snow, where the daily ritual of quirna is all that keeps its residents from death. Those who create the ritual are called Singers, their ability to channel their Gift - a psionic power - and create warmth carefully trained at the Conservatory before they are sent out into greater society to serve. Emle is training to be a Singer, but while her technical skills are perfect, she can't control her psionic power. Frustrated and angry at the unreliability of her gift, she wonders what she'll do with her life if she can't become a full Singer.
When she's sent to a holding named Tarus to help interpret for Mreen, a new Cantrix with a great gift but without the ability to speak, it may be her last chance to master her gift. The novel deftly switches between Emle's point of view, and her struggles to not be jealous of Mreen's greater gift, and that of Mreen, as she struggles with the great responsibility placed on her shoulders in assuming her new position at Tarus, and with her shame over the circumstances of her birth. When Emle and Mreen arrive at Tarus they step right into a difficult situation with the apprentice hrussmaster, Luke, who is trying to protect his little sister, Gwin, from their abusive stepfather.
Marley unfolds a story that is rich with internal conflict, as each of her characters has to discover their own strength and path in life, and yet keeps a quick pace. Not strongly action-oriented, her novel is more about her characters and the decisions they face. By focusing on three central characters she can touch on many of the themes of adolescence; searching for meaning, struggling with the new responsibilities of adulthood, and knowing when to stand up for yourself, thus giving readers a lot they can relate to. Though this book is set in a world she has written in before, it can be read on its own even if you haven't read the others in the series.
In this inventive and well-told fantasy, Marley creates a world bound by ice and snow, where the daily ritual of quirna is all that keeps its residents from death. Those who create the ritual are called Singers, their ability to channel their Gift - a psionic power - and create warmth carefully trained at the Conservatory before they are sent out into greater society to serve. Emle is training to be a Singer, but while her technical skills are perfect, she can't control her psionic power. Frustrated and angry at the unreliability of her gift, she wonders what she'll do with her life if she can't become a full Singer.
When she's sent to a holding named Tarus to help interpret for Mreen, a new Cantrix with a great gift but without the ability to speak, it may be her last chance to master her gift. The novel deftly switches between Emle's point of view, and her struggles to not be jealous of Mreen's greater gift, and that of Mreen, as she struggles with the great responsibility placed on her shoulders in assuming her new position at Tarus, and with her shame over the circumstances of her birth. When Emle and Mreen arrive at Tarus they step right into a difficult situation with the apprentice hrussmaster, Luke, who is trying to protect his little sister, Gwin, from their abusive stepfather.
Marley unfolds a story that is rich with internal conflict, as each of her characters has to discover their own strength and path in life, and yet keeps a quick pace. Not strongly action-oriented, her novel is more about her characters and the decisions they face. By focusing on three central characters she can touch on many of the themes of adolescence; searching for meaning, struggling with the new responsibilities of adulthood, and knowing when to stand up for yourself, thus giving readers a lot they can relate to. Though this book is set in a world she has written in before, it can be read on its own even if you haven't read the others in the series.
July 21, 2012
The professional reviews I read about this series said that it shouldn't be classed as YA, as it's just generally wonderful. Those reviewers are insane.
I really haven't been as frustrated with characters in a long while as I have with Marley's ice-world inhabitants. They're twits. They are brought up in a cross between a cloister and a snobby finishing school, and then are loosed on a world that's been trained to revere them. Now, this might be an interesting construct to take apart, but it's a damn boring one to celebrate. They're all teens, not only celibate (due to some handwavy explanation about "mating" ruining the Gift), but they appear to not really struggle with that directive. Bull.
I wouldn't mind so much if there was a really good excuse for celibacy here, but there's not! There's even some sort of parallel Singer system, a commercial track of gifted people who can marry and have families. But do we ever hear of a high-caste Singer CHOOSING to give up talent in exchange for a family? Nope. It's not even discussed. The one Cantrix who does get knocked up promptly dies in childbirth, essentially by giving up due to guilt. Good work, lady! So while Sira and her "renegade" band (who are so similar to the establishment they "changed" that it's literally indistinguishable) moan about not having enough talented children to train, it's pretty clear no one's bothered to reconsider that whole celibacy thing, despite itinerant Singers having gifted children. Augh!
That's not even getting into the plotline of this particular book, which appears to be "politically powerful girls discover hideous abuse of underlings, decide to look other way". Yep, those would be our heroines all right. But given that their fearless leader showed her smarts in the third book by threatening a man who she knew had a hostage as a show of force, then retreating... Honestly. The characters in these books are passive, and then dumb. And routinely invite totally inexplicable pain upon themselves by doing stupid things like separating to two different locations for years at a time, though there is no clear reason WHY they are doing so, and apparently it causes heartache.
Obviously, I did not like these books. The description was nice, the concept cool, but I really can't deal with lame characters and this series offers a slew of them, doing a host of stupid things. I come away with a prickly, uncomfortable feeling that this was some sort of religious screed? Something about sacrifice and loneliness and.... dude, I don't know. Maybe the author finds something noble and romantic in those ideas. But for me, this was like being snowed in with a gaggle of cloistered nuns. And not the cool nuns -- the arrogant, sheltered kind. Save yourself, etc.
I really haven't been as frustrated with characters in a long while as I have with Marley's ice-world inhabitants. They're twits. They are brought up in a cross between a cloister and a snobby finishing school, and then are loosed on a world that's been trained to revere them. Now, this might be an interesting construct to take apart, but it's a damn boring one to celebrate. They're all teens, not only celibate (due to some handwavy explanation about "mating" ruining the Gift), but they appear to not really struggle with that directive. Bull.
I wouldn't mind so much if there was a really good excuse for celibacy here, but there's not! There's even some sort of parallel Singer system, a commercial track of gifted people who can marry and have families. But do we ever hear of a high-caste Singer CHOOSING to give up talent in exchange for a family? Nope. It's not even discussed. The one Cantrix who does get knocked up promptly dies in childbirth, essentially by giving up due to guilt. Good work, lady! So while Sira and her "renegade" band (who are so similar to the establishment they "changed" that it's literally indistinguishable) moan about not having enough talented children to train, it's pretty clear no one's bothered to reconsider that whole celibacy thing, despite itinerant Singers having gifted children. Augh!
That's not even getting into the plotline of this particular book, which appears to be "politically powerful girls discover hideous abuse of underlings, decide to look other way". Yep, those would be our heroines all right. But given that their fearless leader showed her smarts in the third book by threatening a man who she knew had a hostage as a show of force, then retreating... Honestly. The characters in these books are passive, and then dumb. And routinely invite totally inexplicable pain upon themselves by doing stupid things like separating to two different locations for years at a time, though there is no clear reason WHY they are doing so, and apparently it causes heartache.
Obviously, I did not like these books. The description was nice, the concept cool, but I really can't deal with lame characters and this series offers a slew of them, doing a host of stupid things. I come away with a prickly, uncomfortable feeling that this was some sort of religious screed? Something about sacrifice and loneliness and.... dude, I don't know. Maybe the author finds something noble and romantic in those ideas. But for me, this was like being snowed in with a gaggle of cloistered nuns. And not the cool nuns -- the arrogant, sheltered kind. Save yourself, etc.
March 8, 2020
3.5 really. Not much of a plot, but the characters and magic system are pretty great. I enjoyed it, just something missing.
December 24, 2017
I always love reading this story
January 10, 2017
To be fair I didn't read any of the other books in the related series so maybe I'm missing some essential aspect. But as a stand alone book, it was a nice story but I found it to be trite, following the typical young adult blue print of young people being smarter and more capable than their seniors and struggling with the normal difficulties of love and discovering who they are; with nothing really original to set it apart save that it was set in the cold. Plus I couldn't stand the mother character. She was not only pathetic but reprehensible and to me committed the far greater injustice than the step father. My apologies to those who love it. I don't hate it, I just wasn't moved or inspired or impressed.
March 24, 2021
A super interesting world with agonizingly little world building. The characters are believable, bit it's because they're aware and existing within agonizingly small fragments of this fascinating planet. I want to try others from this series just to see if I like any other mcs better. This does handle domestic violence very well and I've never seen anything like it.
March 14, 2018
Snowed in... no power... grabbed this youth fiction from my daughter’s book shelf. Quick read... good story.
April 22, 2020
Two Singers, who provide heat with their psi to keep their people from freezing, are sent to a remote outpost where they must contend with true evil and self-doubt.
July 26, 2020
Absolutely love it.
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June 8, 2022lol who knew this random book from Salvation Army was BOOK FOUR of a series LOL
July 21, 2012
Ugh, this was immensely unsatisfying.
Let me start by saying that the author's prose is lovely. The characters are well-written and consistent. The world-building is intriguing. But the plot? The story? The character development?
The only real tension in the story is completely ignored. It's never resolved. The plot point that the author orchestrated to be the main conflict however, fell flat. Everything was tied up too neatly, too quickly, too easily.
I had such high hopes for this book going into it. The summary was intriguing, the writing was beautiful, the characters were sympathetic, the world interesting. But the author completely fails to deliver anything remotely satisfying in terms of plot, story, and character growth. I'd been wanting to read some of her other books (the original trilogy of this story, plus a couple others), but I won't bother now.
Let me start by saying that the author's prose is lovely. The characters are well-written and consistent. The world-building is intriguing. But the plot? The story? The character development?
The only real tension in the story is completely ignored. It's never resolved. The plot point that the author orchestrated to be the main conflict however, fell flat. Everything was tied up too neatly, too quickly, too easily.
I had such high hopes for this book going into it. The summary was intriguing, the writing was beautiful, the characters were sympathetic, the world interesting. But the author completely fails to deliver anything remotely satisfying in terms of plot, story, and character growth. I'd been wanting to read some of her other books (the original trilogy of this story, plus a couple others), but I won't bother now.
December 24, 2016
By giving this 3 stars, I don't mean to discredit it in any way. I would say it's good but is light enough not to warrant 4 stars. It's a "summer read" sort of book. I oriented to the world quickly, enjoyed the characters and the plot. The book reads quite quickly, which was enjoyable as well. I read it within a few days and I'm a slow reader. The situation with one character's family dynamic struck me as realistic through the first half or 2/3 of the book but in that last third I had to rely on the "willing suspension of disbelief" in terms of both plot and character. And though the world is believable as the author wrought it, the narrow focus on only the main characters (apparently there are no other children around--or frustrated young men, ect) created an odd void around them. Is it too neatly tied up at the end? Perhaps. But again, I think this is intended as a light read with dark family dynamics to move the plot. Though the guy doesn't get the girl, it is a "romance" in that everyone manages to be happy in the end. That didn't feel phony to me. The adjustments the people made to be happy in their circumstances struck me as realistic. I would consider reading another of this author's books, especially when I'm wanting a quick enjoyable read.
June 4, 2011
I bought this for a dollar because I thought the introducing line of the summary, "On the ice planet of Nevya, music is a matter of life and death," was very interesting. However, I was afraid it would not be good because it had been marked down so many times.
I don't get why it was marked down!! I loved it!! Sometimes, the foreign vocabulary threw me off a few times, but that was because I'd neglected to read the glossary. I loved the characters, and I thought the idea of channeling psi energy through music was amazing.
I don't get why it was marked down!! I loved it!! Sometimes, the foreign vocabulary threw me off a few times, but that was because I'd neglected to read the glossary. I loved the characters, and I thought the idea of channeling psi energy through music was amazing.
October 30, 2013
Louise Marley's writing reminds me of Tamora Pierce's......except her characters aren't as good. I could easily picture the events, because there just wasn't much happening. Apparently, the people of Nevya just hunt for food, care for their animals, and do a bit of cleaning and occasional traveling. Cantrixes/Singers practice their instruments, bath, eat, and occasionally accompany riders.
It's not realistic on how empty these people's lives are. Someone has to make a fuss once in a while, someone has to eventually invent or create something.
It's not realistic on how empty these people's lives are. Someone has to make a fuss once in a while, someone has to eventually invent or create something.
January 18, 2011
I loved this book. It's especially great to read on a cold winter's night sitting by the fire. The characters all had personal conflicts to battle and interesting pasts that wove the story together. The book was hard to put down. Louise Marley's writing style, characters and plot reminded me of Shannon Hale and her Bayern book series which I also loved. This is the first book I've read by Louise Marley and I look forward to reading more.
July 24, 2012
I read this book a couple of time from my local library and just love the story. I am a huge fan of fantasy and mythical times intertwined with magic. I gave it 5 stars because it was smooth from start to bottom.
March 20, 2009
the first time i read this book i cried my eyes out and stayed up until midnight just to read it.
June 27, 2011
Reminiscent of Anne McAffree's Dragon Song/Dragon Singer. Good summer read to keep you cool.
July 10, 2012
Thank heavens I have a little bit of music training or else I might have been lost with this one. It was a fun and simple story.
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September 6, 2012i think this book was interesting. Very good though....
October 7, 2013
good book on finding yourself
June 19, 2014
It was an interesting read, although the constant use of those made-up words was sometimes annoying, but, on the whole, I quite enjoyed it.
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June 11, 2016Used - Good (Crease down the middle of front cover; Rest of book in great condition)
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews