Bones of Stone: Volume Four of the Dwarves of Ice-Cloak

The Dwarves of Ice-Cloak #4

by A. Trae McMaken

She didn’t expect to watch old tales and old terrors draw breath.

Over nine hundred years have passed since song and hammerfall rang beneath the snows of Ice-Cloak. The remnants of the dwarves live in exile in the human kingdoms, eking out their survival as itinerant tinkers and farriers. The young dwarf-maid Tourmaline dreams of better things than mending pots for the humans. When horror strikes her caravan, she and a desperate band of dwarves escape into the wild north in pursuit of a fool’s hope. Ice-Cloak and its heroes might be little more than old forge tales, but that doesn’t make Tourmaline yearn any less to live the life of a true dwarf beneath the stone.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction

385 pages, Paperback

First published July 15, 2023

About the author

From the struggles of a dwarven prospector to the adventures of a diminutive squirrel-rider, A. Trae McMaken's decades-long passion for writing fantasy literature has led him into many worlds and introduced many characters. He lives and works near the shores of Lake Huron, watching as his flock of sheep munch grass. He has had a varied career as a traveling storyteller and folklorist, a fiddler and singer, but these days he much prefers to stay put and write.

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Reviews

[Andrei · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! A great example of the Hero's Journey, and development of the world of Ice-Cloak! Tourmaline's young point of view is refreshing. Having a drastic time jump from the last book is jarring, but allows room for the story to grow on its own without relying too much on directly referencing what came before. It is interesting to see a book treat the first entry in the series as almost mythological and apocryphal. I thoroughly enjoyed this one, and the fast pace lent an apt anxious energy to the whole story.

[C.M. Rutherford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good series.

[Steven Nowak · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this may be my favorite of the Ice Cloak series.
This takes place hundreds of years after the 3rd book. Things are not good for the dwarves. This is a story of adventure, heroism and revenge.

I wont spoil it but wow it was exciting. I held my breath a lot. I also liked that it did link into the 3rd book a bit. I gave the 3rd book a lower rating . it seemed very slow. Now I see it was the beginning of this story. I am glad I read this right after book 3. It has helped me to see that maybe book 3 was better than I thought...maybe. I wish book 3 and 4 were one BIG book. But this book, Bones of Stone was fantastic on its own.

My ONLY con is the same as I have said for each of these novels. I wish the author had created dwarven curse words. The dwarves use swear words from OUR world. it pulled me out of the fantasy every time I read those words.

[Joe Fortunato · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you have made it this far in the series you already know what you're in for in terms of the way the story flows from book to book. I will say this entry was much better than the third.

As always, the writing is great. The story this time was good, but the worldbuilding and the easter eggs from previous stories are super fun -- if rare. This story was good, well-paced, and did a great job showing the trajectory of the overall story (I'm trying to be spoiler free).

The problem with these books for me is I want more. Trae if you read this (and I see you comment sometimes so you might) you're a great writer. My complaint comes from wanting MORE of your stories. These books are akin to walking past a kitchen, seeing a five-course meal, getting a taste of the appetizer and then moving on to the next restaurant without eating anything else. I want the main course.

In reality what happens between the books are more interesting than what I am reading.

The series is fine. The writing is good enough to keep me coming back -- I am currently reading the fifth and final entry -- but I can't help but feel like the best part of the series were in the folds of stone we didn't mine.

[Jeff Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again, another good book. I enjoyed the story, but like the previous book, am frustrated by the lack of cohesion. 900 years have passed since Spinner? Who is the dragon? Where do the dwarves go? Writing is very good - but to call these a 'series' falls a bit short.

Tourmaline's character is brash and headstrong. Salt needed more 'screen time'. He was the counter to her nature and needed to be flushed out further. Would have been nice to see them get married. The flight north was fast paced and described well. And the way Dwarves are treated? It is hard to believe that they would all scatter and become a step above ursi.

[Paul Y · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm saddened to get to the end of another book in the series, as they are great books to read and real easy to finish super fast.

This was another well written story of the Ice Cloak series, tying in previous timelines and interjecting new ones.

It has been an absolute pleasure to blast through these books and I hope that more are coming out in the future, although I don't think any are planned.

Well done.

[H · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a theme with these. They start ok and amble along for a while, until the end and then we never get to find out what happened.

This one was pretty awful, the dwarves are now mistreated almost slaves of the humans and live a crap existence.

This could have been a good series. But it isn't.

[Beverly Fuqua · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of this book is rather slow going. It takes place 300 years after the last book, and has little connection to the events in that story. The ending redeems it, and just about makes the whole long slog worth it.

[Sadie Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.

[Callum Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading this. The second to last chapter really kept my interest. But the very last chapter was a bit disappointing. Really enjoyed most of the book, but the very ending was disappointing.

[Bobby T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another absolute banger by Mcmaken. A good end to the series but I still want more!

[Keith Bridenstine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A full circle to the history of the dwarves

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book, loved everything about it!

[Oli-Nator Voss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still love the Dwaftian adventures

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a moment to appreciate his writing style, but I like it.