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The Winter of the World #1
The Anvil of Ice
The first volume of Michael Scott Rohan's acclaimed The Winter of the World sequence.
The chronicles of The Winter of the World echo down the ages in half-remembered myth and song - tales of mysterious powers of the Mastersmiths, of the forging of great weapons, of the subterranean kingdoms of the duergar, of Gods who walked abroad, and of the Powers that struggled endlessly for dominion.
In the Northlands, beleaguered by the ever-encroaching Ice and the marauding Ekwesh, a young cowherd, saved from the raiders by the mysterious Mastersmith, discovers in himself an uncanny power to shape metal - but it is a power that may easily be turned to evil ends, and on a dreadful night he flees his new home, and embarks on the quest to find both his own destiny, and a weapon that will let him stand against the Power of the Ice.
His wanderings will bring him great friends but earn him greater enemies, and eventually they will transform him from lowly cowherd to a mastersmith fit to stand with the greatest of all men.
The chronicles of The Winter of the World echo down the ages in half-remembered myth and song - tales of mysterious powers of the Mastersmiths, of the forging of great weapons, of the subterranean kingdoms of the duergar, of Gods who walked abroad, and of the Powers that struggled endlessly for dominion.
In the Northlands, beleaguered by the ever-encroaching Ice and the marauding Ekwesh, a young cowherd, saved from the raiders by the mysterious Mastersmith, discovers in himself an uncanny power to shape metal - but it is a power that may easily be turned to evil ends, and on a dreadful night he flees his new home, and embarks on the quest to find both his own destiny, and a weapon that will let him stand against the Power of the Ice.
His wanderings will bring him great friends but earn him greater enemies, and eventually they will transform him from lowly cowherd to a mastersmith fit to stand with the greatest of all men.
348 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
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2553 people want to read
About the author
Michael Scott Rohan
38 books81 followersMichael Scott Rohan (born 1951 in Edinburgh) was a Scottish fantasy and science fiction author and writer on opera.
He had a number of short stories published before his first books, the science fiction novel Run to the Stars and the non-fiction First Byte. He then collaborated with Allan J. Scott on the nonfiction The Hammer and The Cross (an account of Christianity arriving in Viking lands, not to be confused with Harry Harrison's similarly themed novel trilogy of the same name) and the fantasy novels The Ice King and A Spell of Empire.
Rohan is best known for the Ice Age-set trilogy The Winter of the World. He also wrote the Spiral novels, in which our world is the Hub, or Core, of a spiral of mythic and legendary versions of familiar cities, countries and continents.
In the "Author's Note" to The Lord of Middle Air, Rohan asserts that he and Walter Scott have a common ancestor in Michael Scot, who is a character in the novel.
[copied and adapted from en.wikipedia.org]
He had a number of short stories published before his first books, the science fiction novel Run to the Stars and the non-fiction First Byte. He then collaborated with Allan J. Scott on the nonfiction The Hammer and The Cross (an account of Christianity arriving in Viking lands, not to be confused with Harry Harrison's similarly themed novel trilogy of the same name) and the fantasy novels The Ice King and A Spell of Empire.
Rohan is best known for the Ice Age-set trilogy The Winter of the World. He also wrote the Spiral novels, in which our world is the Hub, or Core, of a spiral of mythic and legendary versions of familiar cities, countries and continents.
In the "Author's Note" to The Lord of Middle Air, Rohan asserts that he and Walter Scott have a common ancestor in Michael Scot, who is a character in the novel.
[copied and adapted from en.wikipedia.org]
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March 7, 2019A three volume fantastical adventure series set during an ice age. The first two books are your typical map adventures (like The Lord of the Rings) ie the author draws a map & the novel consists of the characters moving from point A to point Z, via the rest of the alphabet, each letter designating a separate geographical location where the characters enjoy a suitable adventure (eg in the forest, in the mountain, in the mysterious abandoned city, at the seaside etc).
Alternatively it's really just your traditional apparently humble lad has hidden gifts and will rise over three books to triumph over bad guys kind of story but with extra blacksmithing involved. However the ice age setting and the use made of myths (Wayland the Smith and Rusalka for instance) appealed to me.
The Forge in the Forest was quite a nice fantasy book. The heroes established in the previous volume set off on a quest through the ambivalent forest realm which turns out to have first obvious and then subtle dangers. The ending felt a little rushed, but that's the worst I've got to say about it.
The debt to Wayland / Wieland saga becomes very clear in the final volume of the trilogy, The Hammer of the Sun as this is simply a free novelistic retelling of that myth, but with extra glaciers, volcanos and appropriate levels of blacksmithing.
Alternatively it's really just your traditional apparently humble lad has hidden gifts and will rise over three books to triumph over bad guys kind of story but with extra blacksmithing involved. However the ice age setting and the use made of myths (Wayland the Smith and Rusalka for instance) appealed to me.
The Forge in the Forest was quite a nice fantasy book. The heroes established in the previous volume set off on a quest through the ambivalent forest realm which turns out to have first obvious and then subtle dangers. The ending felt a little rushed, but that's the worst I've got to say about it.
The debt to Wayland / Wieland saga becomes very clear in the final volume of the trilogy, The Hammer of the Sun as this is simply a free novelistic retelling of that myth, but with extra glaciers, volcanos and appropriate levels of blacksmithing.
August 25, 2007
This is one of my favorite books ever. Well, I read it in 6th grade, and it could just be that it hit me just so at that point in my life so as to make it one of my favorites forever, but still. MSR has put together an amazing combination of myth/folklore (and he really did his research! Or so I see now that I'm a mythologist), prehistory, and modern fantasy. I've reread this book more times than anything except Lord of the Rings, and maybe Chronicles of Narnia. I like this first installment best, I think. A sort of fantastic bildungsroman (well, not really)-- or a coming of age story at any rate, in which the one coming of age realizes just how special he is (after humble origins-- a kolbitr, to use the Icelandic phrase), enters into the study of and takes steps towards the mastery of arcane powers, etc. This book is so influential for me that I can hardly write a review for it, any more than I can for Lord of the Rings. Which I should really do sometime. This series (the Winter of the World) was the source of a quest of my own during jr hi and hi school, as I bought the first book in 6th grade, finally found the second maybe 3 years or more later, and finally found the last either at the end of high school, or right when I started college. I suppose that makes the whole thing a bit more exciting for me, as the key moments in the maturation of the main character could be taken as a sort of parallel to my own life, which was obviously full of changes during the period I read the books.
Okay, to close off this disjointed review, some final reasons I recommend this book:
-- wonderful coming of age story, does the whole wish-fullfillment narrative of "rags to power, if not riches" better than anything I've read, and maps well onto the life of any kid capable of reading something like this at an early age-- though I don't recommend it just for children, and some parents might not appreciate the sex scenes, which get steamier with each novel.
-- gets magic right in a way rarely done-- maybe reminiscent of much of Tolkien's magic, in which it is a craft, a skill, arcane learning, not necessarily occult learning. Tying it to smithcraft is genius! Wow, I still wish I had time to make a forge and trying making something on my own! My first attempt at a fantasy novel, back my freshman year in highschool, I totally ripped this off, and probably will again. By attaching magic to material culture (and not just with smithcraft) he grounds the supernatural just enough in this otherwise very nicely and accurately painted prehistoric culture (well, pre OUR history, anyway). I'm glad this series, along with Tolkien, was my introduction to magic in fantasy-- Harry Potter may be fun, and may be set in a world closer to ours, but the magic does not have flesh on it's bones, like this does.
-- Like I said in my review of Orson Scott Card's novel Speaker for the Dead, this could be considered "anthropological" in a way-- only now it is anthropological/archeological/mythological- fantasy. A very nice combination. I don't think MSR is a professor in my field, but he's done a lot of research in it, and has published at least one book in my field-- and certainly these novels have all the depth and clarity of vision and anthropological realism that you find in Tolkien. Meaty. MMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....
-- The perfect length! Does not get overblown, like Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series (though I did like that), though it has just as epic a storyline-- and somehow manages to make it feel more "real" at the same time that it is more "mythic"-- both of those terms being horrendously ambiguous, I realize, and what mythologist hasn't cringed at contemporary uses of the word "myth"-- but I feel like that's the best way I can explain it.
Okay, to close off this disjointed review, some final reasons I recommend this book:
-- wonderful coming of age story, does the whole wish-fullfillment narrative of "rags to power, if not riches" better than anything I've read, and maps well onto the life of any kid capable of reading something like this at an early age-- though I don't recommend it just for children, and some parents might not appreciate the sex scenes, which get steamier with each novel.
-- gets magic right in a way rarely done-- maybe reminiscent of much of Tolkien's magic, in which it is a craft, a skill, arcane learning, not necessarily occult learning. Tying it to smithcraft is genius! Wow, I still wish I had time to make a forge and trying making something on my own! My first attempt at a fantasy novel, back my freshman year in highschool, I totally ripped this off, and probably will again. By attaching magic to material culture (and not just with smithcraft) he grounds the supernatural just enough in this otherwise very nicely and accurately painted prehistoric culture (well, pre OUR history, anyway). I'm glad this series, along with Tolkien, was my introduction to magic in fantasy-- Harry Potter may be fun, and may be set in a world closer to ours, but the magic does not have flesh on it's bones, like this does.
-- Like I said in my review of Orson Scott Card's novel Speaker for the Dead, this could be considered "anthropological" in a way-- only now it is anthropological/archeological/mythological- fantasy. A very nice combination. I don't think MSR is a professor in my field, but he's done a lot of research in it, and has published at least one book in my field-- and certainly these novels have all the depth and clarity of vision and anthropological realism that you find in Tolkien. Meaty. MMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....
-- The perfect length! Does not get overblown, like Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series (though I did like that), though it has just as epic a storyline-- and somehow manages to make it feel more "real" at the same time that it is more "mythic"-- both of those terms being horrendously ambiguous, I realize, and what mythologist hasn't cringed at contemporary uses of the word "myth"-- but I feel like that's the best way I can explain it.
May 11, 2012
When it comes to fantasy, there's Tolkien, and there are the rest. This series is the very best of the rest in my opinion; there's nothing 'generic-fantasy' about it.
Set in an interglacial period in our own Earth's history, this is the story of the struggles of a group of friends as they try to defeat the powers of the Ice. There's the same haunting sense of the weight of history, the same glimpses of things half-seen, half-known that I found in Tolkien; plus a carefully worked out system of magic that's completely convincing. Moreover MSR has done his research on palaeoenvironments, and it shows - right down to the trees and flowers. I loved the description of the black grouse and their courtship dance. Half a sentence but he's got them down to a T!
I've got two sets of this series and a book on Wayland the Smith I bought for background reading. To sum up: it's one of my desert island books.
Set in an interglacial period in our own Earth's history, this is the story of the struggles of a group of friends as they try to defeat the powers of the Ice. There's the same haunting sense of the weight of history, the same glimpses of things half-seen, half-known that I found in Tolkien; plus a carefully worked out system of magic that's completely convincing. Moreover MSR has done his research on palaeoenvironments, and it shows - right down to the trees and flowers. I loved the description of the black grouse and their courtship dance. Half a sentence but he's got them down to a T!
I've got two sets of this series and a book on Wayland the Smith I bought for background reading. To sum up: it's one of my desert island books.
September 2, 2016
I love this book so much. It was one of my favourites when I was a teenager. Rereading as an adult, the feeling of the book is far more mythology than fantasy and I think that is where my love of it comes from. It feels like an *old* tale retold rather than modern fiction.
The tale is set during the last ice-age, where the creep of the ice across the land is driven by malign powers who want to see the earth purified by the cessation of all life. There are other powers who oppose the ice, but are not necessarily friends to Humans and Duergar (Neanderthal humanity).
The tale tells of Alv, a foundling who after his village is destroyed takes up with the Mastersmith and comes into his powers as an apprentice smith. Smiths in this society are magic-workers, mages who can use their craft to create items of power to control minds or shape. Alv inadvertently does evil with his craft, and on seeking to redeem himself undertakes an apprenticeship with Duergar mastersmiths in the Hollow Hills where they live away from humanity. He uses his skills to undo the harm he did and in the process helps to save one of the human cities which is threatened by those in thrall to the ice.
This is a very short synopsis of what is essentially a book with some complex themes and a beautiful way of telling them. What are especially interesting are the appendices in the back of the book which discuss aspects of the story from an academic historical point of view, for example discussing the two races of humans, and talking about the migration of people from the east of Northern Asia to the west of North America. It makes for a really solid and well thought out basis for the story, adding to the feeling of myth rather than fiction.
I think Michael Scott Rohan is a very underestimated writer, and his Winter of the World series definitely stands up as a fantasy/mythology classic, it reads as well now in 2014 as it did in 1986!
The tale is set during the last ice-age, where the creep of the ice across the land is driven by malign powers who want to see the earth purified by the cessation of all life. There are other powers who oppose the ice, but are not necessarily friends to Humans and Duergar (Neanderthal humanity).
The tale tells of Alv, a foundling who after his village is destroyed takes up with the Mastersmith and comes into his powers as an apprentice smith. Smiths in this society are magic-workers, mages who can use their craft to create items of power to control minds or shape. Alv inadvertently does evil with his craft, and on seeking to redeem himself undertakes an apprenticeship with Duergar mastersmiths in the Hollow Hills where they live away from humanity. He uses his skills to undo the harm he did and in the process helps to save one of the human cities which is threatened by those in thrall to the ice.
This is a very short synopsis of what is essentially a book with some complex themes and a beautiful way of telling them. What are especially interesting are the appendices in the back of the book which discuss aspects of the story from an academic historical point of view, for example discussing the two races of humans, and talking about the migration of people from the east of Northern Asia to the west of North America. It makes for a really solid and well thought out basis for the story, adding to the feeling of myth rather than fiction.
I think Michael Scott Rohan is a very underestimated writer, and his Winter of the World series definitely stands up as a fantasy/mythology classic, it reads as well now in 2014 as it did in 1986!
July 24, 2011
The Anvil of Ice reminds me of a lot of other fantasy I've read -- A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin and Magician by Raymond E. Feist, for a start -- in its narration and in the way it begins. Some parts of it I found very interesting and different: the whole idea of the Ice, for one, which I want to know more about.
On the other hand, Kara bothered me. She was introduced in a flash; Alv/Elof cares about her all in a flash; she never seems to do anything significant to the plot. Obviously there are two more books in the trilogy, but she seemed somewhat superfluous in this.
I found the gods here interesting, too, and wanted more about them: we learn very little about them, all things considered. I do like the way we don't get infodumps in this book: we don't know the whole history of the world, the whole mythology of the gods.
Another slightly annoying thing: racial stereotyping. All Ekwesh are evil, hurrhurrhurr -- without any further thought than that. I do like subtlety in my fantasy. Again, perhaps something that's resolved in the other two books, or at least alleviated. I will be picking those up at some point: I am intrigued, though it took me about half the book to feel really enthusiastic.
On the other hand, Kara bothered me. She was introduced in a flash; Alv/Elof cares about her all in a flash; she never seems to do anything significant to the plot. Obviously there are two more books in the trilogy, but she seemed somewhat superfluous in this.
I found the gods here interesting, too, and wanted more about them: we learn very little about them, all things considered. I do like the way we don't get infodumps in this book: we don't know the whole history of the world, the whole mythology of the gods.
Another slightly annoying thing: racial stereotyping. All Ekwesh are evil, hurrhurrhurr -- without any further thought than that. I do like subtlety in my fantasy. Again, perhaps something that's resolved in the other two books, or at least alleviated. I will be picking those up at some point: I am intrigued, though it took me about half the book to feel really enthusiastic.
April 28, 2009
What really stands out about this series for me is the way magic and black-smithery are combined. The way the main character goes about crafting the various artifacts he forges and imbues them with magic is most intricately described.
That elevates it above the average fantasy series it might otherwise have been.
That elevates it above the average fantasy series it might otherwise have been.
April 11, 2021
The quest story of a boy whose contemptuous of everybody, who becomes a blacksmith and then falls in love with a girl at barely a glance and no conversation.
Lots of smithing with an attempt to explain how life continues through an ice age. A pretty unremarkable work now and probably for its time too.
Lots of smithing with an attempt to explain how life continues through an ice age. A pretty unremarkable work now and probably for its time too.
August 24, 2011
It is possible to forget that the moden fiction novel is a relatively new development. For a very long time, narrative fiction was written in a distinct style with long sentences and dialogue that bordered on the unrealistic. I know some authors did this because they wanted a sense of theatre in the writing, whilst others did so because that's what they were taught.
I suspect Michael Scott Rohan is one of the latter. Anvil Of Ice is meant to be an epic high fantasy story. The hero of utterly unknown parentage has some amazing powers but must be trained how to use them. Along the way he encounters mystic powers and eventually must face down one of them. The underlying story is well researched with a good mythology and the characterisation is generally very strong. However, the style of narration feels archaic with long passages of description that still manages to skate over detail. And it is difficult to get close to the characters.
But the journey is well paced and the climax is satisfying.
I suspect Michael Scott Rohan is one of the latter. Anvil Of Ice is meant to be an epic high fantasy story. The hero of utterly unknown parentage has some amazing powers but must be trained how to use them. Along the way he encounters mystic powers and eventually must face down one of them. The underlying story is well researched with a good mythology and the characterisation is generally very strong. However, the style of narration feels archaic with long passages of description that still manages to skate over detail. And it is difficult to get close to the characters.
But the journey is well paced and the climax is satisfying.
July 30, 2017
Although the book is well-written, for me it lacked a touch of passion or zeal to make it come fully alive. There is more narrative and descriptive prose than dialogue and in places it felt rather like an old Viking saga, with shades of the Sorcerer's Apprentice running through it. I rated it 3.5 stars and may well try another of the books in this series at some time.
December 23, 2019
Great epic fantasy
A s the world darkens an unlikely hero emerges. Smith and mage and battle hero, his journey leads through darkness to the light. Great fun
A s the world darkens an unlikely hero emerges. Smith and mage and battle hero, his journey leads through darkness to the light. Great fun
August 5, 2024
A very well built Norse world with interesting magic and likable characters. I have to say the pacing is a slog and gets stuck in travelogues. A little tongue in cheek, I feel like it could use more Broken Sword and less Lord of the Rings in its recipe.
August 16, 2020
One of the Bingo squares for the /r/fantasy 2020 reading challenge is "Climate Change". For "hard mode", you can pick a climate change story that isn't post-apocalyptic. Post-apocalyptic climate change is (relatively) easy to find in near future science fiction but I decided to try to find a fantasy story that was about climate change that wasn't post-apocalyptic. Turns out that's a pretty big ask and there aren't exactly a lot of options!
I ended up hearing about this book from 1986. Somewhat surprisingly (since I devoured fantasy around its original release) I had never heard of it somehow. There is an encroaching ice age that is slowly swallowing much -- or all? -- of the world. Well, "quickly swallowing" by glacier standards -- it appears to be happening over a few hundred years instead of thousands. The Ice is set up not just as a natural force -- it is some kind of (not clearly defined in this book) intelligent malevolent force intent on wiping out most (all?) humans.
Really the big question heading into this book is how well fantasy from 1986 stands up to the test of time. The answer is: not great. The general level of writing in fantasy -- and really all genre fiction -- has improved tremendously since then. Better dialogue, richer characteristion, more plausible romances, etc.
The Anvil of Ice suffers from a few flaws that make it hard for a modern reader untinged by nostalgia to engage with it.
One of the biggest is the language is (intentionally) overwrought and archaic. I think it is an attempt to evoke the kind of writing people imagine the old Icelandic sagas were like. Except modern translations (cf the Penguin edition published in 2000) shows that Icelandic sagas and modern, readable English are completely compatible. Anyway, The Anvil of Ice is almost entirely written in a style like this:
and this
While not insurmountable, it is a hurdle. And once you get past the hurdle you aren't exactly rewarded with a compelling story. You get one of the worst "romances" I can recall reading. They fall instantly in love within about 60 seconds of meeting one another. They know nothing about one another but are immediately telling each other how amazing and unique they are.
(and then they kiss and are in love forever and ever)
The author is continually dropping information that it feels like we should have learned about before.
One of the worst examples is when the hero comes across some pirates and it is casually dropped that (at some point?!?) he learned how to sword fight well enough to beat their captain. Not only is he a Gary Stu but the plot is entirely driven by coincidence and author's convenience.
The plot stalls entirely until a god literally teleports him 90 kilometers to a convenient meeting with pirates he can join forces with. (This is actually the second "and we were magically transported impossible differences overnight" event in the book.) Later on while walking on a glacier in the middle of nowhere they happen to come within 200 paces of his old master. While searching an entire mountain range for a secret entrance they are chased by monsters and happen to stumble into the one cave that has said secret entrance.
Nothing about the plot felt natural. It didn't help that you don't really care about who wins or loses. We're told the Ekwesh are eeeeevil. But in a cardboard 1980s mustache twirling villain way. They want to take away our freedom! By the end, I just couldn't really bring myself to care about the characters or their journey.
I ended up hearing about this book from 1986. Somewhat surprisingly (since I devoured fantasy around its original release) I had never heard of it somehow. There is an encroaching ice age that is slowly swallowing much -- or all? -- of the world. Well, "quickly swallowing" by glacier standards -- it appears to be happening over a few hundred years instead of thousands. The Ice is set up not just as a natural force -- it is some kind of (not clearly defined in this book) intelligent malevolent force intent on wiping out most (all?) humans.
Really the big question heading into this book is how well fantasy from 1986 stands up to the test of time. The answer is: not great. The general level of writing in fantasy -- and really all genre fiction -- has improved tremendously since then. Better dialogue, richer characteristion, more plausible romances, etc.
The Anvil of Ice suffers from a few flaws that make it hard for a modern reader untinged by nostalgia to engage with it.
One of the biggest is the language is (intentionally) overwrought and archaic. I think it is an attempt to evoke the kind of writing people imagine the old Icelandic sagas were like. Except modern translations (cf the Penguin edition published in 2000) shows that Icelandic sagas and modern, readable English are completely compatible. Anyway, The Anvil of Ice is almost entirely written in a style like this:
I have not that honor, that I know of. A foundling I, raised a northerner and named Alv, that is all.
and this
Of the land of Kerys the swordsman told, now a name of legend, no more, and of how the first coming of the Ice was there foreseen
While not insurmountable, it is a hurdle. And once you get past the hurdle you aren't exactly rewarded with a compelling story. You get one of the worst "romances" I can recall reading. They fall instantly in love within about 60 seconds of meeting one another. They know nothing about one another but are immediately telling each other how amazing and unique they are.
"There's something about you, I sense it—and so did Louhi, I heard her. You're somebody special, one alone, out of the ordinary…"
"So are you! So are you!"
(and then they kiss and are in love forever and ever)
The author is continually dropping information that it feels like we should have learned about before.
One of the worst examples is when the hero comes across some pirates and it is casually dropped that (at some point?!?) he learned how to sword fight well enough to beat their captain. Not only is he a Gary Stu but the plot is entirely driven by coincidence and author's convenience.
The plot stalls entirely until a god literally teleports him 90 kilometers to a convenient meeting with pirates he can join forces with. (This is actually the second "and we were magically transported impossible differences overnight" event in the book.) Later on while walking on a glacier in the middle of nowhere they happen to come within 200 paces of his old master. While searching an entire mountain range for a secret entrance they are chased by monsters and happen to stumble into the one cave that has said secret entrance.
Nothing about the plot felt natural. It didn't help that you don't really care about who wins or loses. We're told the Ekwesh are eeeeevil. But in a cardboard 1980s mustache twirling villain way. They want to take away our freedom! By the end, I just couldn't really bring myself to care about the characters or their journey.
October 9, 2019
I was surprised and excited to find a fantasy series from the 80s that many of my friends seemed to enjoy but which I've never heard of before. Based on the descriptions, dealing with folklore and the edges of human history and some ecological themes, it seemed like it might be something I would love. But after half of the first volume, I just can't waste anymore time with it. People like to disdain writing advice, as if it produces formulaic and uncreative works, but it's just so tragic to me to see so many books I might like founder for lack of a few relatively straightforward insights. I can say from experience that writing a book is not easy but if you've come this far, I think if you knew what you needed to do, you could push it into greatness.
All of which is to say: Anvil of Ice is a book without its engine. It actually in a lot of ways reminds me of Robin Hobb's books, with a superficially bland but not dopey young male protagonist and a fantasy world that is confidently, refreshingly plain but not generic where it counts. As a novel, though, this couldn't be farther from anything Hobb has written. It badly written on a sentence to sentence level, but it lacks grounding in the protagonist's emotions. We get very little on how Elof reacts to the things that happen or how he interprets them and how that drives him to respond. It doesn't help that the chapters are poorly structured, with summary and scene mixed together fluidly and inconsistently, rarely stopping to immerse us in a particular moment and without a ton of rhyme or reason to which moments those are. The result is a story that just plows forward of its own accord, dragging the characters and the reader along with it. It's easy to miss things, which is annoying, but of course the worst part is just that it isn't fun or compelling to read.
And I don't quite understand why the problem is as bad as it is. It seems like it should be obvious that an event like Elof meeting the girl who gets imprinted on his mind as a motivating lodestar for the rest of the book at least should get more than a couple paragraphs. But no. The moment passes in a flash and then Rohan must tell us and remind us of the impact this meeting had on Elof, since it certainly wasn't clear from what actually happened. The same is true for pretty much everything important that happens in the first half of the book. We see his village destroyed before we see the village or how he relates to it. He accidentally murders one of his colleagues without practically any time spent developing their relationship beforehand. Where Hobb would find ten powerful emotional dynamics to exploit, Rohan just glides forward. It's frustrating.
All of which is to say: Anvil of Ice is a book without its engine. It actually in a lot of ways reminds me of Robin Hobb's books, with a superficially bland but not dopey young male protagonist and a fantasy world that is confidently, refreshingly plain but not generic where it counts. As a novel, though, this couldn't be farther from anything Hobb has written. It badly written on a sentence to sentence level, but it lacks grounding in the protagonist's emotions. We get very little on how Elof reacts to the things that happen or how he interprets them and how that drives him to respond. It doesn't help that the chapters are poorly structured, with summary and scene mixed together fluidly and inconsistently, rarely stopping to immerse us in a particular moment and without a ton of rhyme or reason to which moments those are. The result is a story that just plows forward of its own accord, dragging the characters and the reader along with it. It's easy to miss things, which is annoying, but of course the worst part is just that it isn't fun or compelling to read.
And I don't quite understand why the problem is as bad as it is. It seems like it should be obvious that an event like Elof meeting the girl who gets imprinted on his mind as a motivating lodestar for the rest of the book at least should get more than a couple paragraphs. But no. The moment passes in a flash and then Rohan must tell us and remind us of the impact this meeting had on Elof, since it certainly wasn't clear from what actually happened. The same is true for pretty much everything important that happens in the first half of the book. We see his village destroyed before we see the village or how he relates to it. He accidentally murders one of his colleagues without practically any time spent developing their relationship beforehand. Where Hobb would find ten powerful emotional dynamics to exploit, Rohan just glides forward. It's frustrating.
February 16, 2022
Generally a fun fantasy novel with corny dialogue and some pacing issues.
I have to say I'm partial to the mapped fantasy genre. If there's a map and travel in there I'm almost always completely sold. It was on this alone, and the art on the front cover that had me immediately.
It's a pretty simple call to action type of story as defined over the years in the genre. A boy, Alv, has his town (which he feels no connection to) by a force of sort of viking-like looters and is taken as an apprentice by the enigmatic Mastersmith. Following the realisation of innate skill (which he had so humbly overlooked being a poor marginalised farmer in his town) he ends up running from the Mastersmith with a buddy after some unfortunate events.
The majority of this is forging, smithing, and walking and I have to say it works surprisingly well. I've never been so interested in a guy making a sword outside of the YouTube videos you might watch at 3am, but this pulls it off. The winter-encroaching setting works quite well, and there are similarities enough to "A Song of Ice and Fire" here to say it even prefigures it. (Though opposing elements like Ice and Fire isn't particularly extraordinary.)
There were issues in dialogue that felt a little stunted such as forced old-timey turns of phrase that don't flow all that great, as well as a kind of stuttering narrative that can't fully decide whether it wants to be a mythology recounting of old tales, or a standard focalised perspective on Alv (Elof.) There were also some pacing issues. The introduction attack was so quick where we could have learned a great deal about Alv, why he hated his town, perhaps why he felt so dejected and so forth.
In all though, a good deal of fun!
I have to say I'm partial to the mapped fantasy genre. If there's a map and travel in there I'm almost always completely sold. It was on this alone, and the art on the front cover that had me immediately.
It's a pretty simple call to action type of story as defined over the years in the genre. A boy, Alv, has his town (which he feels no connection to) by a force of sort of viking-like looters and is taken as an apprentice by the enigmatic Mastersmith. Following the realisation of innate skill (which he had so humbly overlooked being a poor marginalised farmer in his town) he ends up running from the Mastersmith with a buddy after some unfortunate events.
The majority of this is forging, smithing, and walking and I have to say it works surprisingly well. I've never been so interested in a guy making a sword outside of the YouTube videos you might watch at 3am, but this pulls it off. The winter-encroaching setting works quite well, and there are similarities enough to "A Song of Ice and Fire" here to say it even prefigures it. (Though opposing elements like Ice and Fire isn't particularly extraordinary.)
There were issues in dialogue that felt a little stunted such as forced old-timey turns of phrase that don't flow all that great, as well as a kind of stuttering narrative that can't fully decide whether it wants to be a mythology recounting of old tales, or a standard focalised perspective on Alv (Elof.) There were also some pacing issues. The introduction attack was so quick where we could have learned a great deal about Alv, why he hated his town, perhaps why he felt so dejected and so forth.
In all though, a good deal of fun!
November 18, 2014
While Michael Scott Rohan sure isn't one of the famous names of fantasy, he's also one of my favourites, and this first book of “The Winter of the World” imho a true masterpiece.
This series is set in our own world, but during the last Ice Age, on the West Coast of North America, realistically described mixing fact and... fantasy, and clearly thanks to a huge amount of knowledge and research on mythology, paleontology and ecology by the author.
But you don't need to be a nerd/scientist type to appreciate this book, as it's also a wonderful adventure and bildungsroman with real, morally ambiguous, characters who change and grow during the book(s).
Magic is “real”, and while this book isn't that similar to Tolkien's works, at least superficially as deep down, in their “philosophy” there's more in common, the two authors use magic in a similar, constrained way (and this is one of the reason I like so much both of them), and here magic is appropriately linked to smithcraft (as in many traditional cultures in the “real world”).
Beside the naturalistic descriptions and the main characters, another favourite of mine in “The Winter of the World” are the Neanderthals as sort of dwarves (“duergars”) and great magesmiths who live underground to avoid conflict with the invading Homo sapiens.
It's a pity Rohan is absolutely unknown here where I live (Italy) as his books have never been translated to our language...
This series is set in our own world, but during the last Ice Age, on the West Coast of North America, realistically described mixing fact and... fantasy, and clearly thanks to a huge amount of knowledge and research on mythology, paleontology and ecology by the author.
But you don't need to be a nerd/scientist type to appreciate this book, as it's also a wonderful adventure and bildungsroman with real, morally ambiguous, characters who change and grow during the book(s).
Magic is “real”, and while this book isn't that similar to Tolkien's works, at least superficially as deep down, in their “philosophy” there's more in common, the two authors use magic in a similar, constrained way (and this is one of the reason I like so much both of them), and here magic is appropriately linked to smithcraft (as in many traditional cultures in the “real world”).
Beside the naturalistic descriptions and the main characters, another favourite of mine in “The Winter of the World” are the Neanderthals as sort of dwarves (“duergars”) and great magesmiths who live underground to avoid conflict with the invading Homo sapiens.
It's a pity Rohan is absolutely unknown here where I live (Italy) as his books have never been translated to our language...
October 23, 2017
Absorbing and uplifting
So believable and told in such a skilled way that it seems more like a true history than fiction. Well crafted and whole characters, flaws and all, bring the reader along with them without once faltering.
This is my go to book series whenever I feel low, lost or hopeless. I've no idea how many times I've sought solace within it's pages, only that the writers craft wielded so powerfully, just like the craft of the smith, still draws me back every time.
Highly recommended.
So believable and told in such a skilled way that it seems more like a true history than fiction. Well crafted and whole characters, flaws and all, bring the reader along with them without once faltering.
This is my go to book series whenever I feel low, lost or hopeless. I've no idea how many times I've sought solace within it's pages, only that the writers craft wielded so powerfully, just like the craft of the smith, still draws me back every time.
Highly recommended.
August 16, 2019
I heard about this book in an 'author appreciation' thread on r/fantasy and thought it sounded pretty interesting. After reading a few modern, 'popular' books from the genre recently, I thought it would be nice to try a potential hidden gem.
I loved a lot of things about this story. The language used by Michael Scott Rohan was reminiscent of older works like Tolkien's LotR - it served to give this story weight and a sense of antiquity like I was reading an account of events long past. I think it worked well and at times the book became outright poetic in its prose without becoming obtuse or overly flowery.
The magic system was unique and interesting - blacksmith mages?? - that's a cool idea. Unfortunately it's a little on the 'soft magic' side of things. Honestly, the soft magic makes sense for this book and fitted in with the mythical tone, but I couldn't help wanting to know more about the specifics of the magic.
I enjoyed the story and the characters. There's more than one classic fantasy trope played out here, but I don't mind tropes as long as they're done well and I think this book manages it. The world and events all stand out vividly in my mind and the conclusion was enjoyable and satisfying.
I think I would have given this book 5 stars if it wasn't for one particular plot line which I thought was just utter crap:
Anyway, thoroughly enjoyed this one. Michael Scott Rohan's books deserve more attention!
I loved a lot of things about this story. The language used by Michael Scott Rohan was reminiscent of older works like Tolkien's LotR - it served to give this story weight and a sense of antiquity like I was reading an account of events long past. I think it worked well and at times the book became outright poetic in its prose without becoming obtuse or overly flowery.
The magic system was unique and interesting - blacksmith mages?? - that's a cool idea. Unfortunately it's a little on the 'soft magic' side of things. Honestly, the soft magic makes sense for this book and fitted in with the mythical tone, but I couldn't help wanting to know more about the specifics of the magic.
I enjoyed the story and the characters. There's more than one classic fantasy trope played out here, but I don't mind tropes as long as they're done well and I think this book manages it. The world and events all stand out vividly in my mind and the conclusion was enjoyable and satisfying.
I think I would have given this book 5 stars if it wasn't for one particular plot line which I thought was just utter crap:
Anyway, thoroughly enjoyed this one. Michael Scott Rohan's books deserve more attention!
December 14, 2025
It is one of the books I have come back to the most, there is something calming about falling into the world that feels ancient and mysterious yet entirely relatable. Gods walk amongst mortals and it feels entirely natural, a mythical past so far back that it is impossible to separate story from legend. Rohan does a wonderful job of straddling the old and modern, evoking an almost Tolkien like mythical past while grounding it in modern reality and understanding. Well paced it is efficient in its uses of words
November 13, 2013
In the style of a saga, or an epic chronicle, The Anvil of Ice is quite Tolkienesque in its feel. A blending of history and fiction, the real and the fantastical, Rohan's work set is set in a fictitious prehistoric ice-age in some lost age which draws on elements of real mythos and like Robert E. Howard's Conan series or even The Lord of the Rings takes the conceit that it is an ancient undocumented period of our own world.
I first read this book, and the two sequels, almost twenty-five years ago now. I remember at the time having some trouble with it, but apparently not enough not to finish the trilogy. Why I felt it was a little odd, I could not say for sure after all these years, though after re-reading it for the first time in a quarter of century I could perhaps hazard a guess or two about the state of my teenage opinions. However, some strong positive impressions and images stayed with me over the years as well, and for a long time I had been thinking that I would like to take a more mature look at it. With the convenience and economy of being able to buy this in Kindle format it seemed the perfect time to take the time to re-explore this series, and I do not have to dig through a box of books, under the stairs in a country far, far away to get my hands on my old hard copy, which helps as well.
Stylistically it is not light. Given to long passages, it is heavy on the prose and light on conversation, with lengthy chapters, and a somewhat lecturing tone in places and a somewhat old fashioned heroic mode in others. In places the dialogue is rather archaic, which can add to feeling of antiquity, but contrasts sharply with the grittier and more 'real' styles which are popular today. For those who are familiar with Tolkien's work or Howard's or Michael Moorcock's, they will be very at home with this style. The world is described in solid detail and the characters are depicted clearly, but much of the deeper characterisation, or the minor actions which help us to gain a more full picture of a character, is missing - or at least absent. This is what I mean by epic or saga. It has certain echoes of Homer's Oddyssey or Beowulf - and it is this which probably made it a challenging read for me those years ago. Perhaps it is also one of things which intrigued me about the series as well and made it stand out.
This time around I really enjoyed the depth which Rohan brought to the world, but without belabouring too many details too fast (the presence of an appendix with some additional information helps to supplement this, but in most cases it is more like bonus material). He lets the world unfold at its own pace, and while at times goes into some background, he does not get bogged down with excessive technicalities, which would be easy in some of the topics such as smith-crafting. He tells us enough to make it real, but not enough to become tedious and happily skips over parts of the story which could slow things down too much - though this is not a fast paced book.
The images and idea which stayed with me all these years came back clear and strong with this second reading. Rohan skillfully describes a culture in decline, suffering a fall from grace and now under threat from a new enemy (or perhaps simply a new aspect of an old one). The western migration from an ancient, glorious homeland is one which I have come across many times in the years since - and to be honest, was probably familiar enough with the Atlantean myth to have met this trope before, even then. Yet, I feel even now that it is described in a very real way, factually, believably, a little melancholic at times and for the most part as a casual backdrop for the main story.
I also really enjoyed exploring the concepts of the ancient powers of the land, such as Tapiau or Niarad, and especially of the antagonism of the Ice. The whole idea that the great enemy of the series is a personification of an ice-age is still very unique for me. It definitely gave a feeling of the story being part of a greater history, and we are seeing but a glimpse of a greater tapestry. There is a certain power to it.
If I am being honest, I am not sure that if I read this book fresh today I would like it as much as I do this time around. Also, I am fairly sure that I did not feel as strongly about it back all those years ago as I do now. In part I enjoyed this this so much because of the nostalgic nature of reading an old book and reliving some of those faded memories, but in part it came from reading this through more experienced eyes, yet still knowing that this is not such a fresh book and giving it its proper historic context.
Perhaps this is not a not a book for everyone, but if you like the older style of weightier and more serious fantasy - different from the pulpy sword and sorcery styles - then this may be for you.
I first read this book, and the two sequels, almost twenty-five years ago now. I remember at the time having some trouble with it, but apparently not enough not to finish the trilogy. Why I felt it was a little odd, I could not say for sure after all these years, though after re-reading it for the first time in a quarter of century I could perhaps hazard a guess or two about the state of my teenage opinions. However, some strong positive impressions and images stayed with me over the years as well, and for a long time I had been thinking that I would like to take a more mature look at it. With the convenience and economy of being able to buy this in Kindle format it seemed the perfect time to take the time to re-explore this series, and I do not have to dig through a box of books, under the stairs in a country far, far away to get my hands on my old hard copy, which helps as well.
Stylistically it is not light. Given to long passages, it is heavy on the prose and light on conversation, with lengthy chapters, and a somewhat lecturing tone in places and a somewhat old fashioned heroic mode in others. In places the dialogue is rather archaic, which can add to feeling of antiquity, but contrasts sharply with the grittier and more 'real' styles which are popular today. For those who are familiar with Tolkien's work or Howard's or Michael Moorcock's, they will be very at home with this style. The world is described in solid detail and the characters are depicted clearly, but much of the deeper characterisation, or the minor actions which help us to gain a more full picture of a character, is missing - or at least absent. This is what I mean by epic or saga. It has certain echoes of Homer's Oddyssey or Beowulf - and it is this which probably made it a challenging read for me those years ago. Perhaps it is also one of things which intrigued me about the series as well and made it stand out.
This time around I really enjoyed the depth which Rohan brought to the world, but without belabouring too many details too fast (the presence of an appendix with some additional information helps to supplement this, but in most cases it is more like bonus material). He lets the world unfold at its own pace, and while at times goes into some background, he does not get bogged down with excessive technicalities, which would be easy in some of the topics such as smith-crafting. He tells us enough to make it real, but not enough to become tedious and happily skips over parts of the story which could slow things down too much - though this is not a fast paced book.
The images and idea which stayed with me all these years came back clear and strong with this second reading. Rohan skillfully describes a culture in decline, suffering a fall from grace and now under threat from a new enemy (or perhaps simply a new aspect of an old one). The western migration from an ancient, glorious homeland is one which I have come across many times in the years since - and to be honest, was probably familiar enough with the Atlantean myth to have met this trope before, even then. Yet, I feel even now that it is described in a very real way, factually, believably, a little melancholic at times and for the most part as a casual backdrop for the main story.
I also really enjoyed exploring the concepts of the ancient powers of the land, such as Tapiau or Niarad, and especially of the antagonism of the Ice. The whole idea that the great enemy of the series is a personification of an ice-age is still very unique for me. It definitely gave a feeling of the story being part of a greater history, and we are seeing but a glimpse of a greater tapestry. There is a certain power to it.
If I am being honest, I am not sure that if I read this book fresh today I would like it as much as I do this time around. Also, I am fairly sure that I did not feel as strongly about it back all those years ago as I do now. In part I enjoyed this this so much because of the nostalgic nature of reading an old book and reliving some of those faded memories, but in part it came from reading this through more experienced eyes, yet still knowing that this is not such a fresh book and giving it its proper historic context.
Perhaps this is not a not a book for everyone, but if you like the older style of weightier and more serious fantasy - different from the pulpy sword and sorcery styles - then this may be for you.
December 12, 2018
I wasn't overwhelmed with this story, but appreciated some of the scenes (although some of the scenes were head slapping--the romance was a bit ridiculous!). I think I may read this again next year and the other two books to complete the trilogy as I was intrigued with the setting of early man as the backdrop. I really enjoyed the concept of magic-crafting, literally as blacksmithing objects into magical properties.
January 22, 2025
It took a bit to get used to the writing style of this author, but once I did, I began talking and dreaming in Michael Scott Rohan sentence structure and vocab lol
Aside from the reading learning curve, it was a very good book and I'm excited to read the next one!
Aside from the reading learning curve, it was a very good book and I'm excited to read the next one!
February 19, 2013
Not too long ago I was asked to provide some recommendations for a reading list for someone. I went to my shelves and started pulling out some classics, some of my favorites, and other just plain important books. Zelazny, Donaldson, Jordan, Sanderson, Rothfuss... I was picking out some stuff with which to provide a pretty good foundation. And then I got to this book. The description of it started with, essentially, "And this is something I've read so many times it's falling apart."
Michael Scott Rohan is an author that basically nobody else I know has ever even heard of, but is a name that really should be on the lips of anyone that is interested in original fantasy by an author that clearly cares a great deal about every word that goes on a page. The first time I read Rothfuss I was blown away by the precision and care that was clearly evident throughout his writing. It just wasn't something that I really had found in many other places. Rereading Rohan's books recently, I was struck by just that same feeling. The language is descriptive, painting a picture of a time long before our own.
Where so many authors will reach out for creating their own world from the ground up, Rohan has rooted his in an interesting realm of pseudo-historical fiction. Imagining what the world could have been like during an ice age. What if the great glaciers were driven by a malevolent will, and mankind was barely holding on, barely holding back the inevitable crush of cold? It's into this world that Rohan delves, both as he builds his own variant, and as he seeks out the actual anthropological record of mankind, so as to weave it into his story.
Where many authors take a very in-your-face approach to magic in their books, Rohan has opted for something somewhat more subtle. Aside from the Powers that guide and shape the world, the magic system he's gone with is one based around metalworking. It's the smith that serves as the keeper of knowledge and arcane arts in his world, and it's the tale of one smith in particular that the series seeks to tell. We watch a peculiar coming of age tale, as the protagonist comes into power and skill, only to end up dealing with the consequences of what it can mean to have both without the knowledge or wisdom to use them appropriately.
There are a few things about the book that do occasionally get to me, unfortunately. The way it is written is as if it were merely someone reading about it to the reader (a book about a book about something that happened?), albeit where the source material isn't necessarily complete or always accurate. This style is useful in that it lets Rohan deal with some time warping where he needs to advance the story timeline by leaps and bounds in just a few pages rather than add a couple hundred pages...but it does feel artificial and forced at times.
Some of the action sequences are also conveyed at something of a cursory level as compared to the descriptions of the world in which they take place. While great care may be taken with describing the setting, the movements of the figures fighting within it sometimes boil down to "and he had superior strength because....because Smith, so he wins."
Despite the above, The Anvil of Ice introduces readers to a unique take on a low-magic fantasy setting that is like very little written before or since. It's one of those hidden gems that exists in the genre; the type of book that nobody seemingly has read, but every student of the genre should not be without.
Overall: 8.5/10
Michael Scott Rohan is an author that basically nobody else I know has ever even heard of, but is a name that really should be on the lips of anyone that is interested in original fantasy by an author that clearly cares a great deal about every word that goes on a page. The first time I read Rothfuss I was blown away by the precision and care that was clearly evident throughout his writing. It just wasn't something that I really had found in many other places. Rereading Rohan's books recently, I was struck by just that same feeling. The language is descriptive, painting a picture of a time long before our own.
Where so many authors will reach out for creating their own world from the ground up, Rohan has rooted his in an interesting realm of pseudo-historical fiction. Imagining what the world could have been like during an ice age. What if the great glaciers were driven by a malevolent will, and mankind was barely holding on, barely holding back the inevitable crush of cold? It's into this world that Rohan delves, both as he builds his own variant, and as he seeks out the actual anthropological record of mankind, so as to weave it into his story.
Where many authors take a very in-your-face approach to magic in their books, Rohan has opted for something somewhat more subtle. Aside from the Powers that guide and shape the world, the magic system he's gone with is one based around metalworking. It's the smith that serves as the keeper of knowledge and arcane arts in his world, and it's the tale of one smith in particular that the series seeks to tell. We watch a peculiar coming of age tale, as the protagonist comes into power and skill, only to end up dealing with the consequences of what it can mean to have both without the knowledge or wisdom to use them appropriately.
There are a few things about the book that do occasionally get to me, unfortunately. The way it is written is as if it were merely someone reading about it to the reader (a book about a book about something that happened?), albeit where the source material isn't necessarily complete or always accurate. This style is useful in that it lets Rohan deal with some time warping where he needs to advance the story timeline by leaps and bounds in just a few pages rather than add a couple hundred pages...but it does feel artificial and forced at times.
Some of the action sequences are also conveyed at something of a cursory level as compared to the descriptions of the world in which they take place. While great care may be taken with describing the setting, the movements of the figures fighting within it sometimes boil down to "and he had superior strength because....because Smith, so he wins."
Despite the above, The Anvil of Ice introduces readers to a unique take on a low-magic fantasy setting that is like very little written before or since. It's one of those hidden gems that exists in the genre; the type of book that nobody seemingly has read, but every student of the genre should not be without.
Overall: 8.5/10
April 10, 2019
I had previously read this book a long time ago as well as the second book in the series, but stalled somewhere in the third. In between time three more books have appeared in the series.
This is an alternate world fantasy only in that the setting is meant to be our world during an ancient ice age. The lengthy appendices provide a lot of detail in that respect.
This short novel is written in an old-fashioned way, with long chapters and long paragraphs covering several actions, dialogues, or points of view in densely packed narrative. Blink and you’ll miss something important. Nevertheless, the writing is beautiful, lyrical whilst remaining terse, with a firm grasp of the character’s skills and thoughts - but the emotions described are a bit all or nothing, especially Alv / Elof’s feelings for Kara. All of the characters (even the least important) are engaging, well defined, and pleasingly intelligent, if believably flawed.
The protagonist is a Farm Boy of Destiny, with inexplicable memories and skills of a forge master, but he goes through a detailed, plausible, and compelling character arc, making this tale a relatively hard but rewarding read. The antagonists are intriguing, especially the concept of the Ice as pure thought and pure malice, and the action is rapid and exhilarating. Encounters with trolls, dragons, and whales are particularly vivid. Battle scenes are brutal and realistic. No Hollywood swordplay here.
What is most satisfying about this story is that Alv / Elof’s quest is largely personal. Yes, there is a world threat, and yes, there is the mystery of Elof’s true identity, but first and foremost the plot is concerned with the fact he made the weapons of the enemy and that he seeks to redeem himself for that error. This gives the story the depth and gravitas of ancient legends, rather than mere fantasy thrills.
Altogether, the series is something of a hidden gem, deserving to be better known.
This is an alternate world fantasy only in that the setting is meant to be our world during an ancient ice age. The lengthy appendices provide a lot of detail in that respect.
This short novel is written in an old-fashioned way, with long chapters and long paragraphs covering several actions, dialogues, or points of view in densely packed narrative. Blink and you’ll miss something important. Nevertheless, the writing is beautiful, lyrical whilst remaining terse, with a firm grasp of the character’s skills and thoughts - but the emotions described are a bit all or nothing, especially Alv / Elof’s feelings for Kara. All of the characters (even the least important) are engaging, well defined, and pleasingly intelligent, if believably flawed.
The protagonist is a Farm Boy of Destiny, with inexplicable memories and skills of a forge master, but he goes through a detailed, plausible, and compelling character arc, making this tale a relatively hard but rewarding read. The antagonists are intriguing, especially the concept of the Ice as pure thought and pure malice, and the action is rapid and exhilarating. Encounters with trolls, dragons, and whales are particularly vivid. Battle scenes are brutal and realistic. No Hollywood swordplay here.
What is most satisfying about this story is that Alv / Elof’s quest is largely personal. Yes, there is a world threat, and yes, there is the mystery of Elof’s true identity, but first and foremost the plot is concerned with the fact he made the weapons of the enemy and that he seeks to redeem himself for that error. This gives the story the depth and gravitas of ancient legends, rather than mere fantasy thrills.
Altogether, the series is something of a hidden gem, deserving to be better known.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 5, 2013
A fantasy book that doesn't read like Tolkien and manages to create an interesting and varied world that you want to spend more time in.
The story moves well and keeps you interested with an almost episodic nature that gives you a tour of the world that the author has created. I do feel the author could have expanded a little on the world, however - considering this is the first book and you're in a new world. Heavy exposition would fine I think and given you a bit more texture and background. The Appendix is useful for this, but it would have been nicer for this to be threaded through the story. A minor complaint but I just didn't 'know' the world as well as I'd have liked.
The main character develops really nicely and isn't the usual blank canvas that sci if and fantasy deploys to aid the reader's escapism. In fact, he's a really great character IMO, especially as the story progresses. The supporting cast is also well formed but I felt that the antagonist falls away a little too easily and you don't really connect with him, especially towards the end of the book. This what drops it down from 5 stars for me, especially as they talk an awful lot about the antagonist and because he features so heavily at the start of the book.
But these are relativity minor complaints: if you're into fantasy are looking for something a little more grounded and gritty than most of what is out there this is a great read. It's a slower paced book in some ways with less a focus on action and adventure and more exploration and discovery, with a sense of mystery and intrigue for the reader and the characters.
The story moves well and keeps you interested with an almost episodic nature that gives you a tour of the world that the author has created. I do feel the author could have expanded a little on the world, however - considering this is the first book and you're in a new world. Heavy exposition would fine I think and given you a bit more texture and background. The Appendix is useful for this, but it would have been nicer for this to be threaded through the story. A minor complaint but I just didn't 'know' the world as well as I'd have liked.
The main character develops really nicely and isn't the usual blank canvas that sci if and fantasy deploys to aid the reader's escapism. In fact, he's a really great character IMO, especially as the story progresses. The supporting cast is also well formed but I felt that the antagonist falls away a little too easily and you don't really connect with him, especially towards the end of the book. This what drops it down from 5 stars for me, especially as they talk an awful lot about the antagonist and because he features so heavily at the start of the book.
But these are relativity minor complaints: if you're into fantasy are looking for something a little more grounded and gritty than most of what is out there this is a great read. It's a slower paced book in some ways with less a focus on action and adventure and more exploration and discovery, with a sense of mystery and intrigue for the reader and the characters.
June 3, 2020
A veritable classic, this is on my annual read list. Gloriously technical details follow the story of Alv the foundling from his rude thrust into adventure, swirling into world-changing events to culminate in his maturity as he seeks his desires, both noble and base.
A close patterning of Norse tragedy and myth, if you've seen "Ring of the Nibelungs" or know the background legend, much will be familiar. While high fantasy, the protagonist remains essentially human, and is prone (all too often it seems) to fall victim to his own weaknesses and flaws. While on one hand this is satisfyingly realistic, on the other, frustrating as he seems to never learn from his mistakes, nor learn to think ahead. It's hard to empathise with a character so impetuous and at times unlikeable.
Overall a satisfying read, most will be attracted to the highly-detailed descriptions of smithing and metalcraft. The other characters get plenty of stage, but are essentially static. A charming classic of the era, more sophisticated readers of the genre will probably tire of it's single focus and traditional style.
A close patterning of Norse tragedy and myth, if you've seen "Ring of the Nibelungs" or know the background legend, much will be familiar. While high fantasy, the protagonist remains essentially human, and is prone (all too often it seems) to fall victim to his own weaknesses and flaws. While on one hand this is satisfyingly realistic, on the other, frustrating as he seems to never learn from his mistakes, nor learn to think ahead. It's hard to empathise with a character so impetuous and at times unlikeable.
Overall a satisfying read, most will be attracted to the highly-detailed descriptions of smithing and metalcraft. The other characters get plenty of stage, but are essentially static. A charming classic of the era, more sophisticated readers of the genre will probably tire of it's single focus and traditional style.
December 25, 2015
It's been about 15 years or so since I last read Michael Scott Rohan's Winter of the World Series of which this is the first book. I remember it being one of the best fantasy series I had ever read and I have read a great number over the years. Memory though can be a deceptive thing. Not this time though as it is as good as I remember it.
The Anvil Of Ice is in many respects a simple coming of age, good versus evil story. It's full of the usual tropes of this genre; the put upon and down trodden foundling, the power that lies hidden within him, his misuse and loss of that power and his redemption and understanding of what and who he is. This though is not a criticism, it is what it is and it is good at what it is, in fact its damn good at what it is. What raises it up a notch is the world into which the story is placed. Rohan's world is rich, multilayered and believable. The tying of magic to art of Smithcraft is inspired as is the power and force of the incroaching Ice (remember this was written well before GofT so was a new concept at the time).
The Winter of the World Series really should be better known and really deserves a reissuing from its publishers.
The Anvil Of Ice is in many respects a simple coming of age, good versus evil story. It's full of the usual tropes of this genre; the put upon and down trodden foundling, the power that lies hidden within him, his misuse and loss of that power and his redemption and understanding of what and who he is. This though is not a criticism, it is what it is and it is good at what it is, in fact its damn good at what it is. What raises it up a notch is the world into which the story is placed. Rohan's world is rich, multilayered and believable. The tying of magic to art of Smithcraft is inspired as is the power and force of the incroaching Ice (remember this was written well before GofT so was a new concept at the time).
The Winter of the World Series really should be better known and really deserves a reissuing from its publishers.
July 23, 2014
This is one of my favorite mythological fantasy sagas. Using plenty of elements from Finnish and Scandinavian mythology (and a fictionalized take on the ice age), this tale follows Elof, apprentice smith, as he struggles against his former mentor, a mastersmith who has ties to powers with interest in purifying the world with an enormous glacial sheet of ice.
Not only is there plenty of high adventure, but the vivid and eloquent writing make even topics that wouldn't normally have kept my attention, such as the smithcraft, completely engaging. Well worth reading, as are its follow-ups.
Not only is there plenty of high adventure, but the vivid and eloquent writing make even topics that wouldn't normally have kept my attention, such as the smithcraft, completely engaging. Well worth reading, as are its follow-ups.
November 29, 2025
A surprisingly modern classic fantasy novel, if that makes sense. It has some darker themes, some morally grey areas, and it feels more mature than most older fantasy. I was about halfway through when I realized I didn't know its publishing date, and was surprised to see that it was 1986. Sure, that is nearly a decade after the juvenile "Sword of Shannara", but this is a good sign. Fantasy for adults, perhaps?
The novel falters starting around the halfway point unfortunately. The early sections of Alv / Elof learning his trade under the harsh tutelage of his wise and sinister benefactor are great. We learn of the difficulties of magic and how it isn't just memorizing spells and blasting away, you have to imbue artifacts with powers by channeling your will over weeks and months of research and effort. Magicians are very powerful but only through nearly superhuman tenacity.
I also enjoyed the constantly shifting cast of characters around Alv. Again, this ends around the halfway point when he meets our Aragorn stand-in and stays with him for the rest of the novel, only picking up another hanger-on or two along the way, and then finally (spoiler) meeting up with nearly all of his former acquaintances in the last 30 pages in an avalanche of coincidences. This is disappointing.
This secondary main character, I don't have the book in front of me and I don't want to look up his name so let's just call him Aragorn, is a tall wanderer, outcast from his home but is fiercely determined to return and defend it from invaders, etc. etc. etc. He is a bit of a Mary Sue (hunter, warrior, sailor, etc) and overstays his welcome quite badly. He starts off as a brooding pirate with a sense of honor and is a fun character, and you think he will be around for a few chapters and Elof will get sent along with a new side character to continue his journey, but not. He's here for the duration. All other characters introduced later in the book are not given enough time as a result (poor Ils...) and the book seems to become more and more Aragorn's story as it goes rather than Elof's.
Once Elof goes out questing things become a lot less focused too. In the first half of the book he is a blacksmith, and that is all. We learn of his craft, we follow along as he grows his new skills. I loved all of that, especially with the darker subtexts all along the way. Elof goes out in the world, plies his trade for a while, and then for the last half of the book it is a little adventure on the Ice, one in the caves, one on a boat, one in a forest. These feel like little vignettes that could easily be excised from the book... but then we would barely have anything to read. The novel turns from an interesting character story about a cow herder becoming a powerful blacksmith-magician, into an endless series of side quests. Disappointing.
The romantic side plot leaves a whole lot to be desired. Elof falls in love, unironically, at first sight of the first girl he's seen in years (?), and she reciprocates, they speak about 20 words to each other, and that's it. He obsesses over her for another 200 pages, they see each other again for another minute and a half and are still madly in love, and that's it. In the entire novel I think they speak less than 50 words to each other and are in the same room for less than half an hour. If this was a less serious novel I would almost think this was satire.
The writing here is good, though a little obtuse. While feeling somewhat modern in its themes and plotting, the author imbues every sentence with 'twains and thees and thous and awkward perhaps archaic sentence structure, which sometimes is fun and other times gets in the way and requires rereading of a sentence or two. Think Tolkien mixed with King James Version Bible type prose. I will admit, I started this book and got about 35 pages in and gave up the first time, and had to go read something easier. I came back to it knowing what I was getting into and enjoyed it much more the second time around. I can imagine many readers less tolerant of this old-fashioned style of writing would not consider it worth the effort, and I can't blame them.
Part of this is the endless dialog, especially towards the last half of the book. Whereas in the first half Alv is lonely and under the sway of a stoic and stern master, once he meets Aragorn it's talk talk talk talk talk. The two adventurers will be hiking through some hills and we will get a nicely written description of the trees, rocks, countryside, etc (very Tolkien-esque), and they will reach the top of a hill and discuss for half a page how far they can see, how different the trees look, how they appreciate each other's help, blah blah blah. Considering the lack of direction in the second half of the novel, this becomes tiresome because you don't want yet another little mini-adventure, or another long conversation, you want some plot development. Seriously... for the last hundred or so pages of the book I didn't even really know their objective. They have to go save the southland, but how? Are they just banking on the Big Bad guy being at the same place they are going? It seems so, and it works out, but it really feels like a lot of pointless traveling without a clear objective.
And so the novel winds down. It is good, but I think the first half feels quite original and interesting while the second half feels like a half-decent Tolkien knock-off. Disappointing.
The novel falters starting around the halfway point unfortunately. The early sections of Alv / Elof learning his trade under the harsh tutelage of his wise and sinister benefactor are great. We learn of the difficulties of magic and how it isn't just memorizing spells and blasting away, you have to imbue artifacts with powers by channeling your will over weeks and months of research and effort. Magicians are very powerful but only through nearly superhuman tenacity.
I also enjoyed the constantly shifting cast of characters around Alv. Again, this ends around the halfway point when he meets our Aragorn stand-in and stays with him for the rest of the novel, only picking up another hanger-on or two along the way, and then finally (spoiler) meeting up with nearly all of his former acquaintances in the last 30 pages in an avalanche of coincidences. This is disappointing.
This secondary main character, I don't have the book in front of me and I don't want to look up his name so let's just call him Aragorn, is a tall wanderer, outcast from his home but is fiercely determined to return and defend it from invaders, etc. etc. etc. He is a bit of a Mary Sue (hunter, warrior, sailor, etc) and overstays his welcome quite badly. He starts off as a brooding pirate with a sense of honor and is a fun character, and you think he will be around for a few chapters and Elof will get sent along with a new side character to continue his journey, but not. He's here for the duration. All other characters introduced later in the book are not given enough time as a result (poor Ils...) and the book seems to become more and more Aragorn's story as it goes rather than Elof's.
Once Elof goes out questing things become a lot less focused too. In the first half of the book he is a blacksmith, and that is all. We learn of his craft, we follow along as he grows his new skills. I loved all of that, especially with the darker subtexts all along the way. Elof goes out in the world, plies his trade for a while, and then for the last half of the book it is a little adventure on the Ice, one in the caves, one on a boat, one in a forest. These feel like little vignettes that could easily be excised from the book... but then we would barely have anything to read. The novel turns from an interesting character story about a cow herder becoming a powerful blacksmith-magician, into an endless series of side quests. Disappointing.
The romantic side plot leaves a whole lot to be desired. Elof falls in love, unironically, at first sight of the first girl he's seen in years (?), and she reciprocates, they speak about 20 words to each other, and that's it. He obsesses over her for another 200 pages, they see each other again for another minute and a half and are still madly in love, and that's it. In the entire novel I think they speak less than 50 words to each other and are in the same room for less than half an hour. If this was a less serious novel I would almost think this was satire.
The writing here is good, though a little obtuse. While feeling somewhat modern in its themes and plotting, the author imbues every sentence with 'twains and thees and thous and awkward perhaps archaic sentence structure, which sometimes is fun and other times gets in the way and requires rereading of a sentence or two. Think Tolkien mixed with King James Version Bible type prose. I will admit, I started this book and got about 35 pages in and gave up the first time, and had to go read something easier. I came back to it knowing what I was getting into and enjoyed it much more the second time around. I can imagine many readers less tolerant of this old-fashioned style of writing would not consider it worth the effort, and I can't blame them.
Part of this is the endless dialog, especially towards the last half of the book. Whereas in the first half Alv is lonely and under the sway of a stoic and stern master, once he meets Aragorn it's talk talk talk talk talk. The two adventurers will be hiking through some hills and we will get a nicely written description of the trees, rocks, countryside, etc (very Tolkien-esque), and they will reach the top of a hill and discuss for half a page how far they can see, how different the trees look, how they appreciate each other's help, blah blah blah. Considering the lack of direction in the second half of the novel, this becomes tiresome because you don't want yet another little mini-adventure, or another long conversation, you want some plot development. Seriously... for the last hundred or so pages of the book I didn't even really know their objective. They have to go save the southland, but how? Are they just banking on the Big Bad guy being at the same place they are going? It seems so, and it works out, but it really feels like a lot of pointless traveling without a clear objective.
And so the novel winds down. It is good, but I think the first half feels quite original and interesting while the second half feels like a half-decent Tolkien knock-off. Disappointing.
November 24, 2010
I first read this book from the school library. No preconceptions. Loved it. Went looking for it and found it again about 10 years later, re-read it loved it just as much if not a little bit more. It has a lovely bittersweet quality that I've always enjoyed in fantasy books wear the characters act beyond themselves.
October 30, 2012
One of the epic rarities amongst fantasy literature.
colorful in its language,
inspirational in its mood
unique in it's motifs and storyline.
Contemporary fantasy literature suffers from lack of verbal beauty and prime ideas, most often repetitive and recycled. I'd resume reading fantasy if I found books like that.
colorful in its language,
inspirational in its mood
unique in it's motifs and storyline.
Contemporary fantasy literature suffers from lack of verbal beauty and prime ideas, most often repetitive and recycled. I'd resume reading fantasy if I found books like that.
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