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Though she doesn’t know her real name, Thirteen is sure of two things: survival and finding her sister. Nothing stands in her way—not the great Pacifica Ice Sheet nor the slavers she escaped—until her deadly hunt takes a maddening turn.
The first and only clue in her search is held by the survivor of a wrecked ice ship. But he’s not sharing. He has a daughter to rescue, and he needs Thirteen’s help.
In the unforgiving subzero, a wary alliance is formed. Although she’d do anything to find her sister and finally know her own name, Thirteen never forgets the first rule of the ice. You only get one mistake—your last.
Please Note: ICED is Book 1 in a dystopian and post-apocalyptic science fiction trilogy. Books 2 and 3 will be out in 2015.
The first and only clue in her search is held by the survivor of a wrecked ice ship. But he’s not sharing. He has a daughter to rescue, and he needs Thirteen’s help.
In the unforgiving subzero, a wary alliance is formed. Although she’d do anything to find her sister and finally know her own name, Thirteen never forgets the first rule of the ice. You only get one mistake—your last.
Please Note: ICED is Book 1 in a dystopian and post-apocalyptic science fiction trilogy. Books 2 and 3 will be out in 2015.
325 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 10, 2015
7 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
About the author
M. Terry Green
15 books46 followersHi, I’m Terry.
Personally: My husband and I live in Los Angeles and we’ve both lived in California all our lives. The only way I can summarize my personal life succinctly is to tell you that we stopped being two separate people decades ago. Our natural and usual state is happy, upbeat, and quiet.
Professionally: I write full-time and have for the last several years. My non-fiction, under a different name to dispel confusion, has been published by Simon & Schuster and Penguin and my articles have appeared in the NY Times and Cosmopolitan, among others. I have a Ph.D. in archaeology but a B.S. in physics.
Sardonically: Writing about yourself in the third person would be a great way to create an exemplary bio, but that’s not why I’m here. Although I’m healthy, the number of days that I have left to live is finite (real mortality estimate). With that in mind, I’m considering how best to use those days–and I am writing.
Personally: My husband and I live in Los Angeles and we’ve both lived in California all our lives. The only way I can summarize my personal life succinctly is to tell you that we stopped being two separate people decades ago. Our natural and usual state is happy, upbeat, and quiet.
Professionally: I write full-time and have for the last several years. My non-fiction, under a different name to dispel confusion, has been published by Simon & Schuster and Penguin and my articles have appeared in the NY Times and Cosmopolitan, among others. I have a Ph.D. in archaeology but a B.S. in physics.
Sardonically: Writing about yourself in the third person would be a great way to create an exemplary bio, but that’s not why I’m here. Although I’m healthy, the number of days that I have left to live is finite (real mortality estimate). With that in mind, I’m considering how best to use those days–and I am writing.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 22, 2015
3,5 stars
I received this book from the author, in exchange for an honest review.
From the author’s site:
Though she doesn’t know her name, Thirteen is sure of two things: survival and finding her sister. Nothing stands in her way—not the great Pacifica Ice Sheet nor the slavers she escaped—until her deadly hunt takes a maddening turn. The first and only clue in her search is held by the survivor of a wrecked ice ship. But he’s not sharing. He has a daughter to rescue, and he needs Thirteen’s help. In the unforgiving subzero, a wary alliance is formed. Although she’d do anything to find her sister and finally know her own name, Thirteen never forgets the first rule of the ice. You only get one mistake—your last.
Sometimes there are books that draw you in from the very first paragraph and don’t let you go until the end, and Iced is indeed one of them. The world depicted here is our world, our Earth, but dramatically altered by some climate change that has transformed it into a ball of ice: no reason is given and yet that hardly matters – whatever happened in the past is unimportant. The focus here is on the aftermath, and the way people have adapted to this radically different – and merciless – world.
People either live in protected cities near volcanoes, drawing heat and energy from the fiery lava boiling underneath, or they move around on the ice in “boats” that use the strong winds as a propulsion force and as a source of power. In such a situation, preying on each other becomes the norm: people either trust the relative safety of a convoy or brave it alone, while slaver crews target the defenseless to supply fresh manpower to city dwellers and the feared Skulls swoop down on everyone to wreak bloody havoc.
Thirteen is one of the loners, and a very peculiar one: that’s not even her name, but just the last two digits of the identification code tattooed on any slave’s back. She hunts for slavers, drawing them in with her unthreatening looks and killing them, in her dogged pursuit for her sister’s whereabouts: that’s how she gained the name of “Ghost”, spoken with hatred by the slavers and whispered in hopeful awe by the exploited. Thirteen is unusual in many ways, appearance being the foremost: frosty hair and eyes, the latter sporting a nictitating membrane, she can blend quite easily into the colorless surroundings in a land where this ability enhances one’s chances for survival. She’s also a cypher, even to herself: it’s quite clear that some parts of her past have been erased – or maybe she chose to forget them – and that pain and anguish have damaged her both in body and spirit, yet she's a fighter and a survivor, not at all inclined to give in to whatever fate deals her. Readers get to know Thirteen – as much as the story allows it – in small increments: she does not speak much and even that little is measured out with enormous reluctance, as Cord will learn the hard way.
He’s the other driving force of this story: a father desperate to find his daughter, abducted by slavers – that’s how he looks on the surface. Yet there are many untapped depths in Cord, not unlike Thirteen, and the tantalizing indications of an interesting past: his basic honesty and integrity play quite well against Thirteen’s wariness, making their alliance a fascinating, if complicated, one. Through Cord, and his recollections of happier times with his daughter Miyu, we also catch glimpses of everyday life in the ice-treading caravans.
Glimpses is also what we get of the way the more fortunate live: the city of Helado, built around a volcano, offers all the creature comforts one could want in that desolate landscape – warmth, food, shelter – but it’s also a place of danger and intrigue, where prince Céfiro, a cold-blooded, psychopathic killer, schemes against the king his father to gain the power he thirsts for. And what about the prophets? A cross between ministers and scientist, they look like the real power behind the throne and the hidden movers and shakers of the world.
These are all compelling hints of a broader story that sees its starting point in this book: that’s what drew me in from the beginning and kept me glued to the pages until the end – an end that left me suspended in mid-air as if over one of the many ice crevasses peppering the landscape. If I wanted to find a negative side in Iced it would be its brevity: it’s over far too soon, and it leaves you with a great amount of frustrated curiosity and too many unanswered questions – and I want to make it clear I consider this a compliment. The sheer believability of this world, the compelling nature of the characters, put their hooks into my imagination, and they will not let go until I know more about them.
To me, that’s the mark of a good, solid story. To say I’m looking forward to the rest of it, would be a massive understatement.
Review on Space and Sorcery
I received this book from the author, in exchange for an honest review.
From the author’s site:
Though she doesn’t know her name, Thirteen is sure of two things: survival and finding her sister. Nothing stands in her way—not the great Pacifica Ice Sheet nor the slavers she escaped—until her deadly hunt takes a maddening turn. The first and only clue in her search is held by the survivor of a wrecked ice ship. But he’s not sharing. He has a daughter to rescue, and he needs Thirteen’s help. In the unforgiving subzero, a wary alliance is formed. Although she’d do anything to find her sister and finally know her own name, Thirteen never forgets the first rule of the ice. You only get one mistake—your last.
Sometimes there are books that draw you in from the very first paragraph and don’t let you go until the end, and Iced is indeed one of them. The world depicted here is our world, our Earth, but dramatically altered by some climate change that has transformed it into a ball of ice: no reason is given and yet that hardly matters – whatever happened in the past is unimportant. The focus here is on the aftermath, and the way people have adapted to this radically different – and merciless – world.
People either live in protected cities near volcanoes, drawing heat and energy from the fiery lava boiling underneath, or they move around on the ice in “boats” that use the strong winds as a propulsion force and as a source of power. In such a situation, preying on each other becomes the norm: people either trust the relative safety of a convoy or brave it alone, while slaver crews target the defenseless to supply fresh manpower to city dwellers and the feared Skulls swoop down on everyone to wreak bloody havoc.
Thirteen is one of the loners, and a very peculiar one: that’s not even her name, but just the last two digits of the identification code tattooed on any slave’s back. She hunts for slavers, drawing them in with her unthreatening looks and killing them, in her dogged pursuit for her sister’s whereabouts: that’s how she gained the name of “Ghost”, spoken with hatred by the slavers and whispered in hopeful awe by the exploited. Thirteen is unusual in many ways, appearance being the foremost: frosty hair and eyes, the latter sporting a nictitating membrane, she can blend quite easily into the colorless surroundings in a land where this ability enhances one’s chances for survival. She’s also a cypher, even to herself: it’s quite clear that some parts of her past have been erased – or maybe she chose to forget them – and that pain and anguish have damaged her both in body and spirit, yet she's a fighter and a survivor, not at all inclined to give in to whatever fate deals her. Readers get to know Thirteen – as much as the story allows it – in small increments: she does not speak much and even that little is measured out with enormous reluctance, as Cord will learn the hard way.
He’s the other driving force of this story: a father desperate to find his daughter, abducted by slavers – that’s how he looks on the surface. Yet there are many untapped depths in Cord, not unlike Thirteen, and the tantalizing indications of an interesting past: his basic honesty and integrity play quite well against Thirteen’s wariness, making their alliance a fascinating, if complicated, one. Through Cord, and his recollections of happier times with his daughter Miyu, we also catch glimpses of everyday life in the ice-treading caravans.
Glimpses is also what we get of the way the more fortunate live: the city of Helado, built around a volcano, offers all the creature comforts one could want in that desolate landscape – warmth, food, shelter – but it’s also a place of danger and intrigue, where prince Céfiro, a cold-blooded, psychopathic killer, schemes against the king his father to gain the power he thirsts for. And what about the prophets? A cross between ministers and scientist, they look like the real power behind the throne and the hidden movers and shakers of the world.
These are all compelling hints of a broader story that sees its starting point in this book: that’s what drew me in from the beginning and kept me glued to the pages until the end – an end that left me suspended in mid-air as if over one of the many ice crevasses peppering the landscape. If I wanted to find a negative side in Iced it would be its brevity: it’s over far too soon, and it leaves you with a great amount of frustrated curiosity and too many unanswered questions – and I want to make it clear I consider this a compliment. The sheer believability of this world, the compelling nature of the characters, put their hooks into my imagination, and they will not let go until I know more about them.
To me, that’s the mark of a good, solid story. To say I’m looking forward to the rest of it, would be a massive understatement.
Review on Space and Sorcery
May 22, 2015
I don't generally judge a book by it's cover, which is a good thing because I hate this one.
Iced is a dystopian novel - the first in a triology - about a woman named Thirteen. It's not her real name - but she can't remember her real name. In Green's version of the future, the oceans are frozen over and the world is covered in ice. Slavery is real again, and only the elite are free.
Thirteeen has somehow escaped from slavery (her past is not explained in this book) and spends her life sailing the ice searching for her sister, who has not. But Thirteen isn't just any ordinary woman. She's different. She has two sets of eyelids, and her hair has no color. It is completely clear, but reflects light giviing it the illusion of the color of her surroundings. She also doesn't feel the cold the way everyone else does.
While searching for her sister she comes across a man who has survived his ice ship being wrecked, but his young daughter has been captured by slavers and he's desperate to rescue her. Thirteen has only two goals. Stay alive and find her sister. Their goals conflict, this the plot of the story begins.
Green hints at many intriguing things in this book and perhaps she intends to explore them further in the next two books in the series. Thirteen's past and what she really is are the main things you really want to know, and they aren't divulged in this first book.
I really enjoyed it and it was a quick read for me. So much so that when it ended I was shocked, and okay, I'll admit a bit disappointed. At first I thought to myself that this was another case of an author not doing a series right, but when I reflected on it I decided I was wrong.
Green actually does have a minor plot for this book which is resolved within the book, while leaving the major plot to cross into the other books in the series. She did do it right. I'm not sure why I initially felt the ending of this one wasn't quite satisfying enough for me. It just felt like an odd place to end it for some reason, but really that might be some fault of my own somehow. I can't quite tell you how though.
Anyway, if you're feeling the heat of summer where you are, curling up with this icy cold book on the beach should cool you off. And if it's cold where you are, well grab a hot drink and a blanket and don't deny yourself just because of the cold setting.
Iced is a dystopian novel - the first in a triology - about a woman named Thirteen. It's not her real name - but she can't remember her real name. In Green's version of the future, the oceans are frozen over and the world is covered in ice. Slavery is real again, and only the elite are free.
Thirteeen has somehow escaped from slavery (her past is not explained in this book) and spends her life sailing the ice searching for her sister, who has not. But Thirteen isn't just any ordinary woman. She's different. She has two sets of eyelids, and her hair has no color. It is completely clear, but reflects light giviing it the illusion of the color of her surroundings. She also doesn't feel the cold the way everyone else does.
While searching for her sister she comes across a man who has survived his ice ship being wrecked, but his young daughter has been captured by slavers and he's desperate to rescue her. Thirteen has only two goals. Stay alive and find her sister. Their goals conflict, this the plot of the story begins.
Green hints at many intriguing things in this book and perhaps she intends to explore them further in the next two books in the series. Thirteen's past and what she really is are the main things you really want to know, and they aren't divulged in this first book.
I really enjoyed it and it was a quick read for me. So much so that when it ended I was shocked, and okay, I'll admit a bit disappointed. At first I thought to myself that this was another case of an author not doing a series right, but when I reflected on it I decided I was wrong.
Green actually does have a minor plot for this book which is resolved within the book, while leaving the major plot to cross into the other books in the series. She did do it right. I'm not sure why I initially felt the ending of this one wasn't quite satisfying enough for me. It just felt like an odd place to end it for some reason, but really that might be some fault of my own somehow. I can't quite tell you how though.
Anyway, if you're feeling the heat of summer where you are, curling up with this icy cold book on the beach should cool you off. And if it's cold where you are, well grab a hot drink and a blanket and don't deny yourself just because of the cold setting.
February 13, 2015
I thoroughly enjoyed all of the books in Green's Olivia Lawson, Techno-Shaman series, so when I heard she was beginning a new series, my hand immediately went up for an ARC. And I'm glad I asked, because this one promises to be just as good.
The series is set on a future Earth after the next Ice Age has begun. It's unclear to me whether it's a natural phenomenon, or whether some kind of nuclear winter set it off. Either way it's very cold, and there are apparently few human survivors. They have retained enough technology, and developed additional tech, to cope with living in such a cold climate. But still, falling on the ice is tantamount to a death sentence.
Unfortunately, barbarism has survived, as well. Thirteen is a young woman who was previously some kind of slave (which kind becomes apparent partway through the novel). She has somehow procured a skimmer -- a sort of hovercraft for flying over the frozen Pacific -- and she has made it her business to attack slave ships, kill the crew, and free the cargo of slaves by handing over the ship to them. She has an ulterior motive: she's looking for information about her sister, from whom she was separated when they were both made slaves. But she is a thorn in the side of the nation-states that have built their economy on slavery. And the leader of one of those nations in particular has sworn to put the Ghost -- who they believe is a man -- out of commission permanently.
Things get interesting for Thirteen when she finds the survivor of a shipwreck. Cord was iced when slavers attacked the convoy he was in and captured his young daughter Miyu. Thirteen believes Cord knows something about her sister, and Cord senses that information is the only thing keeping her from killing him. Thus begins their uneasy partnership in a quest to steal Miyu back.
Green has clearly done her research, and she's done a great job with transferring sailing terms to this new, futuristic environment. I found myself pulling for both Thirteen and Cord, and couldn't put it down 'til I found out what happened to them. Now I'm looking forward to the next book. Highly recommended.
***
Originally published at http://hearth-myth-rursday-reads.blog....
The series is set on a future Earth after the next Ice Age has begun. It's unclear to me whether it's a natural phenomenon, or whether some kind of nuclear winter set it off. Either way it's very cold, and there are apparently few human survivors. They have retained enough technology, and developed additional tech, to cope with living in such a cold climate. But still, falling on the ice is tantamount to a death sentence.
Unfortunately, barbarism has survived, as well. Thirteen is a young woman who was previously some kind of slave (which kind becomes apparent partway through the novel). She has somehow procured a skimmer -- a sort of hovercraft for flying over the frozen Pacific -- and she has made it her business to attack slave ships, kill the crew, and free the cargo of slaves by handing over the ship to them. She has an ulterior motive: she's looking for information about her sister, from whom she was separated when they were both made slaves. But she is a thorn in the side of the nation-states that have built their economy on slavery. And the leader of one of those nations in particular has sworn to put the Ghost -- who they believe is a man -- out of commission permanently.
Things get interesting for Thirteen when she finds the survivor of a shipwreck. Cord was iced when slavers attacked the convoy he was in and captured his young daughter Miyu. Thirteen believes Cord knows something about her sister, and Cord senses that information is the only thing keeping her from killing him. Thus begins their uneasy partnership in a quest to steal Miyu back.
Green has clearly done her research, and she's done a great job with transferring sailing terms to this new, futuristic environment. I found myself pulling for both Thirteen and Cord, and couldn't put it down 'til I found out what happened to them. Now I'm looking forward to the next book. Highly recommended.
***
Originally published at http://hearth-myth-rursday-reads.blog....
May 22, 2015
original review @ JC's Book Haven.
She lightly touched the pendant through the fabric on her chest. Maybe this slaver ship would be the one. Maybe their captives would know something. Either way, the chase was on.
The Good
I love when a book has a new environment that I haven't experienced before. Iced has that as it feels like water world on ice but with openings in the ice that drop off into the abyss. Our hero, the Ghost (also known as Thirteen as slaver’s calls her), just wants to find her sister and she has no problem killing slavers to find out where she is. Then she ends up with her first lead, a man named Cord. His daughter has been snatched up and he'll only tell her where he saw her sister if she helps him get back his daughter. I love the Ghost as she is a bad ass who has to rein in her skills to lure in the slavers. The safety lines most people use to keep from being knocked off their skiffs just get in her way. Iced had a good pace with some interesting action.
The Bad
They have a group that pops up known as skulls but you don't really learn anything about them in this first book. Well other than the fact that everyone fears them, they eat meat and can small blood from great distances.
The Romance
No real romance in book 1 but it could be blooming for the Ghost and Cord. There is a bit of fooling around as the slaver kings wife has a thing with the prince. Only problem is the king knows by the way they act around him.
Conclusion
Overall, Iced was an interesting book. It has a fun new environment, potential fearsome race in the skulls and slaver royal family that has zero redeeming qualities. The heroine is more than capable of killing those that get in her way and now she has a reliable friend who has a past life of bad-assery (not a word but it should be) that he's tried to leave in the past. I’m looking forward to book two.
She lightly touched the pendant through the fabric on her chest. Maybe this slaver ship would be the one. Maybe their captives would know something. Either way, the chase was on.
The Good
I love when a book has a new environment that I haven't experienced before. Iced has that as it feels like water world on ice but with openings in the ice that drop off into the abyss. Our hero, the Ghost (also known as Thirteen as slaver’s calls her), just wants to find her sister and she has no problem killing slavers to find out where she is. Then she ends up with her first lead, a man named Cord. His daughter has been snatched up and he'll only tell her where he saw her sister if she helps him get back his daughter. I love the Ghost as she is a bad ass who has to rein in her skills to lure in the slavers. The safety lines most people use to keep from being knocked off their skiffs just get in her way. Iced had a good pace with some interesting action.
The Bad
They have a group that pops up known as skulls but you don't really learn anything about them in this first book. Well other than the fact that everyone fears them, they eat meat and can small blood from great distances.
The Romance
No real romance in book 1 but it could be blooming for the Ghost and Cord. There is a bit of fooling around as the slaver kings wife has a thing with the prince. Only problem is the king knows by the way they act around him.
Conclusion
Overall, Iced was an interesting book. It has a fun new environment, potential fearsome race in the skulls and slaver royal family that has zero redeeming qualities. The heroine is more than capable of killing those that get in her way and now she has a reliable friend who has a past life of bad-assery (not a word but it should be) that he's tried to leave in the past. I’m looking forward to book two.
Read
May 25, 2015ICED is the story of a world vastly changed by some unknown event causing the entire planet to become covered in ice. We’re not told of how this happened or how society evolved due to this catastrophic event, but we are brought into a world were slavery is the norm and anyone can be taken away within an instant to serve a master. Free people must take every precaution and sometimes even those are not enough to keep them safe. The main character of ICED is Thirteen, a woman who no longer knows her true name and is on a quest to find her sister. Thirteen escaped from a master who had branded her their property and now she is the scourge of slaver ships everywhere, known simply as the Ghost due to her strange appearance and how quickly she appears and disappears. Thirteen has a unique appearance: clear hair, frost-colored eyes with a nictitating membrane, and grippers on her feet – all of which help her blend in and survive in this icy world. ICED is beautiful in its descriptiveness, not only of the characters but of the world itself. Truly character-driven, ICED will pull you in and you will be breathless until the ending. I really connected with the characters and I think it’ll be easy for other readers to do the same. ICED is well-written and leaves you craving more once you reach the end.
December 7, 2015
So excited to start this book, really, really liked the Olivia Lawson series.
Thirteen/Ghost lives in a world of ice, fire and wind. Having escaped a life of slavery she searches for her missing sister. Mutations have become common among the people but hers are special making her far better at withstanding the freezing temperatures of the ice. She attacks and kills Slavers in her quest, and runs from Skulls( a tribe of cannibals) and armies alike. I liked Ghost from the start and the passengers she picked up. There was a lot of action and it was good.
However , the story was also about Cefiro, Prince of Helado. He is an obvious bad guy in every way. Nothing in this book tied the two major characters together. Even when it's part of a series, connections have to be shone or its awkward. And the story was totally lacking in surprises. Everyone did what you expected them to do.
World was great, characters well portrayed just missing that special something.
Thirteen/Ghost lives in a world of ice, fire and wind. Having escaped a life of slavery she searches for her missing sister. Mutations have become common among the people but hers are special making her far better at withstanding the freezing temperatures of the ice. She attacks and kills Slavers in her quest, and runs from Skulls( a tribe of cannibals) and armies alike. I liked Ghost from the start and the passengers she picked up. There was a lot of action and it was good.
However , the story was also about Cefiro, Prince of Helado. He is an obvious bad guy in every way. Nothing in this book tied the two major characters together. Even when it's part of a series, connections have to be shone or its awkward. And the story was totally lacking in surprises. Everyone did what you expected them to do.
World was great, characters well portrayed just missing that special something.
September 29, 2015
I loved the Techno-Shaman series and looked forward to starting the White World books as soon as I saw that they were becoming available. I think Green has another excellent series here. One of the things that I like about her writing are her characters and she has done a very good job introducing us to Thirteen and Cord. Who are they really and where did they come from? Green gives us just enough background and foreshadowing to grab us and pull us in to the story. The setting is amazing and the idea of ice ships is fascinating. She has really done her homework and brings it to life with detail included. The story sails along at a good pace with some twists and turns along the way. Really looking forward to reading book 2 to continue the adventure.
October 25, 2015
M. Terry Green has hit it out of the ballpark again. Wow.
I love my stubborn heroines that survive in spite of the odds being stacked against them, and Thirteen fits the bill. In an ice age dystopia where death is a constant, she survives and even saves others. She isn't nice, or kind, but she is good. She may not trust anyone but herself, but she can do amazing things for people anyway.
Cord intrigues me. There is definitely more to him than we have seen so far. His single minded pursuit to get his daughter back from slavers is intense.
These two together are amazing. They are both so focused, and have so many secrets. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book.
I love my stubborn heroines that survive in spite of the odds being stacked against them, and Thirteen fits the bill. In an ice age dystopia where death is a constant, she survives and even saves others. She isn't nice, or kind, but she is good. She may not trust anyone but herself, but she can do amazing things for people anyway.
Cord intrigues me. There is definitely more to him than we have seen so far. His single minded pursuit to get his daughter back from slavers is intense.
These two together are amazing. They are both so focused, and have so many secrets. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book.
March 12, 2015
A great start to a new series. Iced is set (as far as I can tell) in the near-ish future, after Earth has succumbed to a new ice age. A living legend on the ice, Thirteen is a fantastic character, damaged by her past but unflinchingly devoted to her sister. I loved watching her struggle to come to terms with having someone on her side, and Cord's friendly demeanour provides an excellent counterpoint to Thirteen's carefully-cultivated heart of ice. The interspersed scenes from the court of the King adds some promising intriuge that I'm sure will be developed in future books.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews