Winterheim

Dragonlance: Icewall #3

by Douglas Niles

In the third volume of the Icewall Trilogy, Strongwind Whalebone, king of the Highlanders, is a captive within the ogre fortress, while outside, his allies plot his rescue, and within the fortress, Grimwar Bane, the ogre king, confronts treachery and possible revolt. Original.

Genres: Dragonlance, Fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons, High Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fiction, Turkish

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Douglas Niles is a fantasy author and game designer. Niles was one of the creators of the Dragonlance world and the author of the first three Forgotten Realms novels, and the Top Secret S/I espionage role-playing game. He currently resides in Delavan, Wisconsin with his wife, Christine, and two Bouviets, Reggie and Stella. He enjoys playing his guitar, cooking, and visiting with family.

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a somewhat mediocre conclusion to the trilogy. Far too predictable. I get the feeling that Niles may have been a bit too constrained by the Dragonlance novel formula, which is particularly unfortunate, as the story itself (of the entire trilogy) has very few ties to the Dragonlance world. It takes place in a remote part of the world and has no important references to characters or events of that world. It borrows a few stock races from that world (kender, gnomes, gully dwarves), which I think are ridiculously stereotyped and overused in the Dragonlance books. Niles uses them fairly sparingly in this book, but they are pretty unnecessary to the story anyway.

Having read the first two books of the trilogy, it makes sense to read the conclusion, but for anyone wanting to check out the more relevant stories of the Dragonlance world, the Icewall trilogy can easily be skipped.

[Ronnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating would probably be a 3.5. It's not as good as the first book, but it's much better than the second.

Overall, this book had some organization issues. For instance, a scene will happen from the POV of character X long after the same scene happens from the POV of Y. Niles has the bad habit of repeating information that the reader already knows over and over again. There are quite a few inconsistencies, especially in the speech patterns of Karyl Drogo, and in Grimwar's characterization. I'm pleased to say that Grimwar once again had the refreshing depth of character that he displayed in The Messenget that went missing entirely in The Golden Orb, but as much as I loved it, it did highlight Niles' inconsistency with some characterization.

Overall, I very much enjoyed the world building, specially with the ogres' culture and customs.

More specifically:
Tildy was a fantastic red herring. I for sure thought it was her, to the point where I was sure that the plot holes with her being the traitor were unintentional.

I had been hoping since book one that this would end in a slave revolt, and while I think it might have wrapped up a little easily, I am stoked that it ended with humans and ogres living peacefully until the Cataclysm. Stariz got the ending she deserved. I liked Randall much more than Barq and missed having him around.

The romance between Brumi and Grimwar was poorly done, and it could have used a lot more development. The romance between Kerrick and Moreen was very well done, which makes it even more frustrating that we didn't actually get a scene of them being together at the end of it. A little more pay off would have been nice.

[Samuel Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

3rd book in series great conclusion!

[Ben Loftin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Odd ending to the series.. My initial take is disappointed but maybe it will age like wine.

[Tom Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ended in a hurry and quite simply but still a great story

[Mikaël · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was pretty good for the most part, but the nonsensical and over the top sappy ending really ruins it

[Jim C · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is part of the Dragonlance world. This book is the third book of a trilogy and the other two must be read before this one. In this novel, the humans decide to travel to Winterheim in an attempt to rescue the king who was captured during the ending of the second book.

I have enjoyed this author's other works in this universe but I felt like this trilogy was under par. I believe the problem was there wasn't enough material for a trilogy. This book suffered the most from that aspect as the first half of the book had trials and tribulations but it seemed like it was filler. The second half did have plenty of action and fans of battle scenes will enjoy this half. I did not care for the ending as the author did not travel down the usual road but to me, it missed the mark. I think he took the easy way out for some of the plot lines.

If you are planning to read a trilogy from this world, my recommendation is that there are better ones out there. This trilogy did have strong characters and I loved the setting but it would have been better if this was two novels instead of three.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave this a '2' because the writer has a habit of popping up new characters or items at crucial events to get around obstacles in the storyline. Example: at the end of the second book, a gnome just happens to be at the very spot where the main characters are floundering. He helps them with a major task, then, at the beginning of the third book, Niles kills him off because he nor his tools are no longer needed - very cheap writing if you ask me. But, what disturbed me more was when the main character lost a very valuable possession in the second book in the series (The Golden Orb), supposedly gone for ever, just to have it appear at his side in the third book, as if the previous event never happened. Come on, Niles, can't you remember your own story? Or, is consistency not important?

[TL Jeffcoat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing trilogy, I'm going to rate and review all three books the exact same, because they were one of the best D&D based stories I ever read. I love Douglas Niles work at putting this story together, and the character development and growth was amazing. The richness of the setting, and the adrenaline of the action was astounding. I loved the protagonist and the antagonist.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finally finished this trilogy it seems to have taken forever since I've been way too tired to read lately but I really liked it. The story was interesting and eventful the entire time. I really loved all the characters and it kept me guessing until the end I thought the slave betrayal was by someone else. I'd definitely be interested in looking into some more works by this author.

[Emily White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Douglas Niles completes the telling of the Icewall Trilogy story. There is a brave (or crazy) rescue attempt made by the Arktos and Highlanders that brings them into the heart of the Ogre Kingdom. Another good book filled with difficult choices and fast paced action.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a good ending to the trilogy. I felt the ending itself was a little rushed and some stuff that could've been spread out or left out where given extra time in the storyline. Overall a good series and found it very interesting how he chose to tell the story before the cataclysm.

[Fumphwoog, Lady of all Sorrows · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman of course, but still very enjoyable.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must say I've enjoyed this whole trilogy. It even had a very satisfying and surprising ending.

[Girish Mani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome series.One of the greatest works in Dragonlance series.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it a lot and thought it wrapped up the Icewall Trilogy nicely. However, the conclusion seeme rushed. I liked what happened but not the speed in which it happened.