Conquer the Thaw

The Thaw Chronicles #10

by Tamar Sloan, Heidi Catherine

Only the strongest will lead

The deadly Tournaments are over. A new leader of the Outlands has been chosen.

To hold onto power and seize the riches that lie in Askala, the new Commander must earn respect and build an army. But how can control be taken when everything has fallen apart?

In a harsh world of lies, secrets and brutal betrayals, challenges will be made and rules will be broken. The Commander will need to discover if the real war is against the dying planet or if it’s against the people themselves.

A new war has begun. Askala is the prize. Only the strongest will lead.

Genres: Dystopia, Young Adult

340 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 8, 2021

About the author

Tamar really struggled writing this bio, in part because it’s in third person, but mostly because she hasn’t decided whether she’s primarily a psychologist who loves writing, or a writer with a lifelong fascination with psychology.

She must have been someone pretty awesome in a previous life (past life regression indicated a Care Bear), because she gets to do both. Beginning her career as a youth worker, then a secondary school teacher, before becoming a school psychologist, Tamar helps children and teens to live and thrive despite life’s hurdles like loss, relationship difficulties, mental health issues, and trauma.

As lover of reading, inspired by books that sparked beautiful movies in her head, Tamar loves to write young adult romance. To be honest, it was probably inevitable that her knowledge and love of literature would translate into writing emotion driven stories of finding life and love beyond our comfort zones. You can find out more about Tamar’s books at www.tamarsloan.com

A lifetime consumer of knowledge, Tamar holds degrees in Applied Science, Education and Psychology. When not reading, writing or working with teens, Tamar can be found with her husband and two children enjoying country life on their small slice of the Australian bush.
The driving force for all of Tamar’s writing is sharing and connecting. In truth, connecting with others is why she writes. She loves to hear from readers and fellow writers. Find her on all the usual social media channels or her website.

Reviews

[Sandra "Jeanz" · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again, I love the cover as it fits so well with the rest of the series, and birds do feature in rather important roles throughout the books. I bet these books look absolutely amazing on a bookshelf together. The different colours used on the covers making them stand out and have individual looks to each book, yet the use of the birds being cohesive and linking the whole series of books.

It really felt like I easily slipped back into this harsh world and quickly remembered the different groups/tribes with their own individual customs, ways of life and different living conditions & environments. Each set of twins have been separated thinking the other person that is literally their other half has tragically died.

Lexis and Gray are together wandering the outlands in search of a place to settle either just the two of them or perhaps with a friendly group of likeminded people. Sadly, things do not go to plan, in fact they decline rapidly and just when it looks like death is near for Gray, Lexis has no option but to strike a deal with the Never people without thinking it through nor settling on terms of repayment for their help. Lexis and Gray are then divided, with Lexis being held in the women’s part of the Never camp and Gray recovering from the awful partial price he has paid for the Never’s help. You could say the Never people have certainly “hobbled” Gray, making sure he is in no fit state to attempt escape without paying off his debt by working for the /never people. The only reason Lexis hasn’t had the same damage done to her as she managed to fight off those doing the deed and made it quite clear she wouldn’t be leaving without Gray anyway. It’s whilst working off their debt that Lexis meets a young girl whom she befriends and discovers is called Shale. Lexis is horrified to discover Shale has had the same maiming done to her as Gray has. In fact, as the book goes on it is Shale who helps Gray discover how to move about, learn to work and survive despite his injury. In the Never camp if you do not work and do your share you forfeit your ration of food and water.

Raze and Winter, or rather Grace as she is now calling herself are also fleeing Cy where the Tournaments were held. I loved the explanations behind the name change, although it did confuse me a little until I got used to it. Winter herself wants to honour her dead sister, whom she looked up to, and still dearly misses. Another perhaps more poetic description of the name change is that Winter is a season, one that no longer exists. It is also put across that Winter was a naïve, inexperienced young girl who arrived at the Tournaments. People thought Winter & Gray would leave the Tournaments when given the opportunity but they refused. Then the other contestants thought Winter & Gray would be amongst the first to die. All the other contestants in the Tournaments had more fighting experience, they were much more prepared for what was to come and what they would have to do to survive and have a chance of winning the Tournaments. Despite these odds Grace & Gray adapted as the Tournaments were under way and Winter/Grace changed into a strong leader. A leader who wants to unite the Outlands and work together rather than rule with violence as Evrest wants to do.

Evrest is determined that he alone is the true leader, the new Commander Of The Outlands. He will be the one to lead an army on Askala and secure the bounty that is there for himself. Rather than physically fight him at the moment, which Grace knows would most probably end in the certain death of an already badly injured Raze and probably her own too as she is in no shape after the Tournaments despite winning to endure another fight right now. Grace needs the support of the other races/tribes, she needs them to follow her as well as needing their help to get herself and Raze away from a still bloodthirsty Evrest and his loyal followers. Evrest doesn’t even care about his own children, they are merely people in his way that he needs to dispose of. Grace, the others along with Raze flee from the immediate area when threatened by Evrest and his men. Then Grace forms a kind of council, consisting of a representative from each race of people. This council that is formed will be the ones voting on the important decisions ahead. There’s Feather, from the People of Never who Grace coerces and cajoles into carrying Raze who is so badly injured is unable to walk. In return, Grace promises Feather that he will be her second in command, much to the People of Rust candidate’s irritation as he had earmarked that job for himself. Scoria, the only other female representative other than the new commander herself stands for the People of Cragg, Grace represents the People Of Fairbanks or “the Ghosts” as they were once known. Finally, the last member is Raze who will represent the People of Cy. The other representatives aren’t entirely happy with that, more or less saying that Raze is injured and will likely die, and that they would be better to just leave him behind.

I truly admire the writing styles of Tamar & Heidi together it really is totally seamless and I don’t honestly think you could pick out who wrote what section/character without them telling you. I enjoy the descriptions within the book, they help you visualise what is being described. One particular description that stood out for me was the way Grace describe curtains and describes what they were used for to Raze. Raze cannot seem to comprehend that people were once bothered about having curtains a certain colour. Grace explains people cared about such things as they did not have real things to care about such as survival.

I liked a lot of the characters in this part of the series. Of course, I continued to care and like the older characters of Winter, now called Grace and Raze. Grace’s determination to protect Raze when he is injured and would surely die if left alone. It’s even clearer in this book that they have deeper feelings for each other. Just like the other half of their twins, Gray and Lexis who also have strong feelings that are growing ever deeper for each other.

One newly introduced character in this book is Shale, who was stolen from her own people, the people of Cragg, she has suffered the same maiming at the hands of the Never as Gray has but being younger has adapted. When she is put to work with Lexis, she discovers that there are people who still care, that there’s still kindness in the world. Shale helps them and when they make a break for freedom, they take her with them.

I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the bad guys in this book, who were the people of the Never and what they do to poor Lexis and Gray. They think it is totally acceptable to maim someone so they cannot run away. We discover more about Brik, from Fairbanks like Gray & Winter/Grace, and my instincts about him in the earlier books are proven to be right.
There is even another “race”/group of people introduced to us in this book, they are the
people of Treasure Island, who end up giving us an inkling as to what the spin off series that Tamar & Heidi are doing may contain. My thoughts and feelings on the people of Treasure Island were mixed and I am still a bit undecided, on the surface they seem extremely welcoming, but it soon became apparent that they have a hidden agenda! There is one section in the book where they almost re-discover each other, that their twins are in fact alive. They quite literally pass each other whilst struggling with the acidic ocean and unpredictable weather. There are also lots of revelations in this book, turning up a few surprises as to different characters that are in fact half siblings, sharing the same awful father.

The only negatives were Winter changing her name to Grace, though when explained it did make sense, it just took a little getting used to. I also wasn’t keen on the word “factions” being used, to me the term is so heavily associated with Divergent, rather like the word “districts” would be quickly linked to the Hunger Games. I would have preferred calling the “factions” tribes to avoid any association with other books. I honestly think this series stands strong alongside books such as Divergent and The Hunger Games. If The Thaw Chronicles were ever made into movies or a TV show I would most definitely be glued to it. Though in my opinion whoever made it a movie or TV show would have to involve Tamar & Heidi to keep it true to their vision and the books.

My immediate thoughts upon finishing reading the books were “Oh wow! What a brilliant ending to an amazing, adventurous, action-packed book. These characters really have been on an arduous and dangerous journey that I have thoroughly enjoyed reading about.

Summing up I have loved all of The Thaw Chronicles, I can’t quite believe it’s the end! Though, is it? I mean I am so looking forward to the other spin off and discovering more about the man who started everything off. The man who owned the Oasis and those that decided to apply to go along with him on his ship Oasis.

[Katheyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Thaw Chronicles” is not only great YA dystopian series, but certainly the very best! Sloan & Catherine have created an enthralling new verse that captivated the readers at the very first book, and have kept the fires burning ever since 😉 showing us Askala, as a (maybe not so) distant future version of our own, and succeeding in mixing fictional and realistic tropes into a fully satisfying story, that is first and foremost entertaining, as every timeless story has to be.

A new leader has mastered the Tournaments and has been choses to rule over the Outlands. The tournaments might be over, but the final war for Askala has just barely begun. The confrontation between the harsh survival on the Outlands, and the – apparently – thrive and prosperity on Askala comes to his breaking point, leading to a war whose outcome will seal not only the future of Askala but that of the dying planet, because – as often happens – even the most honorable of fights develop their shadowy motives.

Sloan & Catherine’s wonderful dystopian world, foreign yet familiar, both beautiful and terrifying captivates the reader at first read. Their fluid and nuanced writing conveys a powerful message, whose actuality is plainly apparent. The extraordinary thoroughly created world is populated by well developed and multifaceted characters, credible and relatable at all times. This is – as always - a fast-paced story, that provides action non-stop, an intelligent plot, and very satisfactory developments, a real page-turner, a great adventure that leaves a lasting impression without disregarding the level of pure entertainment every good story should provide.

“Conquer the Thaw” is the perfect conclusion to the series, bringing to fulfilment the events depicted in “Tournaments of Thaw” (Book 9) which gave us a brand-new insight into the Chronicles, being perfect counterbalance to previous sub-series in the verse: “After the Thaw” (Books 1-4) and “Beyond the Thaw” (Books 5-8). “Conquer the Thaw” is a wonderful bitter-sweet lecture, that appeals not only to our emotions, but also to our intelligence and empathy, as only the best literature works do. I’ve already stated it in numerous occasions, however is worth repeating at least one more time: “The Thaw Chronicles” is without any doubt the best YA dystopian series of the decade, not only lining up effortlessly with “The Hunger Games” and “Divergent” but even surpassing them with a very carefully crafted world, the right amount of dystopia and social critique, the constantly questioning of the values and drawbacks of the system that allow the reader to understand the strengths and flaws of the system and to find unsettling similarities to our own social shortcomings.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overall close-out to the series

True, it wasn't a 5-star caliber like I was hoping it'd be due to too many ridiculous plot points (more on that later), it still served its purpose well enough to finish things up with a nice little bow. With this entry combined with all the others, we finally see and experience the fates of literally all main characters. Though in this case, the main characters in question are of course Grace (formerly Winter), Gray, Lexis, and Raze (formerly Ghost). A lovely bonus was the epilogue, which served as a satisfying, true sequel to book #8 (Expose). With this entry, it all feels quite complete.

There were plenty of things to satisfy me in this entry: expansion of the environmental setting. Thrills for days. Interesting revelations. Now that the tournaments are over, it's time for the newly named commander to set things in motion to overtake Askala. Easier said than done, of course, given the newest challenges that the commander must face to ensure an army willing enough to follow her. The characters are developed nicely, and though I still don't like how quickly their romances were thrown in my face, they were all still more or less likable. The pacing was easy to keep up with and there wasn't any moment when I was bored out of my skull. Come to think of it, even if I may have rated an entry on the lower side, the one good thing I'll always say is that I'm never bored.

But alas, I still had problems, too many to justify a higher rating than the 3-stars I'm giving it. For one thing, far too many events were clearly written to forcibly push the story into a certain direction for shock value. While I'm not saying this is a guaranteed bad thing, it certainly CAN be bad if it happens too often to be believable. It's important, at least in my opinion, to balance these moments out so it feels more like a natural progression in a story than something thrown in JUST to serve as a detour. I had soooo much trouble buying certain things. I won't mention specifics, but...good grief. Characters make some BAD decisions in this story, decisions that have dire consequences that they should have totally seen coming. Once or twice, fine, but it happened way too often for me to accept, and it irritated me.

I'm still a fan of this series overall, despite the multiple weaker entries. There was plenty of room for improvement, but certainly room to be far worse just the same. I had fun, though, and loads of it. I look forward to my next quest.

Click here for my random commentary.

[Reads_Must · Rating 3 out of 5]

Conquer the Thaw
The Thaw Chronicles #10
Dystopian
Tamar Sloan, Heidi Catherine
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

• ꜱᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴀʟ • ꜱᴀᴄʀɪꜰɪᴄᴇꜱ • ʀᴇᴜɴɪᴏɴꜱ •

I found this book quite confusing. I wasn't sure of the timeline or how the plot connected to the previous books.

The plot itself was a bit slow at times. I did get tired of how often Raze and Grace/Winter just missed finding Gray and Lexis and how often their paths nearly crossed. I just wanted them to finally meet up again and live happily.

There weren't many plot twists and I found the plot a bit predictable.

The characters were great. I liked how they were strong, determined and continued to have hope.

The ending was ok but it seemed sudden and rushed. I wanted a bigger reunion and to see what happened afterwards

[Amanda Gallenberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was good but most of it I was trying to figure out where it fell in the timeline. Like the last book, it was hard to discern where in time this took place. I
Those questions were somewhat answered at the end of the book. The storyline of this one was interesting and I was often yelling at the characters for the choices they made/didn't make. Some of it was frustrating. I'm curious what the next set of books in this series will center around, because like all of the other "final" books in a set, the ending wraps up the story nicely while at the same time setting it up for more story. I guess there is only one way to find out.....

[C.J. Santiago · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent series

Gray, Lexis, Raze and Grace have been separated for years....each believing the other twin is dead. After finding Raze, the fighting ended and the Outlaws sets and Askalans became one. Now, children roam freely. No more wars. No more hunger. Gray and Alexis with Shale stayed on Treasure Island and brought forth a new generation of children. I gray and Grace, once known as Winter, have welcomed new relatives into their lives. Everything happens for a reason.

This is a great series and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Read on my friends.

[Isabella May · Rating 5 out of 5]

I struggle to convey just how AMAZING this series is whenever I write a review for the Thaw books... and my summary of instalment no. 10 is no different! This is dystopian fiction at its finest. Everything comes full circle in this finale full of action and edge-of-the-seat twists and turns. What I particularly love about The Thaw Chronicles is how the series constantly questions our human morals and our social systems as readers in a very different world. That's a stroke of genius. Such an accomplishment for Catherine and Sloane. As always, I am in awe of the world and characters they have created. Everything flows seamlessly and no detail is forgotten. It's beautiful and alarming in equal measure and the series as a whole simply begs to be read!

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are so many good things about this book I don't even know where to start. After finishing the book I'm overcome with emotion that it is over but excited to see a new spin off series coming. These characters are incredible and the story gives some backstory between books 4 and 5 of the series. Needless to say this was one engaging adventure and I loved every minute of it, I didn't want it to end.

[Su · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best series

Ten books. One series. Many, many stories. Such good stories you won't want it to end. You will laugh, you might cry (I did), you'll hold your breath, you'll cheer, you'll keep reading to find out the secrets. All of that and more. After the ice caps melt. After the ocean turns red an acidic. After the ocean rises and covers the land. These people survived. These people fought to stay alive. And their stories are unforgettable. I wish it hadn't ended.

[Christine Cazeneuve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfection

My absolute favourite dystopian series ever. Not one of the books ever disappointed me. If you have never read this genre before, then read this series and you will enter a world like no other. You will connect with characters both good and bad but none forgettable. If you are a fan of this genre and haven't read it yet, what are you waiting for?

[Jill Gauger · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful ending to this epic series.
Lexis and Gray are together fighting to survive and thinking their twins are dead. Winter (Grace) and Raze are together fighting to bring the factions together. Grace is the Commander now and had to make a decision she was not proud of.
This book is full of drama, romance and twists and turns everywhere.
I absolutely loved this book.

[Sherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book by these authors yet again. Every emotion tugs at you throughout the story. We have new heros and new villains to love and hate. I started this journey with the very first book and so I have invested a lot of time into this story and these characters. It was an incredible feeling to finally read what I personally hoped would be the conclusion to this incredible story.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good final part to this well written & very enjoyable dystopian series! What an adventure! Don't want to give anything away about the plot, so will just say it was well worth the read! Overall a very enjoyable series but I do think they should be read in order for maximum pleasure!

[Charlotte Bowman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice round up of characters

I enjoyed this book but not as much as some of the others. Everything just finished too perfectly for me though it gave some good explanations for why things happened in previous books in the series

[Mariah Bowman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow!

That was a great end to the beginning and an excellent end to the series. I enjoyed this different look at a dystopian world with some twists that were unexpected. A definite recommend!

[Annie Kosar · Rating 5 out of 5]

JOURNEYS, ROMANCE, PERILS & ADVENTURE!!

Sooo much romance….this one helps us understand characters deeper and with sooo much heart!!:-). Some FANTASTICAL new characters and adventures!!:-). And many moment that make your heart so full!!:-). LOVED IT!!:-). I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!:-)

[R. Jetleb · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a satisfying ending to a 10 book series that never quit!

[Melissa Scruggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

CLOSURE!! Finally! The book that ties it all together. Can’t wait to read the next one!

[Rosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish this story continued 😫 I'd love to follow the next generation. Getting some glimpses of earth being healed, new lands to discover and the family lines growing.

[Molly Hammelman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book = Fantastic! AI reading =👎🏻

This book is so good! But the AI reading of it is awful 😞 Things are mispronounced and the intonation is all off. I loved the readers of the first books I wish they would go back to that!

[Helen Jones hazlewood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an epic finish to a truly epic series. There are two separate story threads that are both as compelling as ever, with clever plots and engaging characters. The end is so rewarding, bringing together everyone we've grown to love throughout the series and tying up all the loose ends. I was so excited to find out how it finished, but so reluctant to get to the end as I wasn't prepared to let the characters go. It was truly emotional. Just brilliant!

[Sherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book by these authors yet again. Every emotion tugs at you throughout the story. We have new heros and new villains to love and hate. I started this journey with the very first book and so I have invested a lot of time into this story and these characters. It was an incredible feeling to finally read what I personally hoped would be the conclusion to this incredible story.