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Scream of the White Bears
In the ice wilds of the fabled north, the lords of the moving mountains have always been the polar bears. Kings of the wild, the white bears have ruled since the beginning of time, believing that they were hurled to earth from the heavens. There is only one creature they fear—man.
The polar bears are also haunted by a prophecy, that one day the ice will suddenly cry out and die, causing the fish to float and the seals to flee. Then, as a result, one will be born among them—a white cub with one black paw who can hear the very beating of the polar heart. It is he who will lead his kind, and the whole world, to safety.
BOOK WILL NEVER BE PUBLISHED. PROJECT DIDN'T RECEIVE ENOUGH FUNDS.
The polar bears are also haunted by a prophecy, that one day the ice will suddenly cry out and die, causing the fish to float and the seals to flee. Then, as a result, one will be born among them—a white cub with one black paw who can hear the very beating of the polar heart. It is he who will lead his kind, and the whole world, to safety.
BOOK WILL NEVER BE PUBLISHED. PROJECT DIDN'T RECEIVE ENOUGH FUNDS.
592 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2010
68 people are currently reading
1452 people want to read
About the author
David Clement-Davies
23 books910 followersDavid was born in 1964 and went to Westminster School and Edinburgh University. There, Clement-Davies read History and English Literature, specializing in the Italian Renaissance, and Russian Literature and Society. For many years, he dreamed of one day becoming an actor taking a drama course and working in theater. However, he was also interested in writing and soon became a freelance travel journalist.
Clement-Davies lived in a little mountain home in Andalusia region of Spain to write The Sight, has traveled the world and now also lives in London. He has also written a musical, two adult novels, and a play, set in the present and the 17th century, called Startled Anatomies, alongside his children’s books. His online publishing website is phoeniarkpress.com and from there he is trying to create a grass roots publisher.
Clement-Davies lived in a little mountain home in Andalusia region of Spain to write The Sight, has traveled the world and now also lives in London. He has also written a musical, two adult novels, and a play, set in the present and the 17th century, called Startled Anatomies, alongside his children’s books. His online publishing website is phoeniarkpress.com and from there he is trying to create a grass roots publisher.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
February 19, 2022
I won't rant long, since it's 4 am and I'm delirious, but I must say words about this bear book right this second. TL;DR summary: Fire Bringer remains the superior CDC title with absolutely zero competition.
Positives:
- It's commendable that I'm able to read Scream at all, as DCD--disillusioned by the publishing world--has outlined the troubles this book faced. I'm glad it's finally available and that I was able to support him by purchasing it.
- When I'm not reading books about talking animals or hot demons on goodreads, my career is in the environmental sector, and I admire the passion and duty that drove DCD to tell this story. It would be very odd to write a book about polar bears without their plight and our failed role as wilderness stewards.
- I liked some of the characters a lot, and several scenes stood out to me. The most compelling were Janqar and Qilaq. I also really liked the final scene with Uteq and his mother and the trick with the berries.
- I liked the nods to Fire Bringer, The Sight, and Fell.
- It's about polar bears and polar bears are cool. They also had a polar bear election to pick the polar bear president and I found that very funny. Mooq's reason for voting was also very sweet.
- A spy is referred to as "my spy" several times and that just cracked me up so I'm putting it in this section
- egg
Less positive:
- So much of this book needed to be cut. It drags, repeats information, and focuses on incredibly boring, long-ass philosophy discussions instead of interesting things other characters are actively doing off screen. No one ever shuts up. They could have taken out the antagonist 20 times during just one of his monologues. Pages and pages and chapters upon chapters of nothing happening. I do not give a shit about Uteq's 500th mental break down over entropy while wandering a frozen tundra. Tell me about the character who is infiltrating a fucking cult or the one who is seeding a slow burn rebellion.
- As in The Sight, much of the bear lore is just a repackaged bible which was funny for five seconds and then made me mad. I don't know why this choice was made in either novel. It's been admittedly a while since I've reread Fire Bringer, but I don't remember any 1:1 human-to-deer translated gospel stories. I don't remember if it happened in Fell because I forget every single thing that happened in Fell.
- Hilariously, protagonists are always stumbling into villains reciting parts of their evil plans to each other. This happens at the very least three times to my memory but is probably more. Do you think they just stand there, repeating the same incriminating conversation until they can be overheard by main characters?
- If it’s not a villain reciting their evil plans, it will be another random animal full of exposition. And also more philosophy. Including sharks. Exposition sharks.
- The characters can be forgiven of not knowing this because they never read a DCD novel, but yes, this is essentially the same plot as Fire Bringer, The Sight, and Fell with rehashed elements of all of them. When they all start gasping "oh my bear gosh it's -- here to help at the final hour", "i think --- might be the traitor from the Prophacy", or "I am the evil bad animal and you are the love of my life, Protagonist's Mother", it's not their fault. They are innocent and naive, and we are the weary genre savvy who have read the same book 4 times now.
- Also, same point, there's a line about a traitor that never goes anywhere and drives the entire cast insane the whole book, pointing blame at the smallest things, all of which end up being false and you are not surprised by any of this because you have, again, read the same book 4 times.
- Uteq is the worst bear Jesus because he's boring and hasn't done shit the entire novel. He helps a few animals and they all pledge a life debt, but there's absolutely no reason everyone calls him a leader. He doesn't lead anything. He shows up and, because other characters have been doing the work off-screen while we suffered with his melodrama, incites an extremely smooth jailbreak. I didn't really care for The Sight, but there's no way I can say Larka herself was boring, and Rannoch was a badass battle doctor. Uteq is gloomy, suspicious, and despite not having any battle experience was able to auto-kill the main baddie.
- I am annoyed that a certain character became a villain because once he was revealed as Super Evil All Along, he became campy, boring, and predictable. Not even fun campy. Just dumb campy, complete with one-liners. Nice, charming, rebellious people are more interesting than edgelords with really boring motivations.
- The gender politics were exhausting in this book; I won't even get into it. There's nothing new to say.
- There is one actual good twist involving Janqar. It is not a surprising twist in the least, but it was fun. The rest are obvious, dumb, or both. Twists stop being twists when you just reuse the same ones in every book, man.
Three stars feels very generous. Let's say it's 2.5 and I'm rounding up because I like polar bears.
Positives:
- It's commendable that I'm able to read Scream at all, as DCD--disillusioned by the publishing world--has outlined the troubles this book faced. I'm glad it's finally available and that I was able to support him by purchasing it.
- When I'm not reading books about talking animals or hot demons on goodreads, my career is in the environmental sector, and I admire the passion and duty that drove DCD to tell this story. It would be very odd to write a book about polar bears without their plight and our failed role as wilderness stewards.
- I liked some of the characters a lot, and several scenes stood out to me. The most compelling were Janqar and Qilaq. I also really liked the final scene with Uteq and his mother and the trick with the berries.
- I liked the nods to Fire Bringer, The Sight, and Fell.
- It's about polar bears and polar bears are cool. They also had a polar bear election to pick the polar bear president and I found that very funny. Mooq's reason for voting was also very sweet.
- A spy is referred to as "my spy" several times and that just cracked me up so I'm putting it in this section
- egg
Less positive:
- So much of this book needed to be cut. It drags, repeats information, and focuses on incredibly boring, long-ass philosophy discussions instead of interesting things other characters are actively doing off screen. No one ever shuts up. They could have taken out the antagonist 20 times during just one of his monologues. Pages and pages and chapters upon chapters of nothing happening. I do not give a shit about Uteq's 500th mental break down over entropy while wandering a frozen tundra. Tell me about the character who is infiltrating a fucking cult or the one who is seeding a slow burn rebellion.
- As in The Sight, much of the bear lore is just a repackaged bible which was funny for five seconds and then made me mad. I don't know why this choice was made in either novel. It's been admittedly a while since I've reread Fire Bringer, but I don't remember any 1:1 human-to-deer translated gospel stories. I don't remember if it happened in Fell because I forget every single thing that happened in Fell.
- Hilariously, protagonists are always stumbling into villains reciting parts of their evil plans to each other. This happens at the very least three times to my memory but is probably more. Do you think they just stand there, repeating the same incriminating conversation until they can be overheard by main characters?
- If it’s not a villain reciting their evil plans, it will be another random animal full of exposition. And also more philosophy. Including sharks. Exposition sharks.
- The characters can be forgiven of not knowing this because they never read a DCD novel, but yes, this is essentially the same plot as Fire Bringer, The Sight, and Fell with rehashed elements of all of them. When they all start gasping "oh my bear gosh it's -- here to help at the final hour", "i think --- might be the traitor from the Prophacy", or "I am the evil bad animal and you are the love of my life, Protagonist's Mother", it's not their fault. They are innocent and naive, and we are the weary genre savvy who have read the same book 4 times now.
- Also, same point, there's a line about a traitor that never goes anywhere and drives the entire cast insane the whole book, pointing blame at the smallest things, all of which end up being false and you are not surprised by any of this because you have, again, read the same book 4 times.
- Uteq is the worst bear Jesus because he's boring and hasn't done shit the entire novel. He helps a few animals and they all pledge a life debt, but there's absolutely no reason everyone calls him a leader. He doesn't lead anything. He shows up and, because other characters have been doing the work off-screen while we suffered with his melodrama, incites an extremely smooth jailbreak. I didn't really care for The Sight, but there's no way I can say Larka herself was boring, and Rannoch was a badass battle doctor. Uteq is gloomy, suspicious, and despite not having any battle experience was able to auto-kill the main baddie.
- I am annoyed that a certain character became a villain because once he was revealed as Super Evil All Along, he became campy, boring, and predictable. Not even fun campy. Just dumb campy, complete with one-liners. Nice, charming, rebellious people are more interesting than edgelords with really boring motivations.
- The gender politics were exhausting in this book; I won't even get into it. There's nothing new to say.
- There is one actual good twist involving Janqar. It is not a surprising twist in the least, but it was fun. The rest are obvious, dumb, or both. Twists stop being twists when you just reuse the same ones in every book, man.
Three stars feels very generous. Let's say it's 2.5 and I'm rounding up because I like polar bears.
December 6, 2019
This is the first work I’ve read from Clement-Davies, and I am impressed. The worldbuilding. The unique animal perspective. The lore. The plot. The themes. I was hard pressed to discover a weakness in the story. David’s craft in animal fantasy is, I dare say, unparalleled. Well done.
Want to read
March 24, 2014About to be published! Check this out for a signed copy! Oh my gosh! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...
October 8, 2022
Considering that this book should`ve been released about 10 years ago (after a long battle through Publishing Hell), you`d have thought that David Clement-Davies would`ve had bags of time to go through and correct every typo and character inconsistency (in which one character does something when he actually means a completely other character. For instance, supposedly Seegloo`s past was briefed upon near the beginning of the book, as well as certain fears of his, when I found out several hundred pages later that David actually meant the bully, Sqaloog, after connecting the dots.) he made (Does anyone know if he even hired an editor/proofreader? Because it certainly felt like he didn`t.).
David could also have cropped out every reminder that the Fellagorn had died from every other page and have gone on less tangents about his overly complicated and confusing lore. At one point I was left so confused and bewildered that I had to put the book down and take a break for a week, there was just no time to reflect and think about what had been said while reading.
With that said, however, I quite enjoyed reading this book and fell in love with a load of the characters. The story and cast kept me wanting to read more when suddenly the book just... Ended? It just stopped, ending with an unsatisfying death for Glawnaq OneEye and concluding with Uteq`s adopted sister and love interest (this rubbed me the wrong way the entire length of the story, for some reason), Sepharga, coming back from a fake-out death to make sure that Uteq wouldn`t have finished his story as the hero without a girl. As much as I loved Sepharga, I feel her return was rather unnecessary.
I loved the ties to "Fire Bringer", my most favorite of David`s books, and if it weren`t for my slight issues with "Scream of the White Bear" this book would easily have joined it as one of David`s best works, personally. I also appreciated the themes on global-warming and conservation.
"Scream of the White Bear" might just have been too philosophical for me, or I was trying too hard to understand everything but couldn`t quite wrap my head around it all. I give the book a generous 4 out of 5 stars.
David could also have cropped out every reminder that the Fellagorn had died from every other page and have gone on less tangents about his overly complicated and confusing lore. At one point I was left so confused and bewildered that I had to put the book down and take a break for a week, there was just no time to reflect and think about what had been said while reading.
With that said, however, I quite enjoyed reading this book and fell in love with a load of the characters. The story and cast kept me wanting to read more when suddenly the book just... Ended? It just stopped, ending with an unsatisfying death for Glawnaq OneEye and concluding with Uteq`s adopted sister and love interest (this rubbed me the wrong way the entire length of the story, for some reason), Sepharga, coming back from a fake-out death to make sure that Uteq wouldn`t have finished his story as the hero without a girl. As much as I loved Sepharga, I feel her return was rather unnecessary.
I loved the ties to "Fire Bringer", my most favorite of David`s books, and if it weren`t for my slight issues with "Scream of the White Bear" this book would easily have joined it as one of David`s best works, personally. I also appreciated the themes on global-warming and conservation.
"Scream of the White Bear" might just have been too philosophical for me, or I was trying too hard to understand everything but couldn`t quite wrap my head around it all. I give the book a generous 4 out of 5 stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 2, 2022
Edit: I’m giving this book two stars because honestly that’s what it deserves.
I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book. Like. Mixed enough that my rating would be closer to 2.5 but I'm giving it an extremely generous 3 because...I didn't hate it as much as I thought i did. Let me preface this by saying that I had to start an entire dictionary just to be able to keep track of all the words DCD was throwing at me. And for the record, it's longer than the two lists I have for The Sight and Fire Bringer. Ihat alone should tell you something.
I'm going to break this up into a couple different sections for my own sanity.
THE CHARACTERS
I felt nothing for any of them. I felt no emotional connection. I wasn't rooting for any of them. I didn't particularly care about any of them. Actually no, that's not true. I cared about egg. And maybe the fox. And that was it.
Uteq pissed me off. I didn't care about his existential crisis in the middle of the book (my eyes glazed over at a certain point and I was skimming that entire section because I cared so little), I didn't. Not even a little. And homeboy WOULD NOT. SHUT. THE FUCK. UP. ABOUT SCAPEGOATS. LIKE....BUDDY GIVE IT A REST. And I truly don't think DCD knows was a scapegoat is because it's not...whatever the fuck this was. The exchange with the husky, that I'm going to grossly paraphrase, "If you stay in exile forever Glawaq will leave you alone" "Like a scapegoat?" pissed me off to no. end. that's not what a fucking scapegoat is, that's not how that works, shut up
Qilaq pissed me off. I knew from the beginning he was probably going to turn out to be a prick, join the Glawneye/Serberan. He was constantly putting his sister down, constantly insulting her in every exchange they had, and there was absolutely no reason for it. The fact that Matta somehow turned out well enough is astounding to me when her brother was constantly insulting her intelligence and plain existence as a female bear. Surprisingly, he turned out okay and his arc actually kind of surprised me, although I don't know if it was in a pleasant way because I was so numb by the end of it.
Everyone else was just kind of bland and boring, didn't really care what happened to any of them. Janqar/Illooq was actually pretty cool, that whole thing with him slapped pretty hard...
Listen, sometimes I was vibing, but most of the time I was just Suffering.
THE STORY
I mean, it was basic enough. We saw it in Fire Bringer, saw it in The Sight, nothing too new, which is fine. I'm the kind of person who can read stories with the same general plot (hello, fanfiction) and be fine with it. The problem with this book was that DCD was trying to do Way Too Much. Too many themes, too many conflicts, and all of it got lost.
There were points where I caught glimpses of an actually solid story, and then it got bogged down with this science vs religion, man vs animal, and male vs female bullshit and some environmental mess which was...largely unnecessary. Listen, if the majority of that had been cut out or toned WAY down, it would have been so much better.
And here's the thing: I sat and screamed at this book and screamed in general because I read the seekers series by Erin Hunter. She was going for an environmental message. She succeeeded. The fact that I can say that Erin Fucking Hunter wrote a better story than this guy alarms, infuriates, and amazes me because Erin Hunter is known to be...mm...less than stellar with her storytelling sometimes.
THE LORE.
IF I HAVE TO HEAR ONE MORE TIME ABOUT "Poor Pollooq" AND "Blind Pollooq" AND "Eyeless Pollooq" AND TEELA AND THE FELLAGORN AND WHATEVER ELSE ONE MORE FUCKING TIME, I AM GOING TO SCREAM. I GET IT.
THINGS I DON'T UNDERSTAND.
I don't understand the shoehorned environmental theme/plotline because...it had no bearing on the story whatsoever. Uteq sounded like he was going to wage war against the entirety of the human population which...is impossible and I had no idea how that was going to get pulled off. Fun fact: it didn't, because it's impossible. It was basically thrown aside. It didn't need to be there in the first place. Also the revelation of Glawnaq's "secret" a la Sgorr was underwhelming. Didn't care. Man v bear was unnecessary. Give me bear v bear all the way.
Scientia. Why? What was the point? Why do the bears care about science? They don't. They're bears. This also had no real bearing on the plot. This story was bear v bear but again DCD was trying to shoehorn some bear v man. Like I get that you're championing for nature but like. This isn't the way to do it, my guy.
Male v female. Also had no bearing. Didn't get it. Matta was constantly insulted for existing. Female bears were shat on left, right, and center. Anarga was really the only one who didn't catch any flack. Again just. Unnecessary.
The sheer amount of vocab. Why so much? I lost track of which words meant what. The Bergo/Bergeera/Bellarg thing confused me to no end. The deer had stag and hind. the wolves didn't really have anything as far as i can remember. Why did this have to be a thing? Too much vocab. Didn't need to happen.
OTHER.
The only thing that bumped this thing's rating higher than a two for me was literally the last section of the book. It was like DCD finally remembered he had an actual story happening and shit actually happened instead of everyone lamenting the state of the universe and their mythology every other paragraph. I'm infuriated I had to slog through three sections and hundreds of pages of bullshit just to get some decent content at the end.
The fact that the characters constantly addressed each other by name was annoying. It was unnecessary. It was even worse when there were ONLY TWO CHARACTERS in the scene and yet they addressed each other by name CONSTANTLY. Like. Buddy. We haven't forgotten who these characters are. We can figuring out who's talking. Calm down.
There were some actually good scenes here and there, but they were either cut short or too saturated with that other nonsense that they lost their impact. The scene were Eaqaq meets the new cub and asks what the cub fears was a solid scene. Unfortunately, it was cut short and DCD went on about the summer and what the bears were doing and yada yada yada. The scene were they Glawneye slaughter and eat the weak bears was pretty damn good but still I feel like the impact of it was lost because pollooqteelafellagormanunderworld
There was only one time in this book where i felt something other than unbridled rage. and that was the part where Uteq reunites with his mother. That. I teared up there, not gonna lie. hat hit more than I expected.
LOVED the shoutouts to past characters. Rurl was my fave. I loved Rannoch. I was so excited when he finally made an appearance via story.
This book was too damn long. It needed some serious restructuring, edits, cuts, the whole nine yards. It took too long to get going. I don't mind some background into the character's history, the why of it all, but this took too long to play out, and I feel like if DCD had cut like half of the first section and started closer to the murder of Uteq's dad on the ice it would have been much better. There was so much overall that didn't need to be there. (Also the "betraying sister" part of the "prophecy" never really seemed to play out?)
The "Offlar" thing was totally unnecessary, had no place in being there, literally never needed to come up at any point ever, and I'm not saying that from a place of homophobia (I'm gay, hi), I'm saying that from a stand point of why was this a specific detail he felt necessary to include? It's not that we had gay bears at all, it's just that something about it in the context it was shown in rubs me the wrong way. If it was just the weak and sick bears, that’s one thing (not great, of course) but that...mmm, yeah, no. (I'm sorry, I can't quite articulate my feelings about this, but they aren't positive)
CONCLUSION.
This book was a hot mess and the only thing that saved it from getting 2 stars was the fourth section.
I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book. Like. Mixed enough that my rating would be closer to 2.5 but I'm giving it an extremely generous 3 because...I didn't hate it as much as I thought i did. Let me preface this by saying that I had to start an entire dictionary just to be able to keep track of all the words DCD was throwing at me. And for the record, it's longer than the two lists I have for The Sight and Fire Bringer. Ihat alone should tell you something.
I'm going to break this up into a couple different sections for my own sanity.
THE CHARACTERS
I felt nothing for any of them. I felt no emotional connection. I wasn't rooting for any of them. I didn't particularly care about any of them. Actually no, that's not true. I cared about egg. And maybe the fox. And that was it.
Uteq pissed me off. I didn't care about his existential crisis in the middle of the book (my eyes glazed over at a certain point and I was skimming that entire section because I cared so little), I didn't. Not even a little. And homeboy WOULD NOT. SHUT. THE FUCK. UP. ABOUT SCAPEGOATS. LIKE....BUDDY GIVE IT A REST. And I truly don't think DCD knows was a scapegoat is because it's not...whatever the fuck this was. The exchange with the husky, that I'm going to grossly paraphrase, "If you stay in exile forever Glawaq will leave you alone" "Like a scapegoat?" pissed me off to no. end. that's not what a fucking scapegoat is, that's not how that works, shut up
Qilaq pissed me off. I knew from the beginning he was probably going to turn out to be a prick, join the Glawneye/Serberan. He was constantly putting his sister down, constantly insulting her in every exchange they had, and there was absolutely no reason for it. The fact that Matta somehow turned out well enough is astounding to me when her brother was constantly insulting her intelligence and plain existence as a female bear. Surprisingly, he turned out okay and his arc actually kind of surprised me, although I don't know if it was in a pleasant way because I was so numb by the end of it.
Everyone else was just kind of bland and boring, didn't really care what happened to any of them. Janqar/Illooq was actually pretty cool, that whole thing with him slapped pretty hard...
Listen, sometimes I was vibing, but most of the time I was just Suffering.
THE STORY
I mean, it was basic enough. We saw it in Fire Bringer, saw it in The Sight, nothing too new, which is fine. I'm the kind of person who can read stories with the same general plot (hello, fanfiction) and be fine with it. The problem with this book was that DCD was trying to do Way Too Much. Too many themes, too many conflicts, and all of it got lost.
There were points where I caught glimpses of an actually solid story, and then it got bogged down with this science vs religion, man vs animal, and male vs female bullshit and some environmental mess which was...largely unnecessary. Listen, if the majority of that had been cut out or toned WAY down, it would have been so much better.
And here's the thing: I sat and screamed at this book and screamed in general because I read the seekers series by Erin Hunter. She was going for an environmental message. She succeeeded. The fact that I can say that Erin Fucking Hunter wrote a better story than this guy alarms, infuriates, and amazes me because Erin Hunter is known to be...mm...less than stellar with her storytelling sometimes.
THE LORE.
IF I HAVE TO HEAR ONE MORE TIME ABOUT "Poor Pollooq" AND "Blind Pollooq" AND "Eyeless Pollooq" AND TEELA AND THE FELLAGORN AND WHATEVER ELSE ONE MORE FUCKING TIME, I AM GOING TO SCREAM. I GET IT.
THINGS I DON'T UNDERSTAND.
I don't understand the shoehorned environmental theme/plotline because...it had no bearing on the story whatsoever. Uteq sounded like he was going to wage war against the entirety of the human population which...is impossible and I had no idea how that was going to get pulled off. Fun fact: it didn't, because it's impossible. It was basically thrown aside. It didn't need to be there in the first place. Also the revelation of Glawnaq's "secret" a la Sgorr was underwhelming. Didn't care. Man v bear was unnecessary. Give me bear v bear all the way.
Scientia. Why? What was the point? Why do the bears care about science? They don't. They're bears. This also had no real bearing on the plot. This story was bear v bear but again DCD was trying to shoehorn some bear v man. Like I get that you're championing for nature but like. This isn't the way to do it, my guy.
Male v female. Also had no bearing. Didn't get it. Matta was constantly insulted for existing. Female bears were shat on left, right, and center. Anarga was really the only one who didn't catch any flack. Again just. Unnecessary.
The sheer amount of vocab. Why so much? I lost track of which words meant what. The Bergo/Bergeera/Bellarg thing confused me to no end. The deer had stag and hind. the wolves didn't really have anything as far as i can remember. Why did this have to be a thing? Too much vocab. Didn't need to happen.
OTHER.
The only thing that bumped this thing's rating higher than a two for me was literally the last section of the book. It was like DCD finally remembered he had an actual story happening and shit actually happened instead of everyone lamenting the state of the universe and their mythology every other paragraph. I'm infuriated I had to slog through three sections and hundreds of pages of bullshit just to get some decent content at the end.
The fact that the characters constantly addressed each other by name was annoying. It was unnecessary. It was even worse when there were ONLY TWO CHARACTERS in the scene and yet they addressed each other by name CONSTANTLY. Like. Buddy. We haven't forgotten who these characters are. We can figuring out who's talking. Calm down.
There were some actually good scenes here and there, but they were either cut short or too saturated with that other nonsense that they lost their impact. The scene were Eaqaq meets the new cub and asks what the cub fears was a solid scene. Unfortunately, it was cut short and DCD went on about the summer and what the bears were doing and yada yada yada. The scene were they Glawneye slaughter and eat the weak bears was pretty damn good but still I feel like the impact of it was lost because pollooqteelafellagormanunderworld
There was only one time in this book where i felt something other than unbridled rage. and that was the part where Uteq reunites with his mother. That. I teared up there, not gonna lie. hat hit more than I expected.
LOVED the shoutouts to past characters. Rurl was my fave. I loved Rannoch. I was so excited when he finally made an appearance via story.
This book was too damn long. It needed some serious restructuring, edits, cuts, the whole nine yards. It took too long to get going. I don't mind some background into the character's history, the why of it all, but this took too long to play out, and I feel like if DCD had cut like half of the first section and started closer to the murder of Uteq's dad on the ice it would have been much better. There was so much overall that didn't need to be there. (Also the "betraying sister" part of the "prophecy" never really seemed to play out?)
The "Offlar" thing was totally unnecessary, had no place in being there, literally never needed to come up at any point ever, and I'm not saying that from a place of homophobia (I'm gay, hi), I'm saying that from a stand point of why was this a specific detail he felt necessary to include? It's not that we had gay bears at all, it's just that something about it in the context it was shown in rubs me the wrong way. If it was just the weak and sick bears, that’s one thing (not great, of course) but that...mmm, yeah, no. (I'm sorry, I can't quite articulate my feelings about this, but they aren't positive)
CONCLUSION.
This book was a hot mess and the only thing that saved it from getting 2 stars was the fourth section.
eventually
August 26, 2022Just came back on a whim and realized this did in fact get published, all these years later. I may give it a shot, but judging by so many of the reviews... I may just reread Fire Bringer instead. Time will tell.
Want to read
December 6, 2019IT'S OUT!!!
https://www.amazon.com/Scream-White-B...
https://www.amazon.com/Scream-White-B...
March 19, 2021
In a word - stunning. David Clement-Davies does not disappoint with this newest tale. Breathtaking worldbuilding, as is usual for any of his works. Davies dives into complex topics including the metaphysical in a way unseen in the genre before. There are a couple grammatical errors within the manuscript, but these small blips do little to take away from the gravity of this magnificent piece of storytelling.
A book that deserves more acclaim.
A book that deserves more acclaim.
Want to read
December 27, 2013Why can I not find it ANYWHERE?!?!?!?!?!?! I can't even find it on my nook -_-
March 26, 2021
This is the weakest Clement-Davies book I've read so far, and it was not worth the long wait. It tended to be disjointed, with conversation failing to flow properly and paragraphs often feeling very disconnected, and much of the time I had only a loose grasp of what was going on because the writing was unclear and confusing. I also doubt it was edited properly, as there were a large number of errors scattered throughout the text (including a character being referred to by the wrong name for a chunk of one chapter), and frequent overuse/misplacement of the words 'though', 'too' and 'then' that sometimes played havoc with the flow - particularly at the start of the book, before my eye had learnt to glaze over them.
The characters were fairly interesting and there was something in the writing that managed to keep drawing me on, but I couldn't have said what. There was also potential in the pieces of the storyline that I managed to tease out, but much of that was obscured by the writing. I feel like Clement-Davies was so focused on his underlying commentary (something about science vs religion and male vs female - didn't quite grasp what) that the story itself ended up getting lost, although it's possible that things might become clearer with multiple reads. I also felt like the book grew more confusing through the last half, rather than less so, and much of this is down to increased focus on said commentary.
The underlying lore had some interesting points to it, and it was nice to see references made to The Sight/Fell/Fire Bringer, but this was undermined by the fact that said lore leant very heavily on Christianity. I am not particularly religious myself, but even so I was repeatedly able to identify glaringly obvious retellings of and references to Bible stories (Noah's Ark, Jonah and the Whale, the Resurrection/Crucifixion of Christ, regular reference to sinning, etc) and in most cases I either found it jarring or just plain heavy-handed - particularly as I was not expecting to find it in a book about bears. This is not helped by the fact that one of the main gods in their lore is named 'Gog' (blatantly meant to be the Christian God), that another of their figures (Pollooq) is basically bear-Jesus, or the fact that later in the book .
Not sure if I would re-read this to see if it is clearer the second time, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
CONTENT WARNINGS
Suicide/Suicidal Thoughts
Cannibalism
The characters were fairly interesting and there was something in the writing that managed to keep drawing me on, but I couldn't have said what. There was also potential in the pieces of the storyline that I managed to tease out, but much of that was obscured by the writing. I feel like Clement-Davies was so focused on his underlying commentary (something about science vs religion and male vs female - didn't quite grasp what) that the story itself ended up getting lost, although it's possible that things might become clearer with multiple reads. I also felt like the book grew more confusing through the last half, rather than less so, and much of this is down to increased focus on said commentary.
The underlying lore had some interesting points to it, and it was nice to see references made to The Sight/Fell/Fire Bringer, but this was undermined by the fact that said lore leant very heavily on Christianity. I am not particularly religious myself, but even so I was repeatedly able to identify glaringly obvious retellings of and references to Bible stories (Noah's Ark, Jonah and the Whale, the Resurrection/Crucifixion of Christ, regular reference to sinning, etc) and in most cases I either found it jarring or just plain heavy-handed - particularly as I was not expecting to find it in a book about bears. This is not helped by the fact that one of the main gods in their lore is named 'Gog' (blatantly meant to be the Christian God), that another of their figures (Pollooq) is basically bear-Jesus, or the fact that later in the book .
Not sure if I would re-read this to see if it is clearer the second time, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
CONTENT WARNINGS
Suicide/Suicidal Thoughts
Cannibalism
May 25, 2021
Although I love all of Clement-Davies’ other books, this one was extremely disappointing. It started out promising enough, although drawing heavily on themes from previous books (most noticeably from Fire Bringer and The Sight) so as to render a unique concept, the lives and experiences of wild polar bears in a fantasy setting, merely a retelling of his other books.
However, after the first section (which throws you into the deep end of poorly explained fantasy vocabulary, unlike the previous books, which explained everything clearly from the start), the books veers heavily into religious topics, and again this time chooses to rehash Bible stories in a polar bear setting, totally taking away from the fantasy aspect.
The previous books, Fire Bringer and The Sight, drew you in and completely immersed you in the lives and patterns of animals. Here, however, the behaviours and characteristics of polar bears were just an afterthought to the heavy religious message drummed into the reader throughout the book, growing more and more dense the further you read. The protagonist polar bear becomes simply unlikeable later on, as he gains all this ‘knowledge and insight’ into the world, and preaches it. Unlike the previous books, there is little characterisation, and once again, all characters and elements appear to have almost been copied, merely changing ‘deer’ or ‘wolf’ to ‘polar bear.’
For first time readers of Clement-Davies, I highly recommend reading Fire Bringer, then The Sight, followed by Fell. However, I cannot recommend Scream of The White Bear at all. You’ll be better off if you finish the unofficial series with Fell.
Furthermore, I bought my copy online, and it had numerous grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the book, including a page where a quote meant to be written at the start of the chapter was overlaid over normal text, rendering it illegible.
However, after the first section (which throws you into the deep end of poorly explained fantasy vocabulary, unlike the previous books, which explained everything clearly from the start), the books veers heavily into religious topics, and again this time chooses to rehash Bible stories in a polar bear setting, totally taking away from the fantasy aspect.
The previous books, Fire Bringer and The Sight, drew you in and completely immersed you in the lives and patterns of animals. Here, however, the behaviours and characteristics of polar bears were just an afterthought to the heavy religious message drummed into the reader throughout the book, growing more and more dense the further you read. The protagonist polar bear becomes simply unlikeable later on, as he gains all this ‘knowledge and insight’ into the world, and preaches it. Unlike the previous books, there is little characterisation, and once again, all characters and elements appear to have almost been copied, merely changing ‘deer’ or ‘wolf’ to ‘polar bear.’
For first time readers of Clement-Davies, I highly recommend reading Fire Bringer, then The Sight, followed by Fell. However, I cannot recommend Scream of The White Bear at all. You’ll be better off if you finish the unofficial series with Fell.
Furthermore, I bought my copy online, and it had numerous grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the book, including a page where a quote meant to be written at the start of the chapter was overlaid over normal text, rendering it illegible.
December 6, 2021
This book is, in a word, awful. It’s just another re-hash of the same story told in the author’s previous books ‘Fire Bringer’ and ‘The Sight’ – a tyrant is enslaving the animals, but a legend tells of the coming of a chosen one to save them.
It was a frustrating read, and not only because it is the same story I’ve already read twice. It contains various factual errors (the author doesn’t even get the polar bear’s scientific name right, something it would have taken mere seconds to check on Google), and the bears are too anthropomorphic for my taste – they fall in love, and use daggers made of ice, for example. The book is also overtly preachy. Large chunks of it consist of the characters telling each other tales that are essentially Bible stories with bears, and asserting the importance of faith. This reads like a religious lecture and quickly becomes tiresome and repetitive.
There are a few spelling mistakes, some misuse of capital letters, and a lot of missing or incorrect punctuation. Many sentences are very oddly structured – one thing I particularly noticed was that the words “though” and “then” are often randomly thrown in where they are not needed. In addition, at the end of one chapter, the quote from the beginning is printed over the last few lines of text, making it difficult to read.
In conclusion, this may appeal to younger readers who might not notice all the mistakes and lecturing, but if you know anything about polar bears, or have read the author’s previous animal stories, you should probably avoid this book.
It was a frustrating read, and not only because it is the same story I’ve already read twice. It contains various factual errors (the author doesn’t even get the polar bear’s scientific name right, something it would have taken mere seconds to check on Google), and the bears are too anthropomorphic for my taste – they fall in love, and use daggers made of ice, for example. The book is also overtly preachy. Large chunks of it consist of the characters telling each other tales that are essentially Bible stories with bears, and asserting the importance of faith. This reads like a religious lecture and quickly becomes tiresome and repetitive.
There are a few spelling mistakes, some misuse of capital letters, and a lot of missing or incorrect punctuation. Many sentences are very oddly structured – one thing I particularly noticed was that the words “though” and “then” are often randomly thrown in where they are not needed. In addition, at the end of one chapter, the quote from the beginning is printed over the last few lines of text, making it difficult to read.
In conclusion, this may appeal to younger readers who might not notice all the mistakes and lecturing, but if you know anything about polar bears, or have read the author’s previous animal stories, you should probably avoid this book.
August 1, 2023
It's so disappointing to give up on this book partway (only 70 pages in) because I love the other books from this author, but all of the previous novels felt much more polished. The spelling/grammar errors on nearly every page were too distracting for me to ever really get lost in the story - the most numerous and annoying is all of the "boars" where it should say "bears". I also found the world confusing with all of the new terms, and struggled with identifying characters because there are so many and there wasn't much information on even gender for them.
If this story sounds appealing to you, I recommend this author's Fire Bringer (about deer) or The Sight and Fell (about wolves, with sequel Fell). They have similar prophecy-centered stories but are also different from each other and very well done.
If this story sounds appealing to you, I recommend this author's Fire Bringer (about deer) or The Sight and Fell (about wolves, with sequel Fell). They have similar prophecy-centered stories but are also different from each other and very well done.
May 10, 2020
This took me much longer to read for whatever reason but I was totally absorbed with this. Having read everything that he had written before this, finally getting to read this, even after so many years was like reliving my childhood. This time set in the Arctic North with polar bears. The legends, the world-building, the animals. This is a book and an author that despite potentially flying under the radar deserves to be widely read.
March 29, 2022
I was waiting for years to read this book and I am not disappointed. There are a lot of similarities to Firebringer or the Sight, but it tells its own story. I was captured from the first page on and just enjoyed to be back in DCD's universe. It felt familiar and welcomed me back like an old friend. Pollution and the destruction of nature are more up to date topics than ever and I loved the way they are integrated from the polar bear's POV.
March 3, 2022
I remember really enjoying David Clement Davies's books, but this one just couldnt grab me - which is a shame as I have long tried to find it. The lore is quite convoluted and any messages and learnings of the characters get utterly lost in new terms and difficult-tp-follow dialogue. I'd recommend a skip and a read of Firebringer or The Sight instead.
December 20, 2019
I'm only two chapters in and I am once again sucked into the detailed and vivid world of Clement-Davies. His world building stands alone but not apart from his previous works, and makes an exciting read. If you're already a fan, come home again. If you're new, this will still be a thrilling ride.
August 15, 2022
I have adored the author's other books but this one took me a long time to slog through and the mythology felt unoriginal. I'd recommend his other books though.
March 9, 2024
Polar bear Jesus goes on an Odyssey style journey to save other from evil polar bear dictator and Global Warming
June 24, 2021
I loved Firebringer and enjoyed some of Clement-Davies' other books. I had high hopes for this one. Maybe too high. This story wanders, rambles, stumbles, and confuses. It has moments of beauty and wisdom, but I had to force myself to keep going at times. I loved all the mythology and lore in the earlier books, but here it often overwhelms and muddies the heart of the story.
October 1, 2013
Why cant i find it!!
August 23, 2020
I finished part one, finally, and although there was nothing particularly wrong with it, I just couldn't get into it.
Want to read
March 2, 2018Great news, everyone! This book is finally getting a physical paper-copy edition! It was previously ebook only.
Check out @DClementDavies’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/DClementDavies/st...
Check out @DClementDavies’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/DClementDavies/st...
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