I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2022 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2022/01/readers-advisory-announce-2022-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

The other day I was admiring the long stretch of Mark Lawrence books on my bookshelves, and I realized just how many great stories this guy has pumped out for us in the last decade. He’s currently working on closing out his fifth trilogy–that’s pretty impressive, given the timeline–and so much of what he’s brought to the table has just been awesome. If you haven’t checked his books out yet, you should.

However, I have to admit that I felt somewhat trepidatious (an adjective that WordPress’s spellchecker apparently doesn’t recognize) in approaching this next book. The first book in the series, while entertaining, had a few aspects to it that made me worry about the evolution of the story to come. Where it might go. How it might tackle the perspectives it was trying to bring together.

And I’m afraid that my concerns ended up being quite justified.

THE GIRL AND THE MOUNTAIN continues the story of Yaz of the Ictha as she learns more about those that live upon and rule over the icy expanse of the planet of Abeth. THE GIRL AND THE STARS left Yaz at an interesting spot, ascending from the world beneath the ice and returning to those with which her journey had begun: the priests of the Black Rock. But the more she learns about Abeth, its history, and its peoples, the deeper the secrets seem to be. We’ve known for some time about the icy planet and the channel of green growth around it’s equator, perpetuated by the light- and heat-focusing properties of its single moon. The magical story we’ve already ingested in THE BOOK OF THE ANCESTOR. In this book, the concepts at the core of both the science fictional and fantastical elements of this world come together, and the result is a whirlwind of fast-paced adventure… but decidedly less than I’d hoped it would be.

In addition to Yaz, two secondary characters from STARS get POV time: Thurin and Quell. If you’ll remember, Thurin was born beneath the ice and has only recently been released from control by one of the most powerful demons living there. He has control over water, and with little lead time, is able to lift himself up the ice-well through which Yaz returned to the surface. Quell, is Yaz’s old boyfriend, from before any of this had begun. In general, the two of these boys were characterized just as well as the author’s characters usually are. Their motivations in this case revolve around Yaz and her quest to reach the green strip of land at Abeth’s belt. Nearly all of their POV comes during the first half of the book, while the story builds toward a climax within the Black Rock. And while their stories are well-told and constantly on the move, I never really felt like these storylines were ever “their” stories. They felt more like perspectives that needed to be told in order to build Yaz’s storyline and elucidate more science-fictional aspects of the world. Likely some of the disconnect for me came from the lack of character connection that I felt Yaz had with each of them, or anyone for that matter. I mentioned this aspect of the story in my review of STARS. So, while there are plenty of pieces of the story that are elucidated in the first half of the book, I never really felt like any of it got off the ground.

Almost exactly midway through the book, the story takes a big turn, and the characters move away from the Black Rock. Yaz and her friends launch out across the ice in search of the green land. They spend a lot of time crossing that ice. A LOT of time. And while I was hoping that this time would tend to bring the characters together and form some of the bonds that I felt were missing from both the first half of this book and the first book in the series, instead they seemed to grow even more distant from one another. Perhaps I just felt like that because the second half of the book is told almost exclusively from Yaz’s POV again, and this happens to be how she battles the vicious weather conditions. Still, her characterization is well done. If anything, her character is what kept me reading, even if the connection I had to her story was timid.

The largest difficulty I had with the story was the blending of all of the science fiction elements with the fantasy world that I expect. This difficulty was compounded by the fact that Yaz is just a young girl that lives in a barren wasteland and has absolutely zero reference or ability to discern any of the science fiction aspects of the world that is evolving around her. The story seemed to race from one piece of science fictional world-building to the next, and with each interaction I became more and more aware of the fact that this story just wasn’t working for me.

It’s not a bad story. No chance. Several times as I was reading, I stepped back and looked at it from a structural point of view. It’s pretty much impossible to look at the story and say that there wasn’t enough in it, or that the pieces didn’t make sense or lead from one to the other. Looking back, I think my break from this story came about because Yaz’s story–her drive to save her brother and then to find the green land–doesn’t interact very much with the larger narrative that is evolving around her. There’s overlap, sure, but the impact I kept looking for was missing in large measure. Though there was a lot of science fiction in it.

In the end, if you’ve fallen in love with the characters from the first book or with Lawrence’s characters in general, then it’s likely you’re going to enjoy things this time around. His characterization, as usual, is on point, and he’s telling a story that is bigger than they are. It just lacked that *moxie* I look for in a story.

However, the place where the story ends… could spell good things for book #3. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Won’t we?

The Girl and the Mountain is one of those rare exceptions that have the sequel actually being better than the first. This book has a better plot, more character development, and an incredible ending. This is now a series that I will tell my friends to read. It crosses some boundaries that make it bold and beautiful. It really is a blast to read and the pages will turn on their own. I loved the ending of this book it is the best part of this series so far and I cannot wait for more…Fantasy readers take note…you must read this series…
Full review to come on my YouTube channel.

“To touch the sky, be prepared to climb.”

And climb we must.

Mark Lawrence’s second installment to the Book of the Ice series, The Girl and the Mountain, is darker than the first. Lawrence returns right to the “cage-hanging,” where The Girl and the Stars left off. Yaz’s friends Erris, Kao, Maya and Quell are struggling upward to save her. While they were able to escape the deadly drop, they find Yaz gone, and end-up in the middle of a malicious plot that subjects thousands to a fate they didn’t ask for. One more deadly than simply being tossed into a hole.

While the plot is slower than the previous entry, that doesn’t mean I didn’t keep turning the pages. The darker undertones hinted at from The Girl and the Stars are further revealed to the reader. The Mountain hides something sinister within its depths, and Yaz is tasked to discovering what that is, in order to save her friends. However, when the truth is revealed, it’s far greater than what anyone expected, and it threatens more than anyone of them could have imagined.

The romance between Yaz and Thurin is not as imminent as in the first installment, but there’s some tension thrown-in with the introduction of a new character. While this added some interesting reading, I felt it only served as a slight distraction from the main plot compared to the love triangle between Yaz, Thurin and Quell in The Girl and the Stars. It would had been stronger if there was more romance between Yaz and Thurin, but the tension here falls a bit short. Of course, this all might be fleshed-out in the final novel and I understand that Lawrence’s novels are never “romance-heavy” to begin with.

One character’s death didn’t quite have the impact for me like I thought it would. And, while the author had one of the characters reflect on the loss they’ve experienced, it was tainted by the immediate introduction of another character and didn’t allow for the character(s) to process the loss. Granted, this character could have a huge impact on the plot of the final installment, or the author could have some big reveal in the next book. Still, rather than being devastated by this character’s death, I felt like they were brushed-aside.

What I really loved about the novel was the reveal of the plot of the antagonist within the story, and Lawrence does an excellent job of slowly un-fueling the horrors that awaits Yaz and her friends if they fail. Without giving too much away, Yaz and her companions are up against powerful, deadly forces that seek higher endeavors than earth itself and, when revealed, made for a shocking and thrilling read. As well, I enjoyed learning more about some of the characters and their backstories, such as Hetta and Maya. And my favorite part was when our cast of characters embarked on a dangerous trek across the ice, which fully underscored the dangers of Yaz’s world.

Compared to the first book, The Girl and the Stars, the second is slower paced at the beginning, but really picks up towards the end. The cruel survival the characters have to undergo throughout The Girl and the Mountain really cements the cruelty of Yaz’s world. And the loss she and other characters, undergo emphasizes this theme to the max. Lastly, if you’ve read the The Book of the Ancestor trilogy, you’re in for a little treat.

Lawrence has once again delivered on a novel that is bleak, while serving-up a lot of action, with masterful worldbuilding and fantastical lore that is thrilling to read. I am very much looking forward to the final installment of The Book of the Ice trilogy.

Stay safe everyone and happy reading!

Mark Lawrence will always be among my top 3 favorite go-to-authors for his craft, his uncanny ability to spin a crackling narrative that is always a unique mix of myth, fantasy and science. Guess being a "rocket-scientist" he just cannot keep that element of his under wraps, his undying love for science which always wriggles into any of his stories.

And so with The Girl and The Mountain as well. Perhaps the most overt allusion to Artificial Intelligence comes in this series. Continuing on with that harrowing story of survival beneath the freezing ice and the found-family that helped Yaz, our protagonist, survive the harsh realities of life in this ice-laden world. This is the second book in the series, Book of the Ice and is set in the same planet Abeth as his previous Book of the Ancestors. Be warned that the review below contains spoilers for book one, so if you haven't yet met Yaz and her bunch of rebels yet from The Girl and the Stars, please stop and pick up book-I in the series.

The Mountain, or Black Rock as it's known, has always been the bastion of the priests who commanded the ice-tribes' way of life. And now Yaz and her rag-tag bunch of 'Broken' mutineers have found a way to stand up to this monopoly of the priests and their Hidden God to dictate their way of life on the ice. We pick up right from where Book-One ended ( like a literal cliff-hanger!!) where we left the friends of Yaz hanging in the cage, rising up to where Yaz has disappeared off.

So this narrative is actually split into two parts, first set within the Black Rock and then the second follows the perilous journey that Yaz and her friends undertake to reveal the secrets of this planet. It feels like two books in its treatment and each have their moments. Thrills, fights and twisty shocks continue to pepper you as you turn the pages to figure out how Yaz's mission will turn out. There are several things I loved about the book, including the big reveal of the history of Abeth, mankind, the secrets of the Missing etc. what I hated about the book was the pacing.

Immediately after the events in the first narrative arc are resolved, once the 'journey' starts - the narrative's pacing falters. Don't get me wrong, the perils out on the exposed ice-laden stormy expanses are many. The journey is fraught with danger and it isn't just the wind that could kill you but the horrors that exist out there are truly terrifying. Mark keeps the horrors coming at you and there are a few forgotten 'devils' who re-surface. But stick with the company and the rewards are gratifying towards the end. There are losses on the way and newcomers find their way into that circle of friend/family for Yaz. There are several big surprises as the ways of this world are slowly getting revealed and that's enough pay-offs for the maddeningly slow trek over ice.

With respect to the characters, Yaz's growth as a natural leader is another gratifying reading experience. Her thoughts, actions and deeds are indeed shaping up the future of this series and Mark is perhaps stitching up a lot of clues into this narrative. I am guessing, a second read would be essential to pick up on all his clues as he is trying to paint that interconnected worlds narrative. Yaz and Thurin's romance really doesn't progress much, Erris - one of my favorite characters from book-I, this time gets a new companion from the Lost cities and both of them turn out to be life-saviours for Yaz's team. Quell, another of the suitors, this time, has a much smaller role to play though.

Overall, the mysteries of planet Abeth and the huddled mass of humanity fighting to survive against the ice is slowly getting revealed. The science and technology that powered the Missing and their vast cities are getting discovered. Yaz and her friends have a large role to play in this and I am certainly piqued by the latest turn of events ( Arrggghhh another cliff-hanger! He ought to call this series the Book of Icy Cliff-hangers, bah!) All in all, a great addition to the series but somewhere I felt that this felt like a bridge. ( literally between the two books, even. connecting us to the XXX! - ha, redacted for fear of spoilers!)

All signature Mark Lawrence, The Girl and the Mountain has tons of masterful worldbuilding, character progressions and a healthy fix of action events all leading up to some crackling mysteries about to be solved in this cruel bleak world of ice. Hang in there for the final chapter!

This review was originally posted on <a href="https://booksofmyheart.net/2021/04/15/the-girl-and-the-mountain-by-mark-lawrence/" target="_blank"> Books of My Heart</a>
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<i>Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i>

My first experience with Mark Lawrence's work was with <strong>Red Sister</strong>, from the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/185644-book-of-the-ancestor" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em><strong>Book of the Ancestor</strong> </em></a>trilogy. The <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/259647-book-of-the-ice" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em><strong>Book of the Ice</strong></em></a> series is set in the same world, earlier in time.  I would read the series itself in order.  I appreciated quick review at the beginning of <strong>Girl and the Mountain</strong> since it's been a year since <strong>Girl and the Stars</strong>. I don't think it is necessary to have read the <em><strong>Book of the Ancestor</strong></em> trilogy, but it does make it much easier to adjust to the world and know about the different groups of people and their skills.  It was a much faster and more engaging read for me knowing more, and I had much less of the slow down I get with first book syndrome trying to understand the world.

<strong>The Girl and the Mountain</strong> begins exactly where the previous book ended which was a bit of a cliffhanger.  Yaz and her friends, are not in a safe situation.  The danger continues throughout the whole book.   Everything in the "pit" and with the Broken and Missing is not the same as they have been educated as they grew up with the Ithca.  The priests are not what they appear to be.

I did not like Yaz in the <em><strong>Book of the Ancestor</strong> </em>trilogy.  In this trilogy, I appreciate her strength and commitment.  Her life is far from easy. The ice is a harsh place. She is loyal, even at great personal peril.  Everyone wants her as an ally or friend as she develops her talent with the stars.  Yaz needs to discern who is trustworthy.  So many are not.

Yaz and her friends are trying to get to the "green world."  She wants to see it.  Here we learn more about the status of the world I knew from the previous trilogy and we see a few characters and more of the priests here. <em><strong>The Book of Ice</strong></em> trilogy is developing our knowledge of the stars and the Missing far beyond the previous trilogy did.

I enjoyed this a lot and I look forward to the final book to see how Yaz changes.  Perhaps it is not a change to Yaz, so much as a change in perspective from the Ice people to the Sisters at the convent.   The ending here is also abrupt and dangerous.  Mark Lawrence assured us in his newsletter this week that the next book is already written though. With the complexity of the world and characters, I will appreciate another "the story so far" section in it also.

The Girl and the Mountain is the sequel to Mark Lawrence’s superlative The Girl and The Stars. Long term readers will know that I have a deep affection for Mark’s work; I went in hoping I’d love this, and I went in with high expectations. And I can now say that those expectations have been met, and indeed surpassed. This is a great story.

The executive summary is thatLawrence has once again blended science-fiction and fantasy, then added a splash of humanity and shared experience, to create a delightful narrative melange, which is a long-winded way of saying it’s a damn good read, which will make you laugh, and cry, and you won’t be able to stop turning pages, and also it’s two in the morning, how did that happen, but you have to know what’s on the next page, and the next, and the next.


Yaz is a wonderful character. A woman struggling to define herself in an environment which is beyond harsh. Given abilities which would be wonders in other times, and other places, she has to endure their disadvantages instead. Speed and power are no use on the ice field, which rewards only focus and endurance. But Yaz, and indeed those she’s fallen in with, have is not what the ice demands. It’s the ability to shape fire and water. Or to move faster than thought. Or to slip between things, out of the eyes of people and into the realm of myth. If the ice doesn’t care for such things, if the environment brutalises difference, as az well knows, then what do she and her friends bring to the table? And the answer is that they bring their differences. Their perspective. An ability to do things outside a system which is winding down, step by step by step. They walk across the ice, powered by hope and by a desire to see something more, to be something more. That desire is likely to resonate with any reader, and it’s one with a power behind it, backed by a sharpness which engages with the difficulties of difference, but refuses to bow to them, and instead says, here are people, in all their diversity of thought and form and action, and they can, will, must do more than survive.


Of course, there’s a story here. Don’t get me wrong. Yaz is the heart of the story, and her journey into discovering who she is, and whether that is who or what she wants to be, and how she decides to live her life, in a world which seeks to deny that choice, is the iron core at the centre of the tale. Watching her grow, and watching her friends grow alongside her, is a joy. But there’s also a lot going on. I won’t spoil it, but there is, of course, the titular Mountain, the Black Rock, filled with the mysterious priests, the closest thing that the sweeping ice fields have to anb authority, and a cultural touchstone. And alongside those mysterious figures, are the shattered remnants of archaeotech that help define the setting - old cities, crushed under glaciers, holding long forgotten marvels which could shatter worlds, or rebuild them ,if any were able to reach them, and understand their needs. There are the abominations that are those who came before, trapped in the ice, devils singing out for bodies to possess and havoc to cause. And there are voices in the aether which might be more or less than gods and men. And all of them have an agenda, and all of them have a hand in the pot, where Yaz and her fellows are (metaphorically) gently boiling.


There’s betrayal here, and revelation. There’s relationships torn apart, rebuilt, and forged. There’s the promise of the green lands, and the certain and deadly monotony of the ice. There’s truths about humanity and how it feels about difference and survival, and there’s more to learn about the world of Abeth, and how it came to be quite how it is. There’s dark things beneath the world of men, and characters bringing light to it.



Which is all very fluffy. But I don’t want to spoil it. So stick with me here. Because again: Yaz is a beautifully drawn character, vivid and human, who steps right off the page and onto the nearest glacier. Her friends are as interesting, and as real (even the ones who may not be). And her enemies are vital and clever and compellingly vile. The world lives and breathes around them, from the starkly lit fluorescent tunnels of the underground labyrinths of mad cities, to the gentle creaking of the black ice in the face of an endless blizzard. And the story itself, filled with revelation and hard human truth alike, will take your hand and pull you out along the ice with it,and you’ll end up, as I did, turning pages deep into the night.


The really short version: this is a bloody good book, I couldn’t put it down, and I bet you won’t be able to put it down either. Go and get a copy right now.

This is the continuing story of Yaz of the Ictha. She is from the ice tribes, but ended up under the ice among the Broken. Now she’s back up on the ice, and it’s up to her and her friends to make it from the Black Rock, where the priests of Abeth all live, and travel south to the green lands that Yaz’ people think are only a myth.

This one starts nearly exactly where The Girl and the Stars left off, so those who are/were concerned about the cliffhanger that one left us with, don’t worry too much, it does get resolved here. I didn’t think it was too cliffhangery… or at least, I didn’t find the cliffhanger too much of an issue personally, but I know that some people don’t look on them too favorably. For me it depends on how much of the story it leaves hanging, so to speak. ^_^

This one follows a few characters’ POV, mostly Yaz and Thurin, but also Quell. I still really like Yaz as a character in this one. She’s strong and stands up for what she believes in, but still sometimes makes decisions that don’t work out for the best. I also really like Thurin, especially in this volume because he is brought from underground onto the ice on this journey that they must make to the green belt. As such, he is going through hardship that seems like a fairly normal day to the ice tribers, and he has to try and keep up while never actually experiencing living on the ice. This series has so many characters that I enjoy finding out more and more details about.

While the last one (and this one) have a bit of a connection to other works by Mark Lawrence, this volume also serves to connect the Book of the Ancestor series together with this series more definitively. I won’t tell you more than that, because it’s toeing the spoilery line. You’ll just have to read on, but I’ll say that I really like when series like this have a connection to other, different series that I liked. ^_^

All told, I liked this one a lot. It was very easy to pick up and read well into the night. I thought it was paced well, and so in just a few days I was done. The ending was, again, a little cliffhangery, but not in a way that left me angry that the next book in the series isn’t on my nightstand ready to go. It’s the sort of cliffhangery that’ll have me leaping at it when the next book comes along, is all.

The Girl and the Mountain is the second installment in author Mark Lawrence's Book of Ice series. For those who haven't read this series yet, or may want to in the future, let me lay down a bit of information for you. This series takes place in the same world, the planet of Abeth where ice is prevalent everywhere except at the equator where it is green, as the authors Book of the Ancestors. Yaz is the primary focus of this story along with several key secondary characters like Thurin, Quell, Zeen, Erris, Maya, and Quina.

Long ago, four old bloods clans allegedly from Earth, found themselves on Abeth. They were Gerant, which means you grow very big. Hunska, which makes you very fast. Marjal, which can give you some of a variety of lesser magics, like command over shadows, water, air, rock, fire and sometimes more than one of these. Quantal, which gives you major magics including the vast power of the Path and the ability to weave threads of existence to achieve more subtle manipulations of people and things.

The story picks up where The Girl and the Stars left off. 16-year-old Yaz is from the Ictha Ice Clan. She has the ability to manipulate what's called stars, the same ability as the Priests do which makes her a prize. Under the ice, Yaz survived against both the Broken, and the Tainted who are infected with devils/spirits. She also discovered a city left behind by the Missing who left Abeth before the four tribes of man arrived. After escaping the Ice, and Theus, can she survive what she finds at the Black Rock?

Thurin and Quell are key secondary characters. Thurin was born under the ice, has powers over water and fire, and is now freed from being possessed by Theus thanks to Yaz. Quell is from the same Ictha clan as Yaz and followed her under the Ice but for reasons I won't spoil. If it weren't for what happened in the first story, he could have likely asked Yaz to marry him. I will also say that there are quite a few villains in this story from Regulator Kazik, Eular, and Taproot an ancient simulation of a man called Elias Taproot.

There is a whole lot of traveling in this story. Yaz wants to see the rest of the world. She wants to travel to the land of the green and discover if there's a place for her. She travels with Thurin, Erris, and Quina, while later picking up a girl named Mali who joins the group after a stunning loss which I am still reeling from. She's also part of Convent of Sweet Mercy which readers of the Book of the Ancestors know very well. I would honestly be thrilled if we get a guest appearance by Nona Grey in the third installment. There is also a curious twist in this story when the characters find themselves in a place called Haydes. There is a slight Olympian twist at this point which leads Mali and Yaz's friends to the Green.

Fans of Mark’s previous books will enjoy this one. Except for the stupid cliffhanger, again! It's incredibly frustrating tease to end a book AGAIN and then have to wait a full year to find out what happens next. It's almost recommended to wait until all three books are released, and then pick them up together so that you can remember events from book to book.

The Girl and The Mountain by Mark Lawrence is the 2nd book his Book of the Ice series. I loved Lawrence’s Book of Ancestor series, and did enjoy the first book of Book of the Ice series, The Girl and the Stars. Though I did enjoy much of this 2nd book, I did have some mixed feelings.

The Girl and the Mountain picks up where the first book left off, with our heroine, Yaz waking up back on the ice, Abeth, with the evil priests imprisoning her and determined to change her to their rule and the Hidden God. With some of her friends having risen to the top, in a short time she is rescued and despite meeting the evil Hidden God, and learning the truths, she will go to find the sea and the land of green. With Quell and Zeen deciding to stay behind in their homes on the ice, Yaz, Maya, Erris, Quina and Thurin go on their way to a wild, dark, dangerous trek, with so many dangerous creatures and evil to battle all along the way. They learn more about the other clans, including the Missing, the evil Gods, etc; and meet new friends, such as Mali and Zox.

This was an exciting non-stop action filled story, but my mixed feelings are based on the so many details, which got confusing at times, especially with a lot of changes in the lands and evil beings. Everyone was trying be a step ahead of the enemies, who were constantly trying to kill them, with Yaz being pulled away from her friends a lot. What I did love about the story was Yaz being a great heroine, and her fabulous friends that we spend a lot of time with.

This is a difficult review to do, since there is so much that happens from start to finish, and to tell too much more would be spoilers. As I had noted previously, The Girl and the Mountain was a fantasy in a different kind of world that is beyond normal. The cruel conditions, the dangerous people, the constant battles and the need to survive keeps us engrossed into this story. I will say there is sort of a cliffhanger at the end. If you enjoy fantasy, you can never go wrong with Mark Lawrence. I suggest you read The Girl and the Mountain.

First of all, that ending … wow! Those last few pages just kindled a fire in me that’s clamoring for the next book already! I’m have to absolutely constrain myself to not spoiler this review…it’s damn hard!

Prose/Plot/Pace: +8/10

For those who’ve read Mark’s books before, the mastery over story telling would not come as a surprise. It continues in here.

This is actually a book of three parts.

The first part is the book picking off from the cliffhanger ending of Girl and the Stars and the initial segments move at a breakneck pace. We continue to follow Yaz in her endeavors to discover the fate of the rest of her group. Then we get past the dark workings of Black Rock and plot then expands organically as we get the see the other players come into the picture and making their moves.

Then as we shift into part two, the setting shifts and we get to journey along with the MCs through a bunch of perils and hazard wondering when Mark will pull the trigger to wrench our hearts. And there are lots of perils and hazards. Braving the harsh reaches of Ice of Abeth. followed by mechanical horrors and monsters of the iceland, this is a gripping race for survival and answers. The journey is harrowing and told realistically that you actually feel get the chills like being on the frozen tundra with them!

Finally we get to the third part and Marks’s ability to mix mythology, fantasy and science comes to the fore brilliantly. We get to see and learn more of the mysterious City Minds and the history of Abeth unravels bit by bit. Then BOOM [spoilery stuff happens] and we get to the climax which not only ties this series, but also the whole Abeth storyline together. Honestly the ending is just delicious to leave you fulfilled yet wanting for more.

If you had a gun to my head and I had to nitpick, it’d be that the book has slight pacing issues in the middle. The writing is crisp and we have a thrill of a ride, but it just felt a tad too long.

Characters: +7/10

The book is predominantly told from Yaz’s perspective mixed with PoVs from Thurin and Quell. We see Yaz taking on the mantle of a leader and other lining up to follow her. Her struggles with use of her power lacking proper training are done well. As is the moral questions she gets to face being a leader and caring for her team. In hindsight, I’d have preferred a more from the point of view of the antagonists which would have rounded the perspective more.

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley publishing for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Mark Lawrence, you wily minx, you've tricked me. You somehow got that one big character introduction over on me (I blame my failing memory and how many books I read in between releases for yours). Then you made me think I could read this trilogy, having only read the Ancestor trilogy so far, when clearly you have your own little universe of interconnected books going on and I was completely unaware. My plan for this year was to read this ARC and then pick up the Impossible Times trilogy and save the other two series you've written (Red Queen and Broken Empire) for next year... I need stuff to fill in between releases but don't want to binge them all so fast and be out of them. But you messed with my brain, Mark. You've made me want to read them all this year and dig in for connections.

If you've not read Mark Lawrence, give him a shot, but don't start with this one. This one is second in a new trilogy, and book three won't come out until next year. I started with Red Sister. It's not a bad place to start. I'm pretty sure you can start with any of his trilogies you like. But be warned, you'll want to read them all.

When it comes to the nitty gritty of this book, The Girl and the Mountain, I do have one complaint amidst all the glowing praise. There's a point in the book, around halfway, that this book feels like it ends and another starts, and that second book starts with a part that drags a bit. Yes, that's a semi-intended pun that you'll understand when you read it. Some action still occurs, but that was the hardest part of the book for me. That's why I gave the book the rating I did (4.5 stars, rounded up since I can't do half stars).

I love the characters in this world. The magic system is freaking cool. And this book delves even deeper (another intended pun) into the history and mythology of the world they live in and the planet they live on.

Highly recommended - but again, don't start with this book. :)

I originally gave this five stars after the immediate post-book glow, but after sitting on it for a while, I'm bumping it down to four. The reading experience alone is fun and exciting and certainly a page turner, but I don't think it works quite as well as a book on its own. There is a big shift in the story at exactly the halfway point, and it really divides the whole trilogy in half -- it makes me think that this entire trilogy would work better as a duology. While there are great cliffhangers at the ends of books one and two, it still feels like a more natural ending would be if The Girl and the Ice were extended an extra 50%, and the The Girl and the Mountain should pick up there and run through the end of book three. While there was some good character development, exciting scenes and mysteries solved, the book didn't feel like it started and ended in the right spots and gave off a feeling of being carved out instead of existing on its own merits.

That being said, let's move onto the good stuff, and there's a lot of it! I jotted down some themed that popped up along the way:

- Choices matter, and Yaz learns the hard way
- Heavy lies the crown
- Pages and pages of putting you right there in the ice made me physically cold at times. Nicely done.
- Dogs are good, except when they are murder machines.
- Counterpoint: there are never enough murder machines.
- I finally learned how to pronounce Seus (it’s not SAY-us) at that's oddly pertinent.
- Smaller cast, bigger hearts, even bigger hurts. One thing Lawrence has improved on with each series is knowing how to rip your heart out.
- Trying to label this story (icepunk tech fantasy?) is like installing a Taproot flash drive: hard to pin down. Hey-o
- There’s a moment of beauty when a something clicks into place and it both opens and closes some wonderful doors. In my experience it’s a rare achievement, and it’s poignant, and just go read it already.
- Erris is Janet from The Good Place (not a robot).
- Fans of Mark’s previous books will especially love this one.
- Except for the stupid cliffhanger that’s so stupid and definitely not an incredibly frustrating tease to end a book AGAIN nope not at all.

Lawrence has been low-key building a universe where all of his books intertwine, from his 1980's set Impossible Times trilogy to the post-apocalyptic Broken Empire and Red Queen's War trilogies and now the two Abeth-set series. He claims to be winging it all with no set over-arching plan in mind. I call shenannigans. With each new series he pulls the net tighter, building upon each of his previous books, injecting them with more meaning and purpose. I'm confident that The Book of the Ice will fall into this category with whatever he has planned next. But in the meantime, if you like what Lawrence has produced so far - a mix of magic, science, brutal battles with nature, and eon-spanning mysteries -- then The Girl and the Mountain is just what the good Doctor Taproot ordered.