The Girl and the Mountain by Mark Lawrence – Review & Giveaway

 

 

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Description:
On the planet Abeth there is only the ice. And the Black Rock.

For generations the priests of the Black Rock have reached out from their mountain to steer the fate of the ice tribes. With their Hidden God, their magic and their iron, the priests’ rule has never been questioned. But when ice triber Yaz challenged their authority, she was torn away from the only life she had ever known, and forced to find a new path for herself.

Yaz has lost her friends and found her enemies. She has a mountain to climb, and even if she can break the Hidden God’s power, her dream of a green world lies impossibly far to the south, across a vast emptiness of ice. Before the journey can even start, she has to find out what happened to the ones she loves and save those that can be saved.

Abeth holds its secrets close, but the stars shine brighter for Yaz and she means to unlock the truth.

 

 

Review:

The Girl and The Mountain by Mark Lawrence is the 2^nd 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 2^nd 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.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

 

Mark Lawrence’s publisher is graciously offering a Hardcover copy of the first book in this series, THE GIRL AND THE STARS to (1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe.

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