A Fortress of Grey Ice (Sword of Shadows) [Hardcover]

A Fortress of Grey Ice is an almost entirely satisfactory second volume of the Sword of Shadows sequence that started with A Cavern of Black Ice. It separates its hero and heroine and puts them through very different experiences--Raif is hardened by dishonour and hunger into the hero that will successfully kill one of the more monstrous interlopers into his world from a darker one, Ash takes the decision to atone for the inadvertent acts that have made such incursions possible. Elsewhere, a convict frees his sorceror's master; a young challenger exploits the tangle of clan politics to make himself a name; older and wilier contenders survive for the time being--Jones manages a collection of characters with very different motivations successfully enough that we end up with mixed sympathies and a fair amount of time for all of them. The fantasy world she creates here is less conventional than that of many of her rivals--she draws inventively from human cultures that live in cold places and this is a fantasy that draws as much from Inuit and Finnish legend as it does from Scotland or Scandinavia. There is a controlling intelligence here which makes up for occasional overcomplication and overwriting.--Roz Kaveney

The war to end all wars is coming. The Endlords are preparing themselves for invasion. City men and clansmen should come together to fight the dark forces, yet they feud amongst themselves. Only the Sull are preparing: an ancient, dwindling race, they fear this fight might be their last.

J. V. Jones worked initially for a record label in her native Liverpool, later moving to San Diego, California, where she ran an export business and was marketing director for an interactive software company.