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Product Description
Sinclair McKay, The Daily Telegraph, February 2008
"Tobin combines the sensuality of Angela Carter with a profound feeling for a violent, unstable and fascinating landscape... This world pulses with subversion and unexpected passion... What we have here is an elegy not merely to a different age where the gods were perceived as not so distant, but also crucially to a tradition of storytelling; the gathering around a bright fire to hear tales of hardship, magic and love. It is surprising just how resonant they still are."
The Observer, March 2008
" The novels of Betsy Tobin are dark and bloody, sensual and mythic... In Ice Land Tobin inhabits this pagan land with passion and intensity..."
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Ice Land is contemporary faerie tale (without the faeries) where the landscape is as much a driving force in the novel and its community of characters. Tobin's style is tight. Her language is plain, and the narrative is driven by a certain amount of lust and longin and a deep sense of place. It was a treat to be taken by this author's safe pair of hands into this kind of Iceland.
It is a wonderful read.
It is a wonderful read.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Ice Land is an interesting twist of the historical novel form. Betsy Tobin attempts to bring together many different aspects of the history of Iceland through the characters of Freya, fulla, and Dvalin - goddess, mortal, and dwarf (half-breed), respectively.
Frey pursues the Brisingamen, Fulla is caught up in a feud, and Dvalin is torn between worlds. Eventually, the story reveals how their three lives are intertwined in more ways than one. In the background, Mount Helka builds up to an eruption that changes everything for everyone.
I only had two problems with this book:
1) the Norns are used to present mini geology lessons between chapters:
"The crust it encounters is not seamless, but a series of curved plates that fit together like a puzzle."
and, 2) the Norse gods are portrayed as incestuous and dysfunctional as the Greek pantheon. While the Aesir and Vanir had their issues, I felt that Tobin took a lot of liberties with Odin and the rest.
If you would like another historical book with the adventures of a strong Norse woman, read The Far Traveler: Voyages of a Viking Woman. However, for more information about Norse mythology and traditions, I strongly suggest Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas and Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia.
Frey pursues the Brisingamen, Fulla is caught up in a feud, and Dvalin is torn between worlds. Eventually, the story reveals how their three lives are intertwined in more ways than one. In the background, Mount Helka builds up to an eruption that changes everything for everyone.
I only had two problems with this book:
1) the Norns are used to present mini geology lessons between chapters:
"The crust it encounters is not seamless, but a series of curved plates that fit together like a puzzle."
and, 2) the Norse gods are portrayed as incestuous and dysfunctional as the Greek pantheon. While the Aesir and Vanir had their issues, I felt that Tobin took a lot of liberties with Odin and the rest.
If you would like another historical book with the adventures of a strong Norse woman, read The Far Traveler: Voyages of a Viking Woman. However, for more information about Norse mythology and traditions, I strongly suggest Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas and Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a beautiful novel (both in its content and cover design) based on Icelandic mythology. It is let down slightly by the ending and its lack of pace at some points, but if you are interested at all in Iceland and/or Norse mythology and/or fairy tales and fantasy fiction as genres, then I would recommend this novel very highly!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A brilliant nordic masterpiece
This book is a true masterpiece of Norse mythology and human nature set in the dramatic landscape of Iceland. Read more
Published 3 months ago by valkyrie1008
a great story
This book is fantastic, a mixture of mythology, love, family feuds, magic and dwarves.
i cant go into detail but all ill say is this is a fantastic book and i advise anybody... Read more
i cant go into detail but all ill say is this is a fantastic book and i advise anybody... Read more
Published on 3 Nov 2009 by FUTURESTARdelux
A Rare Treat
Ice Land is a gripping tale set in a beautifully drawn landscape of mountains, caves and volcanoes, which will be unfamiliar to many of us. Read more
Published on 8 April 2008 by A Reader, London
Escapism at its best
I picked up this book by chance in a small bookshop in Marlborough. The book called to me. I read the first two sentences and knew that it was everything I needed from a book right... Read more
Published on 13 Mar 2008 by J. morris
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