Product Description

When her father dies in battle, fourteen-year-old Thirrin becomes Queen of the Icemark, determined to defend her tiny kingdom from the most terrible invasion her nation has ever known. This is the epic story of how she rallies her country and finds some extraordinary new allies: Vampires, Wolf-folk, giant Snow Leopards - and most precious of all, her friend Oskan, Witch's Son.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #167445 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
As debut novels go, bookseller-turned-novelist Stuart Hill’s weighty book The Cry of the Icemark splashed down with an unusually large amount of pre-publication acclaim and even an early ‘fresh talent’ award to its name. It’s a big and bold read, fast-paced and exciting, stuffed full of fearsome battles and kingdoms lost and gained--the sort of book that young readers will consume with ease. Even at just under five hundred pages, it is certainly deserving of much of this initial fanfare.

Thirrin is the young, feisty princess who inherits the throne of Icemark--a small, northern ice-bound but proud country--when her father the king is killed after it is invaded by the army of a mighty southern empire. The invaders, who echo the style, names and conquering ambitions of ancient Rome, want nothing more than to annihilate Icemark's indigenous people and plunder its natural resources, and they quickly overrun the Capital city.

Thirrin grows up fast and takes her people further north to re-group and plan their return to power. The Young queen knows that she needs help to take back her country, and she moves quickly to bury the hatchet and longstanding animosities with Icemark’s neighbours. Her potential allies include the Wolf-folk, the Forest people, Vampires from the Land-of-Ghosts and snow leopards from the top of the world. However, it is difficult to defeat an army whose soldiers never stop coming at you, despite all their losses in massive battles, but Thirrin must risk everything to try and achieve just that.

Hill’s book has a readability that will make it attractive to a lot of young book lovers. Its powerful, yet familiar, narrative sweeps you along and it is quite easy to get lost amongst its many pages. Heroines triumphing in a strange and fantastical land is engaging stuff and it’ll prove difficult to put down and then to forget.

(Age 10 and over) --John McLay

About the Author
Stuart Hill was born in Leicester, in the East Midlands, where he still lives. He has worked as a car trimmer, a cemetery gardener, a teacher, archaeologist and bookseller. He now writes full-time. The Cry of the Icemark is his first novel for children.

Customer Reviews

Superb!
My friend recommended this book to me and not being a great fan of fantasy novels I didn't know what to expect from it when I finally picked it up to read. After 3 days I found myself gratefully thanking my friend, many times over.

Stuart Hill has done a brilliant job on his first book. He has successfully created an enthralling magical world where you follow the story of a young girl called Thirrin after she suddenly becomes Queen of Icemark at only 14 years of age. Immediately she is faced with the inevitable attack from a mighty empire, intent on claiming her land for their own. She decides the only way to defend her small country is to unite with her enemies; the wolf-folk and the vampires.
As well as these mythic figures, Stuart Hill also throws in exciting creatures like the great talking race of the snow leopards. His vivid descriptions of landscapes extends to the domain of these creatures. Their wide sweeping snow filled land suggests the Antartica and allows you to imagine what it would feel like to be in the midst of it.
Hill effectively uses shades of roman and medievel times to help define the nature of the story and it's grand battles. These scenes will take you on a thrilling rollercoaster ride and will leave you desperate to know the final outcome.
The author mingles adventure and war on an epic scale, rendering you helpless to it's pull.

This book turned out to be a most pleasant and fulfilling read, rich in suspense and action. I in turn highly recommend you read this book and let yourself be lost in it's wonderous world.

Unexpectedly Enjoyable
Well, last year I was in the book shop and I was browsing. I saw this book on the shelf in the older children's section and being 16 I thought, quite stupidly, "There is no way it could be any good". Well later that year it was given to me as a birthday present. Not wanting to seem ungrateful I started reading and to my surprise I was submerged into this beautifully described world of fantasy that began to feel so real to me I couldn't even begin to think of putting the book down.

It is not the typical, good guys win with happy pixie dust powers story that children have so often forced down their throats. It is a story of a young girls struggle in situations we can't even comprehend and yet as a teenager the connection to the heroin couldn't have been stronger. There is blood, sweat and tears in a very blunt but not untasteful way and it really reaches you. I would definetly recommend this book for younger teenagers and some more mature children.

A compelling read
I saw this described as "Harry Potter meets the Northern lights", which seemed a bit pretentious, but after a couple of chapters I was hooked. The description is surprisingly apt. If you like the Potter books, or the Philip Pullman books, it's very likely you will enjoy this; I certainly did.