Beasts of the Frozen Sun (The Frozen Sun Saga, #1)

by Jill Criswell

Burn brightly. Love fiercely. For all else is dust.

Every child of Glasnith learns the last words of Aillira, the god-gifted mortal whose doomed love affair sparked a war of gods and men, and Lira of clan Stone knows the story better than most. As a descendant of Aillira and god-gifted in her own right, she has the power to read people’s souls, to see someone’s true essence with only a touch of her hand.

When a golden-haired warrior washes up on the shores of her homeland—one of the fearful marauders from the land of the Frozen Sun—Lira helps the wounded man instead of turning him in. After reading his soul, she realizes Reyker is different than his brethren who attack the coasts of Glasnith. He confides in her that he’s been cursed with what his people call battle-madness, forced to fight for the warlord known as the Dragon, a powerful tyrant determined to reignite the ancient war that Aillira started.

As Lira and Reyker form a bond forbidden by both their clans, the wrath of the Dragon falls upon them and all of Glasnith, and Lira finds herself facing the same tragic fate as her ancestor. The battle for Lira’s life, for Reyker’s soul, and for their peoples’ freedom has only just begun …

• ISBN10: 1982556277
• ISBN13: 9781982556273
• Publish Date: 6 August 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Blackstone
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

[Liz (Bent Bookworm)]

~*Check out all my reviews over on The Bent Bookworm!*~

“He is everything you fear, and worse. He is also everything you hope, and more.”

I was just halfway through Beasts of the Frozen Sun, and I already loved it so much I ordered a hardback copy. I’m both excited and furious that it’s the first in a trilogy, because it means I’ll get to spend two more books following Lira and Reyker’s stories but also that I have to wait AN ENTIRE TWO YEARS to find out how it all ends! How has this story not gotten more press? Why is it not more popular?!?

But apparently I will have to. :'(

I’ve discovered I really love this little sub-genre of fantasy, historical fantasy. The setting of this book reminded me somewhat of [b:Sky in the Deep|34726469|Sky in the Deep|Adrienne Young|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1508350209l/34726469._SY75_.jpg|55907957] (which was awesome as well), but it goes much more in depth, not just in the geography but in the mythology and spiritual beliefs of the world. It’s set in a very British Isles sort of locale, and the Dragonmen are obviously meant to be patterned off the Vikings – all this is pretty obvious even if you hadn’t read the author’s lovely page about the real world locations she patterned the book settings off.

As is fitting for the ancient British isles…there is a lot the modern reader might find disturbing in this book. There is violence, bloodshed, abuse, torture, near-rape, and horrible, vindictive and abusive gods. It does somewhat gloss over what I think would have actually happened in those times, probably to make it more suitable for a YA audience. But it’s just barely done and doesn’t really take away from the story.

Lira and Reyker are one of the few YA fantasy pairings I could actually get behind. It’s not insta-love, and it’s not perfect, but they respect each other and they compliment each other and yet they never seem to catch a break! I was rooting for them so hard by the end.

5/5 stars for Beasts of the Frozen Sun. I absolutely cannot WAIT for the second book!

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[anastasia]

Full Review on my blog!

Let me just say, the cover is what drew me in! Yes, I totally judged this book by its cover, and what a beautiful cover it is! 

Beasts of the Frozen Sun is Jill's debut novel and the first in a new fantasy trilogy that I'm really exited about! I really don't want to give anything away because it's such a beautifully written novel, clearly inspired by Celtic and Viking mythology and you need to experience it firsthand.

We follow the journey of two enemies: Aillira or Lira for short, the daughter of a Chieftain and Reyker, a warrior from a far distant, cold land from a clan known as Beasts of the Frozen Sun. Although, they meet in unfortunate circumstances, they create a bond that develops from hate to trust and then finally attraction and love.  It wasn't just about them though, there was just about everything you could possibly want in a YA fantasy; action, suspense, monstrous men, powerful women and meddling gods. It was well-rounded, imo. It felt very raw, and was unique. I love the world building and especially the character development, It was slow burning and swoon-worthy. Also, let me just say how flawless the transition was between first and third person point of views; between the two characters.

But anyways!

I loved this so much, and I'm really, REALLY looking forward to where the author takes us in the rest of the series!

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[Leigha]

Lira falls in love with Reyker, a man from beyond her shores, in this young adult fantasy romance.

First, let me just say my eARC of Beasts of the Frozen Sun was poorly formatted. The dialog ran together multiple times, few of the sentences had proper formatting, and the page numbers were occasionally inserted into the middle of the page. It made for a very disjointed read. While I enjoyed the book enough to keep reading, my rating/review has most likely been impacted by the actual experience of reading it.

I’m struggling to write a review for this book. I liked so much about it, such as the overarching story and mythology. The star crossed lovers trope is one of my favorite. Lira and Reyker’s love story was beautifully done. As their love is the heart of the story, it had to be epic. Their growth from enemies to allies to lovers felt emotional and real. The mythology surrounding their love story was exquisitely detailed too.

And yet despite all the reasons to like the novel, I disliked so much about it. Way too much happens for anything to be given depth. The plot moves at a breakneck speed. The world building is massive, including various beings, cultures, and religions from across multiple locals. However, these various other societies didn’t feel complex or integral to the story. Like I said above, perhaps some of my issues with this book could have been perpetuated by the the poorly formatted eARC. It’s hard to say until a finished copy lands in my hands.

tl;dr A poorly formatted eARC left me feeling uncertain whether or not I actually liked this fantasy romance novel.