I know its summer, and we are all suppose to be talking about beach reading, but screw that.  If you are like me and live in a place that gets muggy and hot, nothing is better than reading a book where people freeze.  So here's a list.

 

1. Elfquest - I know that this seems to be a rather strange book and series, but part of it does take place in frozen north.  And you can feel the cold because unlike certain comic book illustrators, the Pinis have characters dressed for the cold.

 

2. Elementals by A. S. Byatt.  Both hot and cold in this one.  And what happens when they meet.

 

3. Icewind Dale Trilogy - what can be better than D&D in the far, frozen, North?  Ice dragons included.  As well as an elf that should be played by a man named Elba.

 

4. The Terror by Dan Simmons - slow paced but engrossing story of the Franklin voyage.

 

5. Ada Blackjack- the true story of a seamstress who survived alone in the arctic

 

6. The Arctic Grail - Breton's wonderful story of the search for the Northwest Passage.  Lots of people freeze to death here.

 

7. Snow Angels - an underloved mystery set in Finland.  This book deserves more attention than it gets.

 

8. The True Deceiver - In Jansson's short novel, it is unclear which is colder - the people or the environment.

 

9. Winter's Tales - Dinesan's short story collection is wonderful.

 

10. Smilia's Sense of Snow - a whole novel and mystery centering around snow.

 

11. A Cold Day for Murder - the first book in the Kate Shugak series.  Takes place in Alaska, and free for kindle.

 

12. The Dead of Winter - a interesting murder mystery with an unusual choice of teller.

 

13. Folktales of the Amur - you know that section of Russia that has those beautiful tigers?  These tales are from there.

 

14.

Again, five stars as long as you overlook the obvious campiness of the whole genre... Tolkien it's not.

Yes. ridiculously awesome fun. Did I mention Wulfgar picks up a camel? and THROWS it at bad guys? Later he punches the same camel.

I'm having fun breezing through these books. fun summer reading.

This one was actually better than I remembered it.

Sure, it's escapist fantasy fiction. The characters are cariacatures... but it's fun... they slay a dragon, have epic battles, magic, sorcery, swordfighting, revenge...

totally fun.

One thing I was really impressed with is that the prequels were more-or-less true to the book. That rarely happens in books of this caliber. It's obvious that Salvatore had done his homework and made his notes about Drizzt before going off and writing a prequel trilogy.

Usually in series like this, a careful reader catches inconsistencies and flaws. I only caught one-- Drizzt referring to his "centuries" in the underdark (as opposed to "a half century") -- other than that, I caught more spelling errors than continuity errors. Sure, the book should have neither, but how high are your expectations for pulp fantasy anyways?

So anyway, this one's highly recommended. It works well on its own, as a starting point, and it works well as a continuation of the Dark Elf saga (starting with Homeland).

Just a fun summer read.

Hmm, the third and final book in the rather aptly misnamed Icewind Dale Trilogy. I have noted that the series did have a name change and it is now known as the Legend of Drizzt series, though this book is still considered to be a part of the original trilogy. In a way the Legend of Drizzt series seems to be a little like the Star Wars series. It starts off as a trilogy and then they write three prequels, which I believe they have also done with Lord of the Rings. I have read all of them, but this is the book that I am going to worry about at the moment.

 

 

Basically, this book as nothing to do with Icewind Dale, and the so called change of scenery is as far from such as setting as possible: some Arabian type kingdom in a rather hot and dry climate (in fact, it is set in a desert). Maybe when they realised that they weren't going to set this book in the Icewind Dale they could have called the series something else, or they could have had a epilogue where they all returned to Icewind Dale after their adventures and all is well again.

 

 

I remember, and have been reminded, that the main antagonist in this book is a highly skilled assassin named Artemis Emritis (and I believe that he appears elsewhere in some of the Realms products as well) and he kidnaps a halfling that happens to be a friend of Drizzt. Only Drizzt and Wulfgar go on this adventure because Brunor is too busy back at Mithril Hall cleaning up after getting rid of all the demons that used to inhabit the place. Apparently there is also a really cool fight between the master assassin and the rather cold and mysterious Drizzt (who seems to be like some lone gunslinger that has no friends or family, though I would hardly call him an anti-hero … no he does have friends, just no family because they are all Dark Elves and are evil and psychotic scum that Drizzt rejected).

 

Is there anything else I can say about this book? Hmm, probably not. Look, it is not a bad book, but it is not really a work of literature either. It is simply your standard, typical, everyday Dungeons and Dragons promo book that just happens to have Drizzt going around killing people with his two scimitars, but not reminding people of how hard core he is because he is just too humble and unassuming (and also pretty much feared and loathed by most of the ignorant people of the Forgotten Realms).

Now, let's see, Brunor Battlehammer's clan lived in a dwarven city that was called Mithril Hall and was famed throughout the land for its wealth. However the city was invaded and occupied by a horde of demons and all of the dwarf inhabitants were driven into exile. Brunor then has an urge in this book to return to the city of his ancestors and to drive out the demons and to reclaim Mithril Hall for his people. I wonder where I have heard this story before – that's right, [book:The Hobbit].

Okay, in all fairness to Salvatore, ever since [author:Tolkien] penned his famous fantasy novels the ideas that came from those novels has pretty much dominated the literary scene ever since, and particularly since Dungeons and Dragons borrows so heavily from Tolkein, it is not surprising to see some of those ideas taken and adapted for this particular setting. I guess the whole idea of the dwarf as the exiled race is something that has pretty much been set in stone for many of the subsequent fantasy novels and worlds (though I believe that this is the only official novel where this idea has occurred).

Mind you, the dwarf as the exiled race is something that features heavily in Tolkein, because it is not only Lonely Mountain that they have been exiled from, but also the mines of Moria, and this is not necessarily because life has been unfair to them, but rather it is as a result of their greed (and the same idea can be implied here, though I am doubtful that Salvatore had any similar ideas as did Tolkein). It is not surprising though that when a race or a city becomes famous for its wealth that it will entice armies and treasure hunters to come to get their share of the wealth.

I also suspect that there is some relationship between the dwarves and the Jews in Tolkien, in that both of them are an exiled race (though the Jews have since returned to their homeland, but surprisingly they have not reintroduced the monarchy, nor has the temple been rebuilt) and there were reasons for the exile as outlined in the Bible. I don't necessarily want to comment on why the Jews were exiled, because there is really no difference between in attitudes of the Jews and Gentiles back in those days (as they are now) and both are under the judgement of God. I suspect that the reason that God did go harder on the Jews was because the Jews had been privileged to have received God's revelation, but despite having the revelation, still ignored it.

I see no such thing here with the dwarves though, because in the end, in Tolkein, and to a lesser extent, here, the dwarves are an exiled race purely because of their greed. However possessing wealth is not necessarily greed nor is it necessarily a problem, but it is how we gain the wealth and what we do with the wealth that is the problem. There is no problem being a barrister (or a lawyer, since they don't have barristers in the United States, but to those over there a barrister is simply what could be called a trial lawyer) who earns $5000.00 a week as long as that money is earned honestly and the money is used in an appropriate way (such as providing for one's family, the church, and to the less fortunate). However if we are earning money by underpaying our workers, bullying our suppliers, and extorting our customers, then there is going to be a problem. However, in the long run, it is not me that you will have to answer to (because I doubt you, if you are in that position, would believe that you needed to answer to me) but rather to God, and it is in God's hands that it shall leave it.