Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Oct 2011
336 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History
Publication Information
Trapped in a hidden fortress tucked between towering mountains and a frozen sea, Solveig, along with her brother the crown prince, their older sister, and an army of restless warriors, anxiously awaits news of her father's victory at battle. But as winter stretches on, and the unending ice refuses to break, terrible acts of treachery soon make it clear that a traitor lurks in their midst. A malevolent air begins to seep through the fortress walls, and a smothering claustrophobia slowly turns these prisoners of winter against one another.
Those charged with protecting the king's children are all suspect, and the siblings must choose their allies wisely. But who can be trusted so far from their father's watchful eye? Can Solveig and her siblings survive the long winter months and expose the traitor before he succeeds in destroying a kingdom?
Ages 8-12
"Recommend this one to teens who crave a good mystery set in an icily different time and place." - Kirkus Reviews
"Readers may be drawn in by the promise of action, which Kirby certainly fulfills, but they'll be left contemplating the power of the pen versus the sword - or rather the story versus the war hammer." - Publishers Weekly
This information about Icefall was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Matthew J. Kirby is the critically acclaimed author of the middle-grade novels, Icefall and The Clockwork Three. He was born in Utah, and grew up in Maryland, California, and Hawaii. For ten months out of the year he works with students, and during the rest of the year he writes. He and his wife currently live in northern Utah.
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