Blade of Fire

So i read the first book in highschool and was looking for a hardcover copy and came to the realization that there was two other books and well now im complete

Clang! The Icemark cavalry and infantry clashed against the enemy and started to hack away at the Empire's troops. The Blade of Fire is about a queen named Thirrin, her son Charlemagne, nicknamed Sharley, and her arch enemy Scipio Bellorum and his two sons, Octavius and Sulla. Thirrin sends her son away, because he can't fight with a crippled leg. When Sharley gets to his destination in the south and becomes prince regent to the exiles. As Sharley explores the south he finds things he has never heard of, or seen before. He finds unlikely allies, but the question remains is he too late? My favorite part in the book is the battle at the end of the book. I liked it because it had the greatest details in the whole book, including vampires, wolf-folk, giant snow leopards, Icemark cavalry and infantry clashing with the enemy. Men on both sides getting killed everywhere and the dying screaming in pain everywhere you looked. Scipio Bellorum and his sons are the worst characters in the book. They are ruthless and uncaring. For instance, Octavius had a squad of men shot to pieces by their comrades for marching to slow, and then his brother complimented him on it. They may be the worst characters in the book, but you have to give them credit for being geniuses. Sharley on the other hand is a very interesting character, because he has a crippled leg and yet he has the brain of a diplomat and the heart of a warrior. I recommend this book because it is a very awesome book and it's definitely in my top five books I've ever read and that's a lot.

First of all, I loved this book. I loved the first one too, but there's always something about the underdog, the "weakling" finding the strength he didn't even know he had, that appeals to me enormously. And however much I like Thirrin, a weakling she is not. She may have had the disadvantage as a nation fighting the Empire in the first novel, but she was nowhere remotely close to being weak. I've grown especially fond of children's books lately, between Harry Potter, the Artemis Fowl Series, The SpiderWick Chronicles, the trilogy of The Golden Compass (can't remember the collection's name), Garth Nix's series about the days of the week, and a whole host of others, I troll the young adult shelves almost exclusively. Seeing as I am 21 years old, I get a few odd looks. :) SPOILERS, for those who haven't read this, are below....WARNING!!! SPOILERS!!!!!!!! But was I the only one who read the whole book waiting impatiently for Madea to fry? And I freely admit that I felt no sympathy whatsoever when it finally happened. I was extremely satisfied when she finally realized just how much she had underestimated her father ("In your face, witch!" might have been going through my mind...haha!). And I completely appreciated the fact that he still didn't give her any mercy, for she deserved none.

i enjoyed the book. at times i had to put it down,because of the graffic images that come to mind.i most likely would never go and see it as a movie. it would be too intense for me.the story line was good. how they over come the odds against them and the most unlikely were there best hope.

Yes, the Cry of the Icemark was better. I definitely liked Thirrin and Oskan better as teens. That said, however, as far as sequels goes, this book gives the first a good "run for the money". I've a few minor nits about the strength of motivation for certain characters' evilness, but for the most part, the characterization is ultra fitting. I will have a more detailed review later, for now, suffice to say, "BUY THIS"! Look, it vexes me to no end to see ultra crap (like certain dragon containing books) do well in sales when well-written stuff like Cry of the Icemark and Blade of fire languishes on the virtual "shelves". Plot: Decent...fairly straightforward, but still exciting and contains a few good twists. One more note: the sense of pacing is amazing. The plot being as it is holds the potential to plod on forever, but the pacing keeps it moving. There are nice descriptions of things, but no endless sections of sand describing, thank the Goddess, Moonmother, One, and other deities.

OK, so I liked Cry of the Icemark a *little* bit better- mainly because Thirrin is just an amazing heroine... But I loved this book, too! My thanks to Stuart Hill for bringing yet another heartwarming, amazing book into my life!