The first part of this book was slow going at times, and I wondered if it was ever going to pick up. It was interesting enough to keep reading, though. And as the book went on, it did pick up, and was very enjoyable. ( )

This fifth and last book in CJ Cherryh's excellent Fortress series takes place about fifteen years after the events in Fortress of Dragons. Without giving away the plot, I will say that this was, as usual, a slow-starting story, which then grabbed me about halfway through, and would not release me until the end. I felt that there were a number of issues not addressed, and have dropped the rating one half a star for a less than satisfactory ending. It was an excellent read, overall. A follow-up book would have been nice, but even without, I still recommend this book, and the series. ( )

Cherryh winds up the Fortress series with a study of dysfunctional family dynamics. Tristen gets to be with his friends, but we ar left in the dark about his final fate, Cefwyn proves he loves all his kids, and the forces of evil are quelled for another heartbeat in history. It seems formulaic and forced. As a constructor of multiple-use worlds, a major part of long fantasies, I believe Cherryh has failed to give this world much history, and she's not too good on giving minor characters much to work with, or even interesting names. I wonder if she's read "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead"? (minor characters need more than one note to live on, I think.) ( )

Fortress of Ice is a difficult book to pin down--I find myself liking the book, but not liking it enough. (Which no, doesn’t make sense. There are books I love and reread endlessly, there are books I like but only read once. This book falls somewhere between those two categories.) The feeling and tone is entirely different because all the primary characters have become secondary and tertiary, and the next generation is new and very wet behind the ears.

This is primarily a book about family and the relationships between the various characters. It’s about the friendship between Aewyn and Elfwyn, and about Cefwyn trying to be a good father to both his sons. Of course, with a family that is a royal family there are also politics and intrigue, so this is also a book about Cefwyn trying to be a king, while also trying to be a father to his illegitimate and politically problematic son.

Read the rest of this article at A Wicked Convergence of Circumstances ( )

http://tamaranth.blogspot.com/2008/01/5-fortress-of-ice-c-j-cherryh.html ( )