The battle to stop Loki bringing devastation to Earth continues – Mist has to gather her allies, call in her sister Valkyries and the Norse treasures they were holding, anything that can give her an advantage in the coming conflicts

She’s also attracting mortal allies – but is that through genuine need or her own powers changing their choices? Because Mist is also the daughter of the goddess Freya and that’s definitely a learning curve – and brings complications since Freya’s motives may not be entirely what they seem

And there’s Loki, source of all kinds of chaos – who has got his son involved.

I have said it before and I will say it again, I love Norse Mythology and this story takes it and runs with it. We’ve got some decent research with a lot more myths than the standard, well known elements being presented, including the fascinating treasures that litter the Norse gods. This book takes them, the gods, the world setting, the mythology, the runes and makes something really fun and really fascinating with it. The story of the Valkyrie, unknown godchild, facing off against the devastating forces of Loki with numerous other members of the pantheon playing their own manipulative games is an really good one and definitely seizes my attention

The book even acknowledged that Freya is more than just a succubus. Well, just. There’s a brief nod to Freya once having martial aspects before focusing again on all her terribad sexiness that drowns everything in sex and did we mention the sexiness?

The plot is complicated and involved with several threads and battles going on at the same time while Mist tries to handle them all, learn to trust others and learn exactly what she has become. She does seem to spend more time commenting on how exhausted she is than doing exhausting things though; there was also waaaaay too much dialogue and internal monologue for people desperately battling away

She and her sister Valkyries are all competent, but they’re also very different women. There’s a really huge potential for these women to pool their resources and skills and be a far greater whole.

There are greater problems though

I have a great way for Mist to defeat Loki.

Step 1: Stab Dainn
Step 2: repeat Step 1 until no movement is detected
Step 3: scrape up remains and drop into wood chipper
Step 4: assign Einherjar to watch the remains and stomp on anything that twitches.

No, seriously. I think Dainn may be one of the biggest barriers to Mist actually getting anything done. She spends so much time worrying about him, questioning his loyalty, fearing for him that she actually does very little outside of that, he’s something of an obsession of hers. In turn he does little that’s productive except mope and whine and angst and mope some more – occasionally becoming a big monstrous thing that can be thrown against the enemy (his one real use). It would help a lot more if he didn’t keep so many secrets – he keeps so much from Mist that he’s a constant liability.

In fact, though he’s the main culprit, the entire secrecy of the series is quite ridiculous. Mist doesn’t share things with her fellow Valkyrie. They tend to keep secrets from her (oh, I have a berserker, did I not mention that? Silly me). Dain doesn’t mention Freya’s true motives, his meetings with Loki, the nature of the beast and just about anything else he ever learns. No-one tells Anna anything and the Raven tells no-one nothing.

And then they all angst about their secrets. It makes the book so painfully slow – because we have all of these plot points that could be advanced so much faster and so much more meaningfully if people decided to share their myriad secrets. And I get not trusting people – but there must be a core of trust between these characters! On top of being road blocks for the plot, so many of these characters have big internal monologues about their secrets (looking at you Dainn) that we have further padding of the book. And I’m tired of Dainn keeping things from Mist for her own good, going behind Mist’s back for her own protection et al; it never works out for him so why does he keep doing it? On the plus side, it doesn’t work out for him and each time it’s clear how his patronising, patriarchal foolishness comes back to bite them all – but it’s done now. Can we stop.

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Reviewed by: Rabid Reads.

BLACK ICE continues along the same Norse vein as Susan Krinard’s first MIDGARD installment while adding even more characters, mythology and plot threads to the mix. In this book readers get to tag along as Mist preps for the coming battle with Loki by recruiting soldiers, locating the missing Valkyrie & their Treasures, and honing her magical abilities. The influx of new information was once again overwhelming at times, and having a strong understanding of Ragnarok and its lore is definitely advisable for maximum enjoyment. This series is heavily rooted in Fantasy, and although it does take place in a modern city, I wouldn’t go so far as to call it Urban Fantasy.

The sequel to MIST starts off with three main goals: the heroine must find the Treasures, stay a step ahead of Loki, and reestablish contact with Freya & Ginnungagap. However, more and more plot threads were added as this novel progressed which made it difficult to keep up. I wish that the author would have slowed her roll a bit, and focused more on character development and on building back stories instead of continuing to add to an already overflowing world. Anna and Orn were the only two newcomers that received any kind of introduction which just seemed odd to me considering we still know nothing about Gabi, Ryan, Danny, Edvard, Rick, Tashiro, Vidarr, Vail, Bryn, Eir, Sigrun, Regin, Rota, Skuld—well, you get the idea. There are LOTS of secondary characters.

Book 2 is heavy on dialogue and light on action which slowed the pacing down dramatically. I found myself enjoying the villains more than the protagonists because at least they were more clearly defined. Loki’s rants and schemes never disappoint—he is a trickster god after all—and I have yet to meet a version of him that I haven’t liked. Dainn is another interesting case, I think that ultimately he is a bad guy turned good (or at least as good as a dark elf can be), but he walks a fine line, and his end game is still anyone’s guess. Not to mention the screwed-up Dainn & Loki are Danny's fathers. WTF? And, not the magicked kind either, Loki actually carried him in his belly. revelation that might just tip the scales in Loki’s favour.

Mist is the daughter of a frost giant and Freya, the Goddess of love & desire, and as a result she was born with a real hodgepodge of abilities. For the most part, the Valkyrie learns as she goes which made the magical rules of Krinard’s universe somewhat difficult to grasp; I expected this from the first installment, but was hoping for something a little more concrete from BLACK ICE. Mist did seem like she was more in control of her destiny in this novel which was a definite bonus. The budding relationship between her and Dainn didn’t play as much of a role in this book though which was also disappointing because I could have used a bit of fluff to help break-up the information overload.

BLACK ICE is bursting at the seams with gods, goddesses, and their minions; recommended for Norse mythology buffs. ( )

I would like to thank NetGalley & Tor Books for giving me a copy of this e-ARC to read in exchange for an honest review. Though I received this e-book for free that in no way impacts my review.

New York Times bestselling author Susan Krinard continues the thrilling urban fantasy series that began with Mist in Black Ice.

Centuries ago, all was lost in the Last Battle when the Norse gods and goddesses went to war. The elves, the giants, and the gods and goddesses themselves were all destroyed, leaving the Valkyrie known as Mist one of the only survivors.

Or so she thought.

The trickster god Loki has reappeared in San Francisco, and he has big plans for modern-day Earth. With few allies and fewer resources—but the eyes of the gods and goddesses of an old world upon her—it’s up to Mist to stop him before history repeats itself.

At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

Thankfully this sequel lives up, and exceeds, to the standards set for it. Mist is still struggling to control her magic, which continues to grow at an astounding rate. But for her to learn about her magic she must trust Dainn, and trust is in short supply between those two. Although she wants to trust him there are a few too many incidents during which he has revealed either a lie or partial truth he's told to Mist - always claiming they were for her own protection or that of someone she cares about. Dainn seems almost allergic to sharing the entire truth, at least to Mist.

Yet they share a growing attraction, and Mist has yet to stop defending him. Possibly because she understands part of his pain, both of them having been deceived by Loki in the guise of their lover. Though of course Dainn suffered a far greater punishment, one that seems to keep getting worse as time goes by.

Mist has been thrust into the role of leading the opposition against Loki's planned takeover of Midgard. And though Freya, her recently discovered mother, may arrive in time to help, Mist can't wait for her arrival. Not too mention, Mist isn't too sure how much she trusts Freya. Why ignore her daughter all these centuries only to 'claim' her as kin on the eve of the next Ragnarok? And Dainn seems to run hot and cold whenever the top of her mother comes up.

Poor Mist has a large role to fill, and she keeps getting hit time after time with shocking surprises, few of them good. Though she does find some of her Valkyrie Sisters, unfortunately some are still unaccounted for, and that could mean that they're either still out there, or that Loki's found them first. She also must come to grips with her new magical ability, but there are problems with doing so, problems she is unaware of. And time may run out before she learns of the danger she's facing. She also must come to terms with the 'glamor' she's inherited from her mother, the ability to turn heads without even knowing it. But in this sense it's her newfound ability to draw people to their cause, people who feel the call to save their way of life. Too bad most of those people are just average people rather than the trained warriors she so desperately needs. But even the average person can rise up and surprise themselves. Can they do it when facing frost giants? That remains to be seen.

Full of action, and high on emotion, this second book is everything the first book promised and so much more. It's got forbidden love, family drama, teenage rebellion, deceit, betrayal, stunning alliances, revelations to shock even the most stalwart reader, and plenty of hints of things to come. The majority of the action and drama centers on Mist, Dainn, and Loki, however that doesn't discount all the other crucial characters: Vali, Ryan, Bryn, Anna, Orn, Vidarr, Gabi, Danny, Tashiro, Eir, Edvard, and so many others. There are plenty of shocks throughout the book, and certainly not all just for Mist. The end of this exciting read is not only a cliffhanger, but a very thought provoking one. It will challenge you to think of all the different ways in which the final statements could be fulfilled, ensuring the story stays present in your mind until the next book is released. ( )