Temple of Ice

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Do not presume to be ready for anything…
Pride comes before the fall.

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Temple of Ice Synopsis

Meet Tama, an adept winter mage of Khione, a beautiful, dangerous land. Bloodthirsty monsters roam the frozen wilderness, and the unforgiving elements are a constant. Tama and her friends—Kachina and Masou—are on the cusp of completing their education at the temple where they have trained for the past four years. They need only to do one more thing: earn the Goddess Tira’s final anointing. But to do that, they must fight through hordes of corrupted creatures and endure the perplexing obstacles within Mount Orodani.

The road before them is long and bloody, and Tira’s evil sister, Malsumi, won’t stop sending her minions until she is strong enough to break free of her prison. Tama fights valiantly to defend herself and her people from these twisted monsters. But she will soon discover the real threat is much closer than she initially thought…

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Temple of Ice Review

Temple of Ice is a fantasy novel that follows Tama, our main protagonist and POV, through her fate to complete her training as a winter mage and the events that surround the visions that her spirit guide gave her before her final trial. The Khioni are located in the frozen land of Khione (think arctic or antarctic tundra in winter). Some of their people can use magic to command ice, water and air and the Khioni pray to the goddess Tira. There are also creatures who have been corrupted by the goddess, Malsumi. Tama and the other citizens of Nevesska must face on a regular basis throughout the story, as they come of age and try to find both themselves and their place in society.

As I mentioned, the story is told mostly from Tama’s POV. She is grappling with a lot of uncertainties within herself, but also she is courageous, and most definitely stubborn. Her mother, Shima, has always been hard on her; pushing her to be the best and most adept. Tama also in love with her calm and thoughtful best friend of four years Kachina. Kachina, Tama and the artist Masou spend 4 years training in the temple together and the friendship described by Cura is so believable. I certainly love this found family, and despite the things they have been through together, they will always be there for each other.

While this is a fast paced book, it flowed nicely together. The book takes place over a longer period of time. I would have liked a little more description about the “unwritten” time between the time jumps, however the way it is written does flow and conveys the plot without missing anything. I loved the descriptions of the landscapes. I live in Canada and felt like Christian Cura was accurately descripting what mid-winter looks like here. The world building was great. The world of Khione and its surroundings were masterfully brought together without feeling like an info dump. The magic system and the religion (Tira and Malsumi) were integrated into the plot so well; you really could pretend you were a part of this world. I really appreciated the glossary provided in the back of the book. It allows the desrciptions of things without bogging down the sotry with paragraphs of descriptive language. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who loves fantasy or magic, and that wants a quick thrilling read that has a few unexpected turns…

I would like to thank Christian Cura for sending me a free copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

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About Christian Cura

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