A CAVERN OF BLACK ICE
by J. V. Jones
Aspect Books, 2000
ISBN:0-446-60817-3 (paperback)
In Spire Vanis, the lord commander's foundling daughter is haunted by nightmares of ice; in the
Blackhail clanhold, two brothers find their kinsmen slaughtered by swords that draw no blood; at a
remote farmstead, a hardened warrior leaves his family to follow a raven's summons.....
And soon, in a deadly wilderness where nature and the gods have no mercy, two young fugitives
must confront a millennial prophecy, as J.V. Jones takes readers on a journey deep into the stark
beauty, cruel peril, and incredible magic of the Known Lands, in the first volume of a powerful new
epic.....A CAVERN OF BLACK ICE.
In the distant Northern Territories, fortress cities cling to barren peaks, fierce clans hunt the frigid
steppes, arctic wastes are the last refuge of an enigmatic, ancient people - and an apocalyptic
destiny has begun to unfold.....
Once in one thousand years an innocent is born with the uncontrollable power and need to reach
across the barrier of worlds, into the realm of the dead - and release the Endlords from their eternal
prison, to annihilate all life.
Now, after the millennium of truce, war erupts between the cold giants of the far north. As the great
and ancient clan of Blackhail brings war to the Dog Lord of Clan Bludd, two warriors are caught in
the bloodshed. Raif and Drey Sevrance are brothers and clansmen alike, but soon cold-blooded
schemes of their new chief will tear them apart and bran Raif a traitor to his clan.
Meanwhile, in the cool limestone caverns of Mask Fortress, Ash March stumbles upon an old and
terrible evil hidden away from the light. Penthero Iss, uncrowned king of Spire Vanis and the man
who calls himself Ash's father, has discovered a monstrous way to steal magic from his captives.
And Ash fears she will be next.
Suddenly, Raif and Ash are each helped to escape by Angus Lok, whose amiable manner belies his
mysterious past. But Angus is acting on the raven-sent message of a distant shaman; there's nothing
accidental about his intervention and his mission to guide Raif and Ash on a treacherous journey to
A CAVERN OF BLACK ICE.
Passionately envisioned and filled with richly evoked new characters, this story is the beginning of
J.V. Jones's most ambitious and accomplished work to date.
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