The Girl and the Stars
Ratings34
Average rating3.8
In the ice, east of the Black Rock, there is a hole into which broken children are thrown. Yaz’s people call it the Pit of the Missing and now it is drawing her in as she has always known it would.
To resist the cold, to endure the months of night when even the air itself begins to freeze, requires a special breed. Variation is dangerous, difference is fatal. And Yaz is not the same.
Yaz’s difference tears her from the only life she’s ever known, away from her family, from the boy she thought she would spend her days with, and has to carve out a new path for herself in a world whose existence she never suspected. A world full of difference and mystery and danger.
Yaz learns that Abeth is older and stranger than she had ever imagined. She learns that her weaknesses are another kind of strength and that the cruel arithmetic of survival that has always governed her people can be challenged.
Series
Featured Series
3 primary booksBook of the Ice
Book of the Ice is a 3-book series with 3 primary works first released in 2020 with contributions by Mark Lawrence.
Reviews
Popular Reviews
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Mark Lawrence has rapidly become one of my favourite authors, and with the start of his new series - The Book of the Ice - I don't see any sign of that changing any time soon. This series is set in the same world as his Book of the Ancestor, but rather than being in the narrowing inhabitable belt in the middle of the planet of Abeth, this is set on the giant ice caps that make up the majority of the planet.
Lawrence's Abeth based books have been far more character driven than some of his previous work. His earlier Broken Empire and Red Queen's War series followed thoroughly unlikable characters and the brutal things that they did. His Abeth books have been a much more sympathetic take on things. The brutality is still here though, just seen through the eye of someone on the receiving end of it or with a greater sense of justice behind it. Yaz is his most sympathetic and selfless character to date -she is genuinely thinking beyond just herself in most of her actions.
Lawrence has such an easy to read writing style and The Girl and The Stars is no exception to this. The world building and cultural stylings he puts up are refreshing and different, helping to drive the story forward. The underlying menace is there which helps build the suspense and danger.
In summary, this is the most sympathetically written character that Lawrence has made to date. The Girl and the Stars, keeps the dramatic story telling and world building but actually gives you a character you don't feel guilty for rooting for. A highly enjoyable read - it took me less than a day to read this as I struggled to put it down!
“When you put some people together for the first time there's a kind of gravitation, a slow spiral dance as they're drawn into each other's orbit, each opening to the other by degrees, discovering how closely their wants and hopes and passions align.”
Another great read from Mark Lawrence, filled with more of the magic and world building I love. Looking forward to finishing this series soon.
