Rating: 4 Stars
The Ice Lion is a dystopian story about climate change in the worst case scenario. Written by an expert in the field of archeology, there is a ring of truth to this fictional story of the struggle to survive in a frozen world. I found it to be a fascinating and terrifying look at what the future might hold for life on Earth.
The story is set in a future a thousand years off. The Earth is now in the grips of an Ice Age. In a last ditch attempt to preserve some higher life on Earth, scientists have recreated humans from the last Ice Age along with the prey and predators that they hunted and where hunted by. Now these early humans struggle to survive in a world that is still growing colder and is extremely hostile.
The Sealion Clan struggles to eke out a living in this world and predators like the Saber-Tooth Tiger and Dire Wolves are not their only enemies. They complete for resources with other tribes of humans. It is a very dangerous time to be alive.
The star of the show here are the characters. The author made characters that I liked. I understood and identified with them, though it took me a bit to like Lynx. The trials they were put through and how both Lynx and Quiller characters grew as the story progressed was done nicely. At first, I was not a fan of Lynx. However, the author was able to build his character and I began to see that there was more to him than what was on the surface. Not an easy thing to do and I appreciate the subtlety that took.
The plot was fast paced and there was lots of action to keep me excited about what was going to happen next. Though there were not any large plot twists to make you gasp, there were a few surprises that worked nicely in keeping the story interesting.
My only grip is with the world building. I wanted more. I felt the story would have worked better if I understood more of the events leading up to the recreation of prehistoric life. There were a few hints but not enough to slack my thirst for more information. Just a bit more additional information woven into Arakie’s story would gone a long way to making the story even better.
Despite that I didn’t get as much world building as I like, this is still a solid start to the series. I have no reservations in recommending it. Just note, this is not your typical Sci-Fi story and thus I feel it is best suited to those readers that like a mix of both the Fantasy and Sci-Fi genres within the same book. In addition, the book is a great pick for readers of Young Adult fiction. I am looking forward to the next installment and hoping I will learn more about Arakie’s past.
I received a free advanced copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.