'The Anvil of Ice' – Michael Scott Rohan

Once, long ago now, I said I'd review Michael Scott Rohan's 'Winter of the World' series but I never did (I blame a lot of things for that but none of them would be particularly interesting to you). It's still New Year though (well, just about) so I'm going to embark on a New Year's Resolution to review all six books in the series over the course of the year. Six books in twelve monthes... Should be easy? Well, lets see...

Before I get started on 'The Anvil of Ice' though, let me take you back to a time before the internet... A time where if your immediate friends didn't like the same books as you (or in my case, my 'friends' weren't into books at all) then you literally had no-one to talk about books with. Imagine the feeling then of going into a bookshop and discovering a book that just blew your mind. In those days, it was entirely possible to feel like that book had been placed there especially for you to find. That book was yours in a way that just wouldn't be possible in today's world of fandoms and the internet. Or maybe that was just me and I had a lonely childhood... Either way was cool because that book on the shelf was 'The Anvil of Ice', a book that continues to influence the fantasy that I read today.

The chronicles of The Winter of the World echo down the ages in half-remembered myth and song - tales of mysterious powers of the Mastersmiths, of the forging of great weapons, of the subterranean kingdoms of the duergar, of Gods who walked abroad, and of the Powers that struggled endlessly for dominion.

In the Northlands, beleaguered by the ever-encroaching Ice and the marauding Ekwesh, a young cowherd, saved from the raiders by the mysterious Mastersmith, discovers in himself an uncanny power to shape metal - but it is a power that may easily be turned to evil ends, and on a dreadful night he flees his new home, and embarks on the quest to find both his own destiny, and a weapon that will let him stand against the Power of the Ice.

His wanderings will bring him great friends but earn him greater enemies, and eventually they will transform him from lowly cowherd to a mastersmith fit to stand with the greatest of all men.

'The Anvil of Ice' is a slow burner, to start off with, but if you give it a chance, it becomes so much more. At its heart, this book is about discovering your identity (not surprising, given what happens to Alv in the first few chapters) and how doing this can have far reaching consequences that you must own and, if the need arises, look to resolve. Yep, this is proper 'hero's journey' stuff and Rohan isn't afraid to really have his hero sink to great depths in order that the journey out to the other side is suitably epic. If that wasn't epic enough for you, Alv will have to go through a name change and then two more books before his quest is resolved. This is a journey through a beautifully realised world where not is mankind on the brink of extinction but actual gods roam the world; helping or hindering humanity but most interestingly, in the case of Raven, working to further their own ends. It's a great world to get lost in, for a few hours; what I like most is that way that Rohan makes everything so big. It's basically an epic story taking place against an epic backdrop; you can't actually get any more epic that that.

There are of course battles and encounters with the other species of this world (the Duergar, dwarves to the likes of you and I, not only offer an insight into how old this world is but also cast humanity in a new light and make you think about how a world could and should be shared) which give the story a good prod in all the right places. What may or may not be a deal breaker to you though is Rohan's examination of the art of smithcrafting. As a boy, I found the number of pages on this frustrating as I just wanted to make it to the next battle. As an adult (well, if you want to call it that) it has become a lot more interesting to read and once you know the full story, smithcrafting takes on a whole new meaning.in the plot. Starting off with the first book though, it's useful for new readers to know that you are going to be spending a lot of time learning, with Alv, how to become a Mastersmith.

For me, 'The Anvil of Ice' is a book that I've had better times with as I've grown older. A deep rich world coupled with a story that Rohan clearly wants to take his time telling and to great affect. Maybe I wouldn't recommend it to twelve year old me, even though he ultimately enjoyed it, (I'd tell him to wait another three years at least) but I would recommend it to anyone else.

If you have a Kindle then you can pick this up on Amazon via 'Gollancz' SF Gateway'. There was a Fantasy Masterworks edition published a few years ago but this is quite expensive in comparison to older copies that are going for pennies (the only difference is a new cover and introduction by Graham Sleight). However you purchase it though, I recommend that you do. Like I said at the start, 'The Anvil of Ice' is a slow burner but is worth the read.