Heart of Ice

Dawn of the Final Age, Book 1

By: C. J. Swanson

Narrated by: C. J. Swanson

All power comes at a price.

Miriel is a cold and practical high priestess of Mauvearille, confident in her power and committed to the tenets of her faith, which include the forbidding of love. So when she is sent on a journey to obtain more power by achieving a greater relationship with her dark goddess, she does not even consider that she might not succeed. After all, the mantra of Mauvearille’s priestesses is "prevail or perish".

Tyson is a skilled fire mage sent to the North to investigate the creatures who worship and obey the demoness Mauvearille from within the Great Northern Glacier, in order to determine how great a threat they pose to human civilization and to look for exploitable weaknesses among them. Even though he isn’t sure it is something he will survive, considering the rumors of their bloodthirsty nature and penchant for sacrificing people, he goes for the sake of his people.

When Miriel and Tyson meet, both are offered an irrefutably fortunate opportunity to increase their own chances of success, even as they are left questioning what is really important to them, what is true, and what they are willing to sacrifice to accomplish their goals while keeping their duty to their people.

©2022 CJSPublishing (P)2022 CJSPublishing

Pleasantly surprised

While I was a little confused at the start of Heart of Ice, after a few chapters it naturally progressed. After finishing it, I went back and re-listened to the first chapter and I enjoyed the 2nd time as much as the first! The context and clues the author left along the way made the second read that much more engaging. I'll have to pay closer attention when listening to books 2 & 3. 10/10! 

Amazing fresh take on fantasy books

The author does a really interesting thing with the main female character(she is Fae) she literally precious emotions differently.

Her romantic interest is a human male and it's an enthralling experience reading how they grow to know each other and how their different experiences and perspectives shape the relationship.

It is just as much a fantasy adventure book as it is a romance book.

The relationship doesn't feel rushed, but a product of two characters needing to rely on each other, learning to trust, and the romance naturally developing.

One of my favorite aspects of the book was world-building. The author somehow described Fae as being so different or "other" than humans and yet was able to twist a love story that felt right between the main characters.

While the audible book listen time may be on the lower end, it felt much more satisfying than the other I audible books that are much longer.

Read too fast

Loved the story. The reading was a bit fast paced and lost some of the humor in the reading.