Well Mark show us once again that he’s still on top of his game at writing wonderful characters, great worlds and well everything else and it comes to books.

Set in the same world as the wonderful book of the ancestor series, this time we are taken north to the land of snow and ice, complete with buried cities of the Missing.

Highly recommended to all on here.

Look at that, I gave a Mark Lawrence book 5 stars. Are we honestly surprised? Didn't think so - and not merely because I fall exactly into his target audience. I've loved all Lawrence's books and have been benignly stalking his writer's journey since Prince of Thorns was released (in 2012?) It's always a treat to find an SFF author who consistently delivers excellent books. Mark Lawrence goes beyond this, giving us not just new worlds and stories with each series, but new slants on his own style and perspectives. His books are always entertaining with engaging (if not always thoroughly likeable) characters but they have a lot to say about human nature and topical issues too, without ever shouting it in your face.



<i>The Girl and the Stars</i> is set on Abeth, the world of <i>Red Sister</i>, though this is not the world Nona Grey introduced to us since it takes place entirely on and under the ice of the dying world. Yaz is an Ictha - one of several ice tribes who somehow survive the brutal conditions living on the ice. The story starts with a clan gathering. Every few years, the priests weed out the 'broken' children of the tribes - the sickly, the deformed, the disabled, those who are too quick or too big or have some other irregularity about them - and hurl them down a hole in the ice. Yaz is not sure how she avoided this fate at a previous gathering but is certain she'll be found to be 'broken' this time since she has an ability which makes her very odd by Ictha standards. Without resorting to spoiler territory, it doesn't fall out quite as Yaz anticipates. Below the ice, she discovers a world and a lost city of the Missing she had never imagined. She discovers why broken children are thrown away and what the priests really want. From the quiet, daily desperate fight to survive on the ice, Yaz finds herself caught in a far faster, bloodier battle. Survival will depend on skills she has only begun to discover.



In many ways, this feels quieter than many of Lawrence's previous books. There's still as much action I think, but the focus is very much on Yaz's internal journey as she confronts the reasoning behind a tribe discarding its imperfect children and the uses to which those who don't fit a rigid norm are put. If you want desperate fights in the dark, flashes of brilliant ability from the rare four bloodlines of the Ancestors and intense bonds of found family forged in peril and acts of courage, you'll find all of those things here. If you like Fantasy that borders on Sci-Fi, whereby a race has become cut off from it's origins but there's still lots of advanced tech lying forgotten and abandoned, waiting to be discovered, this book also provides that. What it also does and in a way that I don't think I've ever seen in another sff novel, is meditate quietly on the nature of a universal standard of 'acceptable normal'. Who is to say, after all, that those who are born different, even disabled, are worth less than those who fit the norm? Who has the right to judge the value a child brings to a community? And who exactly gets to say that their rights and choices should be erased? A culture should be judged on how it treats with its most vulnerable members - it's weak, sick, elderly, very young - and if it throws those people away, perhaps its not a culture to be proud of? Marginalising any part of a society, no matter on what grounds, not only alienates the individual but makes that society itself poorer than it might have been.



As I've said, Lawrence never shouts themes or difficult issues in your face, but if you're willing to engage with those themes, they're very definitely there. Don't expect easy answers, either. While Yaz comes throughout the book to a new understanding of her people and consequently herself and her own value, the reader is left very much to make up her own mind. Or not. I think perhaps not having your mind made up on this issue but staying open to possibility, however uncomfortable not having a finite answer is, might be the point. This theme extends into cultivated behaviour too. If you've read <i>The Book of the Ancestor</i> trilogy, then you'll be familiar with the demons of the black ice and the way a shipheart can fracture pieces of a person's psyche along fault lines they weren't aware of. No spoilers but this is more fully explored here and it adds an interesting note to the main theme that discarding the parts of yourself you don't like, does not necessarily make you better. Perhaps we need both, whole and broken, admirable and not so much, in order to be both fully rounded people and societies.



Enough on my opinion of theme. Once again the characters are engaging and believable. Yaz is a little naïve to start with but as her experience broadens, so does her ability to question. It was done so deftly that it was a treat to watch. Admittedly, I've never met a Mark Lawrence character I didn't like - even if there are a few I would cross the road to avoid speaking to face to face. But I really liked Yaz. I loved Thurin (I am NOT happy about that btw!) and I enjoyed Erris. Maya is a little murder poppet and I adored her.



As always the world building is fantastic. This is an Abeth you haven't properly seen yet which weaves in tantalising elements from the previous trilogy. The plot moves along at brisk, steady pace. Don't expect, huge scale world ending theatrics in this book - the story is no less full of jeopardy and high stakes, but it's (currently) told on a smaller scale. That really worked for me too - the world can't always be ending.



This review is probably largely unintelligible gushing by now so I'll wrap it up by saying that the author does not stay his hand. Having made you love the characters, he will then end on a kick in the guts that will have you howling for the next book. (I am not ok...) Highly recommend this and all the author's books.

3.5 Stars

I absolutely loved the Book of the Ancestor trilogy. I fell completely in love with the characters, the world and the "magic" system. So finding out that this book is going to be set in that same world made me so excited to pick it up as soon as possible! Perhaps my expectations and excitement were so high that they became unrealistic and I so I set myself up for disappointment.

The book really does start with a bang. The first paragraph is amazing. It totally grabs you and hooks you into the story. I loved the brutal idea of children being judged by a mysterious priest and thrown to their deaths if they are deemed to be "broken".

The environment of the book is a futuristic frozen hellscape that kills all but the strongest. Mark Lawrence has clearly done his research into life in a frozen world. I really do appreciate this kind of detail and it allows the reader to really feel the cold while reading.

Unfortunately (for me), The Girl and the Stars feels a lot more like a "young adult" book than the Book of the Ancestor trilogy. Even though the main character is actually older than the characters in the first Book of the Ancestor book, she feels a lot younger. The maturity is somehow lacking in this book and I struggled to really like our main character, Yaz. She just seemed like your absolute stereotypical young adult main character. Super powerful for some reason, quickly learns how her power works and to be able to use it exactly when she needs to, reluctant leader/hero etc. The Young Adult stereotype is punched home even more with the classic love triangle trope. I almost wanted to put the book down when the love triangle/quadrangle game into play. It seemed like Yaz ended up liking every single male character she meets who isn't 12. It was just a major eye roller for me.

One small gripe I had was that I did actually get a little confused between some character names that were similar. Most notably I struggled with Elias and Erris, Quell and Quina and Theus and Thurin. I know, for most people this isn't an issue at all but for me personally I found it irritating to have to keep working out who was being referred to.

Fans of young adult distopia style books with a fairly kickass female main character will absolutely love this book but I prefer my fantasy a little more mature nowadays and my heart most definitely stays with the Book of the Ancestor trilogy.

The Girl and the Stars is set on the same world as The Book of the Ancestor, and I'm aware that there are many more stories that need to be told to fully understand Abeth. Not that new readers can't pick up from here. There is no need to have read The Book of the Ancestory.

I've heard a great deal about The Girl and the Stars on twitter and I was looking forward to reading it. The story starts strongly and Yaz is an enjoyable character to read about. The set up of the story is intriguing and not at all where I expected it to go. Foolishly, I thought I knew where Lawrence was going with this new trilogy. There are many fascinating elements and I was really enjoying exploring the landscape of 'the stars,'

Lawrence titillates with fragments of what's actually happening and what's happened in the past (he's a bit good at this) but I found I wanted to know more about that, and less about Yaz and her group of friends. And by the time I was a decent distance into the book, I was beginning to suffer from the same sensory deprivation as the characters. This probably isn't a good thing. My enjoyment of the story did drop away - the relentless pacing couldn't quite make up for my lessening enjoyment, and while the ending is bloody stunning, I can't help but think it could have been reached at least a hundred pages earlier!

I'm still very much looking forward to reading all the books in this new trilogy, but hopefully, they won't share the same setting!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my review copy.

I received an uncorrected proof copy of The Girl and the Stars. I would like to thank Mark Lawrence and Harper Voyager for the opportunity.

This tale is set in the same world as The Book of the Ancestor, yet in a completely different environment. We follow Yaz, a sixteen-year-old member of the ice tribe the Ithca. To progress from being a child and ascending to adulthood the younger members of all the tribes have to be judged by regulator Kazik. All the clans converse at the Pit of the Missing where the judgement will take place. Any individuals who show weakness, strangeness or unaccustomed 'qualities' are deemed to be unable to survive on the ice. They are the Broken.

"In the ice, east of the Black Rock, there is a hole into which broken children are thrown"

Our protagonist Yaz fears the worst. She truly believes she is destined for the harrowing darkness and the unknown horrors of the pit. If she survives the fall. Yaz suffers from fatigue on long treks far faster than her comrades. She can keep up with them as every few days she can touch 'The River' which is essentially 'The Path' which readers of the previous trilogy will be familiar with. This helps her gain extra strength, resistance and power. The regulator can supposedly see into individuals hearts and souls so will surely see Yaz 's secret and she will be eternally banished.

Yaz ends up in the pit as does her twelve-year-old brother Zeen. They don't fall together and most of the narrative is the protagonist trying to rescue her brother. Initially she is alone in the penetrating darkness - it is claustrophobic and builds up extreme tension as she tries to survive and navigate this alien environment. This constructed atmosphere underground was reminiscent of segments featured in Graham Austin-King's Faithless, Jules Vernes' Journey to the Centre of the Earth. It also hads elements that are similar to those showcased in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - especially with some of the monstrosities that lurk in the darkness known as Hunters.

Fortunately, Yaz doesn't spend her whole time walking around alone in the gloom. When a demon-infested flesh-eating gerant (giant) attacks her she is saved by other members of the Broken. It transpires that there are many such as her who have had to brave the drop and there is actually a sort of civilisation beneath all that she has ever known on the surface.

In similar fashion to Lawrence's work that I have read so far, we only follow one point of view perspective. Yaz is excellent lead character. She is extremely powerful but doesn't really know how, why or if she should use these talents. In addition, the ensemble of supporting players feature some of the finest that Lawrence has ever crafted. Examples include the former demon-tainted Thurin, the thousand-year-old mysterious but insightful and insanely strong Erris, and the seemingly shy but capable shadow-weaving assassin Maya.

This novel, as previously mentioned, is set in Abeth, the same world as Book of the Ancestor. Apart from the excellent writing, unique magics, and that the characters are crafted brilliantly, what is presented here is quite different. You can read this without knowledge from the previous trilogy, however; I believe your enjoyment will be heightened by at least 20-per cent if you had. As far as I can acknowledge, none of the characters crossover here. This led me to ask Mark when this was set in relation to the former trilogy. He replied essentially saying I'd have to carry on with the series to find out which makes it intently exciting to find out. Will Nona meet Yaz like Jalan met Jorg? Exciting times are ahead in this series for sure. Luckily Mark is one of the most proactive top-tier fantasy authors currently writing so hopefully, I will not have to wait that long to find out. The finale has an intense and shocking cliffhanger too and I can't wait to see how the narrative continues in Book of the Ice's next instalment.

Lawrence had already constructed a unique and astonishing world with Abeth. In The Girl and the Stars, we are introduced to new Gods, terminology, factions, and emotions. It features but is not limited to monsters, twists, darkness, civil-war, betrayal, possessions, true friendships, and sibling love are just a few of the themes presented here.

This is a exceptional, haunting, claustrophobic take on fantasy that presents some of Lawrence's finest storytelling. It's an incredible and emotional adventure. I have no idea what comes next and I can't wait to find out. Lawrence goes from strength to strength with every release.

I am arriving late to the Mark Lawrence party, and understand that this book is set on a world that he created in previous novels, I really enjoyed the mythology of tribes forced to live on the ice and the idea of a cavernous world beneath. I have seen some reviews from fans of the author who really enjoyed some teeny references that they discovered.

The story is led by Yaz, who spends most of the book trying to recover her lost brother. Her stubbornness and refusing to give him up is rooted in the loss of another sibling which she feels accountable for. While this motive is understandable - it makes for frustrating reading as she charges from one dangerous situation to the next. All the while we are enticed with a hidden city below the ice that barely goes explored and a bunch of interesting characters we want to get to know. Once I got deeper into the story I realised that we probably were not going to get a good look at much apart from the "main rescue quest", as Yaz just wants to find her bro and return to the ice.

The action is relentless, lots of running, hiding and chasing and climbing ropes and people being attacked. This is exciting at first but it does seem to dominate much of the book and I got a bit bored.

I discovered that this was written to be part of a larger series as the book ends on a cliffhanger - this is a bugbear of mine! It has worked though! I'm interested to find out what happens and curious about the world of I am however, hooked so will be looking out for the next book. I also have One Word Kill on my To Read list and I'll definitely explore more of his The Broken Empire series.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it seemed like there was a lot of action filler and then I found myself at the end of the book feeling unsatisfied, BUT! I'm interested to stick around and find out all the things!

Thanks so much to NetGalley, @fictionpubteam and @harperfictionpr for the ebook copy for review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for gifting me a copy of this book to review. This was a hard review to write as I enjoyed the book but it didn't blow me away. This is the first book I have read by Mark Lawrence and I think I will try another of his books.

This book is a lot. It has monsters, twists, darkness, civil war, betrayal, possessions, friendships and sibling love plus so much more. I have no idea where the next book will go but I will read it.

The plot was good and I did enjoy it. I won't say much about the plot because of spoilers but certain parts had me on edge. I found that I read this quickly when I picked it up. The writing and descriptions really made you feel what the characters were feeling. There was action which was fun to read and I could see how the action scenes would play out in my head.
The book is written in a one person perspective and the perspective in this is of the main character Yaz. I liked this, although I didn't connect to Yaz. I'll admit at points it felt a little like a YA fantasy than an adult but that that didn't bother me.

The worldbuilding was a lot. There were places where I felt a little bogged down with the worldbuilding and history of the world. The world this book is set is Abeth which I think is the setting of one of his other books but I'm not sure. It is a world of ice and it was really thought out how the ice would affect everything even relationships. There is a tribal culture, different types of magic, priests, hunters and gods among other things. There are monsters that poses and hunters who will try to kidnap and other horrors that are in the pit. One of these horrors is the tainted that are creatures that possess people. There is also civil war and betrayal in the book which I wasn't expecting but enjoyed.


The characters
There are a lot of characters in this book and it would be so hard to list them all. The characters were well built and I enjoyed some more than others. The side characters are also developed well.
Yaz of the Ictha - The main character has powers she didn't really know about. She can make the stars burn brighter and she masters her power quickly.
Zeen - Yaz little brother. He gets thrown into the pit and Yaz jumps after him. He becomes one of the tainted.
Maya - a side character from the Axit tribe. She was my favourite character and I hope she's in the next book. She is sent into the pit to spy and discover the priests secrets.
Theus - leader of the tainted who wants to regather the parts of himself and I found him to be and I found him really interesting.

There isn't much romance in the book but the love interest is Yaz and she has maybe three people interested in her or you could read it that way. There was some diversity with the characters and there's a mention of a gay couple. Personally I couldn't connect to Yaz but I still liked her character.

I won't say much about the ending but what a way to end the book. I was kind of angry with the way it ended in a why would you do that to me and give me the next book now kind of way. So I think you know I will read the next book which I will have to patiently wait for.

Well Mark show us once again that he’s still on top of his game at writing wonderful characters, great worlds and well everything else and it comes to books.

Set in the same world as the wonderful book of the ancestor series, this time we are taken north to the land of snow and ice, complete with buried cities of the Missing.

Highly recommended to all on here.

Oh my giddy aunt... I feel a like a tornado just swept through my mind! My heart is trying to thump out of my body! "The Girl and the Stars" is outstandingly well-crafted... a tormenting, twisting journey, and so, so, so good. There are characters I love (special mention for "Maya"), characters I hated, and characters I wanted to pick up and shake until their heads wobbled. This is my first Mark Lawrence book, and though I've heard nothing but good things about his writing I'm hugely impressed! I hope book 2 is released soon... I want more!

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy to review. This review is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

Mark Lawrence is outstanding at building a world and inhabiting it with characters you invest in fully, that make you care and want to see develop and progress and that you don’t want to see in danger (not too often anyway) he has done it again with this superlative tale