Three new reviews for Talus and the Frozen King hit the airwaves this week:
Fantasy Literature
Talus, with his Holmes-like attributes, is a familiar character: preternaturally observant, highly rational, super deductive, a lover of puzzles, often condescending (though not, it seems, purposely or cruelly so), a sharp taskmaster and teacher, and quite at sea when it comes to the emotional side of human equations. The twist, and it’s a good one, is that this detective is also a bard, and so is quite free with his words, which are less poetic/lyrical than one might expect, but often are layered in metaphor/allegory. Edwards makes fine use of the story within a story concept, as Talus offers up several tales, none of them of any great length, but all of them having undercurrents of truth that linger long after the telling.
SFF World (review by NE White)
The writing is clear, concise, and the plot moves forward at a satisfactory pace. I like Bran. He’s the down-to-earth counterpoint to Talus’ brilliant mind. The story is (mostly) told from Bran’s point of view and I really sympathized with his plight. The loss of a loved one, no matter what ice-age you may be in, is a terrible thing. Reading about him coming to terms with that loss added a texture to this story that I wasn’t expecting.
SF Crowsnest (review by John Rivers)
I enjoyed Talus And The Frozen King as an evocative and thoughtful introduction to a new detective and series. The setting and environment are the true stars of the book, the harsh landscape doing the struggling community no favours. Edwards writes well and manages his characters in such a way to keep you guessing until the mystery is solved.
Graham Edwards 