#frozen forest of shadows

[allseeinganalyst]

Frozen II Novels - Review

It's been a while since I reviewed or analyzed anything here. This blog was made for that exact purpose, but I've posted one half-hearted review-ish thing about Mob Psycho and the Nanoha look-back is taking a while.

Part of that is due to being that I find myself in weird mental spaces more often than I'd like. The internet is a hell-hole, but it's also one that's borderline impossible (and certainly very impractical) to actually just sever ties to. I've ditched Twitter and I don't use TikTok (except to look at videos my partner sends me), but I still get, somehow, hit with a lot of LOUD, SHOUTY voices that seem to make it impossible to enjoy anything.

After about three-to-four midlife crises about things (i'm 30 this November), and a chat to my partner, I've managed to get the mental TARDIS that is my mind up and running again, ready to tour the fictional universe and enjoy what is has to offer, getting back into the things I love, without getting bogged down in the screeching of fandoms and social media.

Gods, that was a very long way of trying to say "I read a cool Frozen book."

Frozen 2 - Forest of Shadows and Frozen: Polar Nights - Cast into Darkness are two original novels set in the world of Frozen (Duh.) Forest of Shadows was released in 2019 and I actually read it back then, while Polar Nights was released in 2022, and I picked it up from Target and read it in march of 2023.

To get this out of the way, while it does sometimes throw people off, I am actually a big fan of Frozen. I've loved it since the first movie. It's not my favourite Disney film (that would be Tangled, and whoo-BOY, will we get to Tangled related media at some point on this blog!), it's probably a close second. I love the animation, I love the songs, I love the characters and I love the world. I was even sad when the hype for Frozen died down, and no, I don't think Enchanto is better - That's another LOUD SCREECHY OPINION that I'm not sad to hear less of.

These are obviously not the only Frozen novels out there. I do own "A Frozen Heart", which I've really got to get around to, because apparently it contains some Hans backstory, and Hans is a character I'm really interested in learning more about, and obviously there is a slew of additional Frozen media. Frozen-Mania gripped the world in a chokehold not seen since the god-damn Shrek movies, and it had an effect on our media and culture so great that no doubt, someday there will be an essay on youtube by Super Eyepatch Wolf explaining and analyzing the overwhelming impact of a Disney movie from 2013 and the INSANE fandom that sprung out of it - which I was a part of from very early on, and quite honestly you can use it as a self-contained example of how fandom has changed since then... BUT I'M DIGRESSING.

The point I was trying to make here is that, most of the media released post the original Frozen movie is fairly generic. Baring one or two things, and of course, the animated shorts, a lot of it is standard kids stuff - Storybooks, Quick Reads, Junior novels, picture books, etc. Some of it is really fun, and the art was almost always either a wonderful, bright cartoonish 2D style, or a painterly, soft style that's really pretty to look out - But not a lot of is espeically unique. It's got a "Frozen Flavour" to it, but it's all very standard. If you changed one or two things, you could swap out Elsa and Anna for Rapunzel, or Ariel, or any other number of Disney Princess characters and the stories would be more-or-less the same. Stuff that mum and dad can give to their kids to let them have their Frozen fix without having to endure "Let it Go" one more time. (Side note: If you do happen to be one of those people who're bitching about how over saturated that song is - Fuck you, I'm going to play it again on purpose.)

The point I'm getting around to is that these books, cheep target paperbacks they may be, are not that. There's a distinct world and continuity here, and it's even possible to place a timeline.

These books (I believe there may be a third between them for a reason I'll get too shortly) have recurring characters, direct continuity and callbacks. All of them expand on the world of Frozen, moving away from the generic Disney-Princess storytelling of kingdom mishaps and "oh-no! character X is lost/upset/lost a precious item/wants to do something special/has a special occasion/etc" and into a deliberately constructed world, with a soft but distinct influence from Nordic and Sandenavian folklore.

They are not perfect, but they are worth talking about. Spoilers abound below, for those of you who are interested!

I'm not going to summarize the plots. I want to talk what I find interesting, annoying, curious, fun or frustrating about these books. These reviews are intended as a form of looking after my own mental health anyway. If you're interested, I've given names and pictures of the covers. Go look them up. Or better yet, read the books yourselves and tell me what you think!

The coolest (pun 400% intended) part about these books is they are clearly on a timeline. They're designed to slot very nicely into Frozen canon, and do so very tightly I might add. The timeline that we can establish is:

Frozen > 3 YEARS > Forest of Shadows > Frozen 2 > Polar Nights.

Forest of Shadows leads directly into the events of Frozen 2, even referencing the scene where Elsa wakes up the spirits at the end, while Polar Nights is explicitly stated to be a matter of 2-3 months since Anna took the throne.

During that 3 YEARS period there, you can obviously slot in Frozen Fever, Olaf's christmas special and probably one or two of the storybook stuff released post Frozen. If the (hilarious) "Olaf Reenacts Disney Movies" shorts are in ANY way canon (and... They MIGHT be to some degree, I'll get to this later...) they almost definitely slot in between Frozen 2 and Polar Nights. Again, I'll get to why later.

I believe I am missing a novel or story somewhere that fits into the same timeline as Polar Nights references an event that's a bit too specific to not have been depicted in some form of media, but I can only work with what I find locally. Although I am in no uncertain terms a fan, I only have so many resources and time to put toward things, and Frozen isn't at the top of that list. If a novel appears on a store shelf, I'll buy it. If it doesn't, I go without.

While my thoughts are mostly focused on Polar Nights, because I read Forest of Shadows over 3 years ago. I'm talking about both novels for the most part.

They are decent in size. Small enough for kids to read with no trouble, but more than a short story. Both tell full length, original stories.

These books paint a slightly wider view of Arendelle and it's surroundings than what we see from the movies. Neighboring kingdoms are mentioned by name (including Corona - Rapunzel's kingdom from Tangled. - Again, I'm going to get back to this later), and there are several named, recurring characters like Tuva and Ada, lesbian blacksmith wives (explicitly mentioned as being married) or Sorensson, the Astronomer who lives far outside of Arendelle and is introduced in Forest of Shadows, then plays a small but significant role in Polar Nights. There's recurring references to Aren of Arendelle, the founder of Elsa and Anna's kingdom, and a secret room or passage discovered in one book is referenced and used again in the next. It's really consistent and it makes it feel rewarding to read these novels. I very much doubt that any future Frozen visual media will reference their events, but if the stories themselves can keep a continuity across writers, then that's good enough for me to feel like I'm really in a bona-fide expanded universe.

There's some stuff in these books that I have personally wanted to see since the first movie. Things like finding out how Anna never recovered the original memories the trolls took from her, or finding out what Elsa spends a lot of her time doing in Ahtohallan...

(conjuring ice memories, apparently. Yeah, seems like while she's not going to "drowning depth" again, she is using her magical ice powers to pull up home-movies of her parents... Gotta wonder if she didn't accidentally pull up one of their date nights and then shattered the whole thing into ice shards in a panic once her dad put on the Barry White music.)

The books ALSO give me something that I have held in my head since the very first movie - Anna cracking jokes about her past and her mistakes.

I've always loved the idea that Anna doesn't seem the type to get all "Shell-Shocked PTSD Veteran" over her traumatic memories. That's Elsa's job, so I've always imagined she makes a lot of jokes and lighthearted fun out of it. Like, she seems the type to go: "OH HEY! That's a great statue of me! And I'd know! I've been a statue! Made of ice! Wanna see me do the pose?"

And while we don't get that exactly, we do get her ribbing Elsa about having Marshmallow throw her out of her ice castle, grumbling about how "Hans isn't actually THAT good looking", and generally having a sense of "oh no, I remember what happened LAST TIME..." about her. It's not as explicit as I'd like, but it's there and it helps with that feeling of the world being alive and moving. These characters do remember what happened yesterday. They are actively learning their lessons and trying to avoid the mistakes of their past.

The stories are compelling enough. While not groundbreaking, edge-of-your seat page turners, they both offer an adventure that's very much on brand for Frozen, effectively utilizing the characters and the world. This isn't a story where you could change a few names and slap Aurora or Belle or Ariel in instead. These stories feel tailored to Elsa and Anna. Unfortunately, there's a bit of an issue that I assume arises from being an author hired to write your own original entry into a carefully curated, multi-million dollar franchise, owned by the real world's full on Mega-Corp.

See, while I love the connected, constructed world these novels build around the movies - They do in-fact, happen to be being built around the Frozen media franchise, and Disney have been notoriously strict with this before.

If you were a part of the early Frozen fandom (again, I was), you might remember the sheer excitement around when it was announced that Elsa and Anna, as well as Arendelle and a number of other movie characters would be coming to Once Upon a Time, flinging the universe of Frozen into unexpected live action.

I'm not going to get into my thoughts around OUAT, because... YEAH I'm trying to be focused and that is worth a WHOLE other blog post - which I don't have any REAL desire to write out unless someone BEGGED me to do it, but long story short, given that the show explicitly is alternate continuity for ALL Disney's franchises, it had a lot of leeway in what it could do with it's regular cast... But not the Frozen characters. Although the writers did get to play around creating new backstory and lore, and chopping and changing a bit, there was a strictness to what they could and couldn't do with the characters. They couldn't give Elsa a love interest. They couldn't dramatically change anything from the movie. Characters had firmly fixed personalities that were absolutely not allowed the usual "flex" of OUAT - No extra edginess snuck in, nothing out of character.

(They did have incredible costumes though. Way better than any other live action projects that I've seen).

My point in all of this is, that was explicitly in an alternate universe. OUAT had NEVER had any bearing on any of the franchises it pulled it's roster from, and was marketed to a whole different audience.

These books are NOT. They are marketed toward the same audience as the movies, and are intended to fit alongside it. And it is painfully obvious that Disney holds a tight leash when it comes to ways for writers to interpret their billion-dollar characters. Obviously this is pure speculation, but I would imagine the writers for these novels were given dedicated character bios of characters like Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Olaf and not allowed to deviate or even go into much depth beyond what was listed in those bios.

I say this for a couple of reasons - The most notable of which is the dialogue, and to a lesser extent the character actions. Characters have an unfortunate tendency to sprout stiff, unnatural dialogue, based on certain things that were mentioned in the moves.

Nowhere is this more egregious than with Anna and chocolate. The movies mention her having it as her favorite treat, and she has like two memorable moments involving it in the first movie, but the books treat it like it is NEVER off her mind. If the books mention Anna wanting to do ANYTHING, most of the time, it involves chocolate in some way. She brings it with her on expeditions. She can't wait to get back to the castle and eat some. She has a "choco-versary" with Kristoff, the anniversary of the first time they ate chocolate together. It comes off as a weird obsession, instead of the favorite food it was in the movies. Similarly, she's mentioned as having "Sandwiches" as her favorite meal a few times. Not only is this FRUSTRATINGLY non-specific, it also seems PURELY based on her one line in "Love is an Open Door" and it's callback during her conversation with Kristoff in the first movie... Although to be fair, this did also get a call back in Frozen Fever where we see her be enthusiastic about one, so... whatever.

It gets stiff with dialogue between characters too. Almost every conversation with Elsa and Anna seems to drift towards "we were seperated, but now we are together again, and I love you and am so proud of you!". They'll discuss the plot, and they do have some genuinely great moments (like Elsa talking about the trolls and Anna pointing out, somewhat sadly, that "no, sis, I can't remember, they took my memories as a child...") but a lot of it is re-hashing their end-of-movie "sisterly bond" stuff. It's a real shame especially in Polar Nights, because that is set AFTER Frozen 2. We could have had scenes of Anna asking Elsa for help ruling as Queen, or Elsa observing how Anna does things differently from her, but we learn nothing more about how these two interact than what we already knew.

The other problem that I assume crops up from Disney's strict oversight is that it's obvious the writers are not allowed to affect the world too much. They can play with the figures in it, but can't change the landscape dramatically. This is understandable, as it's unlikely the Mega-Mouse wants some kids novel throwing out a detail that might force them to change how they write the next movie. They're not going to kill off Kristoff, or suddenly give us a Hans redemption arc - As interesting as that would be, the writers need the all clear from Disney, and Disney won't want some hired novelist to make a major change to their giant money making machine which is no doubt shaped like Elsa's head.

This means that, although the stakes do feel real for the books themselves, there's a sense that nothing that happens within really affects the world that much. Characters don't learn a vital lesson or change in any significant way, and those that do are new characters, constructed for the book, who can easily be ignored by the wider narrative - Polar Nights has a whole segment with a pair of sisters, obviously designed to parallel Elsa and Anna, who's past and backstory, and the mysteries and mistruths thereof, form more-or-less the basis for the entire plot, but our ACTUAL sisters can't have a chat more complex that "boy I'm glad we're not separated anymore, also we're proud of each other!"

The result is - and this is kind of what I've been driving toward this entire time - these books give me a VERY distinct feeling, and it took me a while to identify what it was. I didn't catch it when I read "Forest of Shadows", but it WAS there, and Polar Nights has it there in full force.

These novels feel like FILLER.

Traditional, ACTUAL, filler.

SIGH - Quick sidetrack.

The term "Filler" is thrown around a lot these days, often by people that I don't think realized the term originally had a more specific meaning - At least from what my experience is.

"Filler" was primarily a term used by the anime community, referring to episodes of a show that were not adapted from the original manga. This practice was done as most anime, especially Shounen anime like those pictured above, ran almost continuously, and when your airing an episode a week which is sometimes able to adapt multiple chapters from the manga, you're going to close the gap pretty quickly.

This meant that things would be done in the episodes to stretch them out. Anything from lengthening fight scenes, to additional dialogue, all the way up to - perhaps most famously - whole new arcs created purely for the anime. These arcs had to tell their own stories that were entertaining, but obviously couldn't massively shake up the status quo, as they had no idea what would be coming next for these characters and this story. They relied on events distanced, often entirely unrelated to the plot at large (in-fact, rather infamously, Bleach once went to a year long filler arc in MID-SWORD-FIGHT BETWEEN CHARACTERS). Often they would invent new characters, new powers, and often draw on events of the past, or spotlight background characters to create an unobtrusive narrative.

These arcs can, and have, been good. There's nothing inherently wrong with filler, but as TV Tropes says: "These arcs can, and have, been good. There's nothing inherently wrong with filler, but as TV Tropes says: "At their most extreme, absolutely nothing that happens in a filler episode will affect things going forward, even if it seems like a character developed or grew in some manner."

Filler's definition has expanded a lot, and was never really as fixed as I tended to take it, though I still see it used incorrectly. If an episode of a show had the characters sitting around talking, with the plot not advancing at all, but we still learn things about the characters that matter, and have an impact or call back later, or their relationships change in SOME way, then it's NOT filler. In the words of my Media Teacher: "Just because it didn't feature a car chase and a shoot out, doesn't mean it doesn't matter." - Filler doesn't matter. Slow paced slice of life episodes can matter a LOT.

As a side note, to this side note, Filler in it's most traditional sense is dying out, and has been largely, though not entirely, gone from anime by the mid 2010's. Anime have switched over to the "cour" style of episode production, with a season consisting of usually around 12-or-24 episodes (a little leeway in either direction is common, like having 26 or 10 episodes), which focus on tightly adapting one arc or novel or portion of the story. They then take a break, and return with the next season whenever, picking up where they left off. This is why you don't really see stuff running for 200+ episodes in a row anymore, and why something like, say, Attack on Titan has five seasons. This has allowed for MUCH reduction of filler, and virtually eliminated the need for the filler arc. They do still pop up, but notice how today's "big shots" like My Hero Academia and Demon Slayer have multiple seasons instead of just running for a billion episodes like shows such as One Piece, or Naruto.

Though speaking of that, apparently some new shows are determined to carry on the traditions laid by their parents... *side-eyes Boruto*

AHEM. I really need to drop this topic and get back on track. QUICK, what's an appropriate Frozen-related GIF to use to move on?

I fuckin' told you I was gonna play it again.

ANYWAY, so my point is that - despite feeling like we've really entered a living, breathing world, with its own history and people, it feels like we're never allowed to see that world DO anything.

This wasn't too bad in Forest of Shadows, because even though it couldn't do anything massive, it could create the illusion of movement, by transitioning characters from their Frozen selves to their Frozen 2 selves, laying down hints of what would be fully realized in that move, but it is REALLY on display in Polar Nights - The set up involves exploring Anna's first major kingdom event as Queen, and yet, we really don't get any meaningful detail about that. We don't get a sense of how it feels for her to suddenly wield all this power and responsibility when, not just a few months ago, she was more or less the spare princess that could spend her days having picnics with snowmen. I mean sure, there's mention that she's nervous, but it really doesn't go into much detail. She's just "Queen Anna", the same way we saw her at the end of Frozen 2.

(Elsa's also still referred to as Queen - sometimes she gets directly called "The Snow Queen" - but this is a detail I like. It's not like the people forgot or disavowed her as their monarch. The two are called "The Queens of Arendelle" at one point. It's an interesting touch.)

The events of Polar Nights involve a lot of things happening (including major characters losing their memories of each other), but it all amounts to a problem that's easily resolved with Sisterly Love, and by the end of the book, everything's normal. I know these books are not going to affect the movies, but one of the cool things, as I mentioned, was that they did have continuity between each other. Sorensson was introduced as a man of science in Forest of Shadows, and then in Polar Nights, Anna and Elsa go to him for help with something they want a scientific explanation for. While some of these characters might pop up again to be mentioned in the next novel, it's hard to believe it'll focus on Anna dealing with the fact that... Say Dragurs are real, and exist out there, and that things like grudges and nasty legends and rumors can bring unwelcome power.

Some of the dialogue and phrasing is just plain awkward too. A lot of the time, when Anna spoke to Kristoff, it felt very bland, and forced-romantic, rather than their natural, more banter and warm interactions in the movies. We don't even get a call-back to "I prefer you in leather ;)" - Although that may have been pushing the biscuit. If they went any further with how Anna feels about that, the LOUD SCREACHERS might lose the ability to pretend she was being 100% wholesome and child-friendly with that line...

There's another line where Elsa's narration indicates she wants Anna and Kristoff to have kids so she can be "the cool aunt, literally" - A line that exists purely for that one lazy joke, since no other mention of them having children exists that I can remember.

(Though I am borderline certain that Frozen 3 will focus on their child, but again, that's getting distracted)

Polar Nights also avoids any direct appearances of Northuldra. No Honeymaron or Rider or anything - The only other significant characters that appear from Frozen 2 are Mattias (who fills a bit of a generic "general/captain of the guard" role, but that's his job so it's fine), as well as Gale and Burnie and the Water Nokk, who do have roles to play, but relatively minor ones. They are mentioned, but even when we see the Enchanted Forest, it's purely featuring the cast from Frozen, plus the wind and the new plush mascot lizard. Again, it's a shame because beyond: "Elsa loves the fact that she is living free" and "Elsa spends time pulling up home movies made of snow", we get nothing about how the former Queen is living as a spirit. Okay, I don't expect the book to explain about how Elsa hates needing to pee in a bush now or something absurd like that, but when you go from living in a castle to living in tents and caves, you've got to feel more than just "free" right? We don't even see how she interacts with the Northuldra. How do these people, who revered the spirits, interact with one who can speak to them in their language? Who can sit and chill out with them? Who can pop round for dinner? We get none of that, and it's sad, because it would have been nice.

Polar Nights features a mystery story between two sisters, one of whom is said to have outright murdered the other, several fights between Elsa and a Nordic zombie wraith that mimics her powers at one point, a Pirate Queen and her fleet sitting menacingly at Arendelle's borders, at one point escalating to firing on royal ships during a massive storm in an eternal night, Anna and Elsa traveling to a whole different neighboring kingdom, and Anna's fiance explicitly losing his memory of her, and anything they ever did together...

... and somehow it comes off as less compelling and impactful than Frozen 2, where - and I don't want to downplay or insult Frozen 2 because I think it's amazing and obviously it's themes run far deeper BUT - the main antagonist force boils down to "Dam that a bastard-man built one time".

(On that, Polar Nights is intent on reminding everyone that King Runeard was a Bad Man™ and every single character essentially goes "BOO! HISS!" whenever his name comes up. And yeah, the dude was an absolute bastard, and he only gets revealed to be worse in Polar Nights but you would think Anna and Elsa would have more complex feelings than "hate that guy" to their granddad who they believed was a bit of a legend up until the events of the second movie. Still, maybe they genuinely don't and at any rate, unpacking those feelings might be a bit more complicated than a novel intended mostly for kids is willing to get into.)

There's more that could be said, but I worry I've been sticking to the negative for too long. Yes, these novels do feel like anime filler. Lots of stuff happens, but it doesn't really impact anyone. There's new characters introduced and side characters discussed and all sorts of things that really don't mean that much to the world in the long run, and no doubt will be forgotten by the time Frozen 3 rolls around BUT...

BUT

The books are an enjoyable read. They let me return to the world of Frozen and explore a bit more of the land these characters live in. Yes, I wish the book featured a conversation between Anna and Elsa that didn't just feature them rehashing what they've learned in the movies, but it is STILL good to see them together again. It's heartwarming to know that Elsa still stays in the castle, that Anna let her keep their parents bedroom, that the people of her former kingdom still call her "Queen".

It's great to see side characters mentioned, and not just appear once. It's great that these books are allowed to look outside of the generic fairy-tale fare and bring up things like Dragurs and Huldrefólk and, while I do think the Sisterly Love being the solution to Polar Night's problem isn't the best ending, it does FIT with the themes for the franchise and it isn't a re-hash of Anna and Elsa, instead holding up a mirror to them and showing them what they could have been had their lives been but a tiny bit different.

They're good books, and I would rate them:

A solid B

Was originally a B-, but upon writing this out, I re-evaluated and I wanted to stress that I actually really do like them, and I hope they make more. I really want Frozen to be that thing that winds up having 20 different novel series, six comic books, two original TV series and a line of successful movies. It'd make me happy.

That is just about all I have to say on this topic except for:

OKAY SO YOU KNOW HOW I HAVE BROUGHT UP TANGLED A COUPLE OF TIMES AND I'VE BEEN SAYING I'LL GET BACK TO HOW I THINK IT INTERACTS:

Well - We all know Frozen featured Rapunzel and Eugene visting Arendelle and, ignoring some of the crazy and common fan theories (they're cousins I swear it still works if you squint), that suggests that there is a shared universe and I believe these books CONFIRM that when taken in conjunction with other evidence...

Consider that, Corona is directly mentioned in Forest of Shadows, and that would seem to confirm it, but I've still seen that, and the Tangled character's cameos waved off as cheeky Easter Eggs, BUT... REMEMBER THOSE FUCKIN' OLAF SHORTS? The ones where he re-enacts disney movies?

YEAH WELL, in the Tangled one, he has a bit of extra dialogue where he goes something like "this one is for one of my favorite people in the world, Rapunzel" or SOMETHING LIKE THAT THAT SUGGESTS HE'S MET RAPUNZEL PERSONALLY, and...

AAAAAND...

Polar Nights reveals that he and the others HAVE stayed in the Enchanted Forrest before, which gives him a timeframe where he could plausibly tell these stories in universe, AND AND AND AAAAANNNNND:

He also has a short where he re-enacts "The Little Mermaid" which IS CHEEKILY IMPLIED TO BE A BOOK THAT ANNA LOVES in Polar Nights, so Olaf has a REASON to know that story, AS A STORY--

AND BASICALLY THIS CONFIRMS THAT FROZEN AND TANGLED ARE SET IN THE SAME UNIVERSE AND THE FRANCHISE IS GOING TO CONCLUDE WITH AN ULTIMATE CROSSOVER THAT puts Avengers to shame and I SWEAR THAT IT'LL BE SO AWESOME AND--

The Analyst has been dragged off into the night by sensible people. Please ignore his ramblings.

[bigfrozenfan]

The different book covers of Frozen novels

Jen Calonita's "Let It Go" aka "Conceal, Don't Feel"

The Russian book cover of Conceal, Don't Feel" (looks pretty, imo) Title translation: "Cold heart. Another story about Anna and Elsa"

Mari Mancusi's "Dangerous Secrets"

... and the different language versions.

Jen Calonita's and Mari Mancusi's "Polar Nights" The variant cover is fanmade (by HAEA1222 on X), the funny edit above was made by DisneyQueenElsa on Instagram.

This is the original edit by HAEA1222, which i find much better than the original. Was it once even planned in the original cover that way and then they decided to keep the sisters standing apart? When you flip the image of Anna in the final version and move it to her sister, she easily can hold her hand, without much editing. I love it.

Kamilla Benko's Forest of Shadows. In my opinion the first cover is much better because you don't see immediately the hidden Nattmara in the woods, only on a second or a third view. Do you see the eyes of the wolf besides the sisters? They're built by branches.

The Frozen Anthology, edited by Heather Knowles and Mari Mancusi, has only one book cover so far, the picture on the right only was preliminary (pls see my post before, where i've shown the original used for other merchandise).

Elizabeth Rudnick's "A Frozen Heart"

I couldn't find any other book covers for Jen Calonita's "Lost Legends - The Fixer Upper"

There's even a whole book series about one topic: The Northern Lights. Lego even made a little movie series about this story.

That's it for now and i hope i haven't missed one of the novels. Let's hope we'll get a bunch of new books for the sequels, Frozen III and IV.

[puryartist]

One of my favorite helsa moments is when Elsa and Anna had a discussion about the Enchanted Forest and Elsa referred it as beautiful and dangerous as Hans. Yes, Hans, they were talking about the forest and the first thing she got in her head was a man who lived 1000 miles away. How can he even be in this formula? Focus sister, focus!

[simajviews]

Rozhľadňa na Hôrke, Podhorany, Slovakia 🇸🇰

[cloudberriesforaqueen]

"The hotter the tale, the better." - Olaf on Dante's Inferno 🔥

Finally read Forest of Shadows and uh...

Hmmm...

Uh...

Uhm...

Ugh...

Er...

Oh...

Huh...

But I loved the part where Olaf mentions Dante's Inferno though! 😅

"Where have you been?" Anna asked. Olaf wandered from pile to pile, "The village library, listening to a lecture on Dante's Inferno— the hotter the tale, the better."

I can imagine him reading it to his little brothers...

...and maybe even acting it out, probably terrifying them in the process. I wonder how that would look like. Maybe he could ask for Bruni's help with the special effects? 😆

Edits by me! — ♡

[virtual-spell]

Bjorn, Elsa’s Magical Snow Bear from the book Frozen II Forest of Shadows ❄️🌨️🧊🐻‍❄️✨

[true--north]

This is one of the early F2 concept arts. On the left we see Frohana in F2 costumes, and on the right an interesting mountain house on their way. It seems to me that this is the house of that mad scientist Sorensen from the Forest of Shadows. I think this art is from the Iduna's diary version, and having met him, Frohana would have found out that Iduna visisted him in the past, looking for secret knowledge. The Forest of Shadows has the largest number of pre-F2 materials and the most canonical book from the side stories, I think.

[tenshichan1013]

frozen 2 forest of shadows paperback edition 

[renegadewangs]

[ericmicael]

Perhaps my most controversial take on "Frozen": I don't like that KristAnna is canon in "Frozen 1".

I don't think this kiss is natural.

For me, it would have been much better if it had just stayed with the kiss on the cheek, hinting that they could become a couple in the future.

The reason is quite obvious and simple: one of Anna's arcs in F1 is precisely related to her romantic feelings and being "confused" between two guys, the prince she met for a few minutes before agreeing to marry him and the poor man that she met for a few hours... If there isn't yet a KristAnna fanfic of "Titanic", do it. I put the word "confused" in quotes because I have my doubts that she would care about Kristoff if Hans didn't act stupid at the end, but whatever.

This arc ends with Hans for some reason not wanting to kiss Anna and preferring the more difficult path that would need a lot of luck to work (and there are still people who say he is one of the smartest Disney villains, I'm curious what the level of the least smart then). And since Hans didn't want to kiss her and perform the act of true love, she tries with Kristoff, but in the end she also ignores him and sacrifices her life to prevent her sister from being decapitated by the sociopathic prince. And then reveals that the act of true love that would save Anna is an act of love between sisters.

Okay, beautiful message. But then why the kiss at the end between Anna and Kristoff? Anna considering Kristoff as an option for an act of true love already makes her feelings clear and the kiss on the cheek also confirms their future relationship. Was the kiss on the mouth just to make it clear that a kiss can happen for no particular reason other than the will? It would come as no surprise to me if someone who wrote the screenplay for "Frozen 1" reveals that the kiss on the mouth was a Disney imposition because that cliché could not be missing from the film.

But I like KristAnna. If "Frozen Heart" made me consider Hans as something more than an NPC and understand when Jeniffer Lee called him a sociopath, "Forest of Shadows" made me like and root for the KristAnna romance.

In the book that presents the first officially lesbian characters in the franchise and has Elsa making her disinterest in men clear (and some say that there is still doubt about Elsa's sexual orientation lol), the KristAnna romance is extensively explored and especially Anna's initial feelings. Although Anna and Kristoff had been together for almost 3 years, the romance still seemed to have some doubts that end up being resolved in the book. And don't consider this to be a mistake, if you consider the Frozenverse to have very little KristAnna content, most of the time if you consider them just best friends it wouldn't be so wrong.

Sometimes it even seems that Elsa is the sister more connected to the romance and not Anna: we had the quasi-affair with Marisol, the secret admirer and even the man from Weselton who seemed romantically interested in her. Elsa's love life, ironically, has always had more substance than Anna's.

[iseeawesome]

Snowy Sculpture

[bigfrozenfan]

The History of Arendelle: A FROZEN Timeline

The History of Arendelle is much more than just a recap of Frozen I & II. In this video timeline we'll dive deep into Frozen lore that spans novels, comics, podcasts, and more! This video is made in close association with the Arendelle Archives, a group of Frozen superfans who've mapped out the lore and history very well. Find links to download some of their resources below! This video is also made in collaboration with ModernMouse and Josh Taylor plays a new in-universe Frozen character, named Josh Taylorson, a Royal Historian of Arendelle.

TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Introduction 1:44 ch. i - How the Timeline Works 4:30 ch. ii - The 1790s: Arendelle's Grand Reinvention 6:23 ch. iii - April 1812: The Battle of the Dam 7:51 ch. iv - 1812-1840: Dangerous Secrets - The Story of Iduna and Agnarr 11:03 ch. v - 1830-1840: Arendelle's Dark Years 14:05 ch. vi - July 1843: Frozen 17:19 ch. vii - July 1843: Once Upon a Snowman 17:39 ch. viii - December 1843: Olaf's Frozen Adventure 18:49 ch. ix - June 1844: Frozen Fever 19:54 ch. x - 1846: The Joe Caramagna Graphic Novels 22:21 ch. xi - September 1846: Forest of Shadows 24:24 ch. xii - September/October 1846: Frozen II 27:44 ch. xiii - December 1846: Polar Nights - Cast Into Darkness 29:17 ch. xiv - Spring 1847: Forces of Nature - Season One 30:44 Conclusion

ARENDELLE ARCHIVES RESOURCES: Annals of Frozen 2nd Edition The FrozenVerse - A List of All Official and Licensed Works Frozen Canon Talk 4th Edition Maps & Geography Anna and Elsa’s Lost Family Members

Download a high-quality PNG of the Frozen Timeline on Patreon

[puryartist]

Anna sees Hans as a wolf

Hans sees Elsa as a deer

Elsa sees Hans as a forest

[person-of-indeterminate-size]

Reviewing Every Frozen Novel No. 1

Forest of Shadows:

This book starts out very strong but loses it's footing after the first few chapters. The writing in Forest of Shadows is meant to appeal people between the ages of to 10 and 12. There is nothing inherently wrong with the writing, it's just very predictable and the characters don't feel completely accurate to their movie counterparts. Where this book really shines however is with its set pieces. There are some very visually interesting scenes in this book that feel right at home in the Frozen universe, even if the characters do not. As well the action scenes felt exciting and there is a horror motif that was very refreshing for this franchise. Overall Forest of Shadows will scratch that itch if you're jonesing for another adventure in the Frozen franchise but really isn’t anything beyond that. It’s good.

Click Keep Reading for the in depth Spoiler Review

[SPOILERS] 

[SERIOUSLY COMPLETE AND TOTAL SPOILERS FOR EVERYTHING IN THIS BOOK]

The opening was very very good. Starting later that night when Anna and Elsa were 5 and 8 felt off putting in a good way. Having Anna’s parents there in her room sleeping alongside her to protect her and acting very sweet and nice to her felt unsettling, because you know the decisions that they had just made earlier that night. The wolf worked metaphorically as a representation for Anna’s fears. Having been unconscious of the events of that night I thought that her fears somehow knew subconsciously what had happened. She is playing with Elsa when suddenly, Elsa is gone and replaced with the embodiment of Anna’s insecurities which is what will hunt Anna down and destroy her. However it is later revealed that the wolf, even back then, was not conjured by Anna but by Elsa, who accidentally did an inception and implanted her fears into Anna's dream because she was repressing them. The wolf worked well as a metaphor for Anna’s fears but it works even better as a metaphor for Elsa’s. Elsa’s fear of being a monster that will only hurt Anna was born that night and continued to grow as she did. However the wolf stopped appearing in Anna’s dreams as Elsa learned to repress her fears (not good). Anna and Elsa’s relationship felt good in the first few chapters but as Elsa kept getting annoyed with Anna and Anna kept feeling too insecure to talk to her sister I felt more and more annoyed with their characters. Everything in this book could easily have been solved if the two just talked to each other; a trope that's common in a lot of fiction so generally couldn’t be faulted too much but this does take place after the events of Frozen 1. Their inability to talk to each other felt completely out of character. It didn’t help that the overall plot didn’t add anything new to their characters. It basically rehashed Frozen 1 again but with some details changed. Elsa accidentally threatened Arendelle with magic and the characters climb a mountain to talk to someone they believe can fix it, stopping at Oaken's on the way, then cross paths with magical creatures who send them back down the mountain in the false attempt to stop the problem when the actual solution is the true love between Anna and Elsa. True love being the answer is already what the characters learned in Frozen 1. The events in Forest of Shadows supposedly take place 5 weeks prior to Frozen 2. However, where the characters are at, emotionally, in Frozen 2 feels wildly disconnected to this book. One of the failings of this book was that Frozen has always been about Anna AND Elsa. I think this book would have been much improved if we had seen things from both of their perspectives. Not just Anna’s. I do like a lot of what this book does. The Nattmara felt powerful and frightening. It was a very creative creature. I liked many of the scenes in this book. Everything up to the Earth's giant passage under the fjord was great. I especially liked Anna and Elsa’s horse ride/SoYungs Blight encounter and the bold horror scene in the castle. The stand out scene in this book for me was The Ice Skating Scene on the river. It was a very clever set piece and Anna and Elsa actually talked to each other about how they were feeling. The magic in this book felt somewhat generic, and not from the Frozen franchise. The beginning of this book was very strong but the book overall got weaker over time. 

Some missed opportunities: 

The townsfolk should not have immediately woken up from their nightmares after the Nattmara was defeated. Instead they should have needed medicine. Specifically: Hot Chocolate. It felt like it was going to happen. They had set up that mint helped heal the animals somewhat and that when Anna and Elsa had nightmares that their parents would give them Hot Chocolate to help. Because the Nattmara's nightmare sleep was caused by Elsa it should have definitely been the cure. Like it felt so obvious to me but they never even resolved the mint thing.

They should have mentioned a purple cape in the library of missing objects. 

Overall Forest of Shadows will scratch that itch if you're jonesing for another adventure in the Frozen franchise but really isn’t anything beyond that. It’s good.

P.S. Elsa becomes a full on superhero.

P.P.S. Like for real there is this sequence where Elsa is wielding an ancient/powerful sword while staring down a monstrously tall white wolf. Black sand is seeping off of the wolf because the wolf is literally made of nightmares. The two of them are facing off on a bridge, the sun is setting, Elsa’s cape is being picked up by the wind. The two story tall white wolf and the bridge are all that stand between Elsa and Arendelle because the protective Ice Dome that Elsa put Arendelle under has shattered and has become a broken/jagged wall whose shards lay about the ground, and I need fan art of this scene right now.

[jmpphoto]

Long Shadows by James Marvin Phelps Via Flickr: Long Shadows Miners Falls Trail Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Michigan

[trixterdark]

I am very pleased that the blacksmith and her wife have appeared in Frozen canon once again