#ice crypt

[trainerjames-reads]

Ice Crypt (Mermaids of Eriana Kwai #2) by @tianawarner (my book review)

Note: This review is from my Goodreads account back when I originally read the book in 2016 and I still stand by it.

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Have you ever read a book or watched a movie or played a video game and thought to yourself, 'I could stay in this world forever?' Upon finishing Ice Massacre by Tiana Warner, that is exactly how I felt with the world she had created. The story was gripping, the characters felt real, and despite being a male and probably one to be lured to my death by the mermaids, I wanted to be on that ship with those girls battling those sea demons for Eriana Kwai! Ice Crypt takes all the pros from Ice Massacre and tells an even more amazing story, this time with not only Meela’s point-of-view, but with Lysi’s as well.

Ice Crypt is a return to Tiana Warner’s wonderfully crafted world. It’s been two weeks since the Massacre from the first book and Meela has been ordered by King Adaro, the king of the merpeople, to find the Host of Eriana and in return he will give her Lysi. Unfortunately, Meela doesn’t know where or what this host even is. With the help of a few of her friends, Meela becomes wrapped up in a detective story wherein she must uncover clues as to the location of the Host of Eriana. It’s thrilling and gripping and with each passing chapter you find yourself wanting to know more about Meela, her people, her island, and all of the history that comes with it.

Along with Meela’s story, now we get a look into Lysi’s life and what it’s like to be a mermaid. For as excited as I was to return to this world--to return to Meela--Lysi’s point-of-view and her story was what intrigued me most. Lysi’s story starts where it ended in Ice Massacre. King Adaro has her locked away as per his agreement with Meela to find the Host of Eriana. However, Lysi is feisty, fierce, and determined and no one is going to hold her from getting back to Meela, or so she thinks. Being the king of the merpeople, King Adaro has many loyal subjects all throughout the Pacific, but when Lysi is taken to the South Pacific army, she runs into an old friend, Spio, and discovers a treacherous plot that if gone wrong could get her killed.

Reading Lysi’s chapters and seeing Warner’s exquisite attention to detail and the care she put into making her mermaid come to life had me thinking more than just once that perhaps if mermaids truly are real, then maybe Tiana Warner is in fact one of them. Everything about Lysi made sense to me: the way she moved in the water, the way she interacted with other merpeople and other sea creatures, her struggles and her emotions, it just all felt natural which is a testament to Warner’s incredible expertise at writing.

The supporting characters are also a treat! It's nice to have Annith back along with Blacktail and Tanuu and while I wasn't expecting to like Tanuu all that much, he grew on me. Some new supporting characters include Spio, Coho, Nobeard, Pontus, and Junior--all friends of Lysi. They add more humor to the story which I'll be getting to momentarily, but more importantly they all feel real. The camaraderie between Meela, Annith, Blacktail, and Tanuu and Lysi, Spio, Coho, Nobeard, Pontus, and Junior is a real treat and adds more scope to the overall story.

Something Warner adds to Ice Crypt that I felt I missed from Ice Massacre is the humor. This story isn’t a comedy by any means, but when you have a story as dark and as atmospheric as Ice Massacre it’s nice to balance it with a bit of humor every once in a while and Ice Crypt does just that! There are several lines all throughout the book that had me laughing at just right times, especially a little scene involving Tanuu, Meela, and getting Meela out of her pants. Warner knows how to use her characters to tap into your emotions and she knows when to make you smile, laugh, when to feel upset, when to feel anger, and she does it spectacularly.

Ice Crypt will reel you in from the start of chapter one and have you enjoying every moment until the end. Warner does a beautiful job of continuing her story with the characters you loved from the first book while also adding in new characters to have you fall in love with as well. With action, adventure, romance, some humor, and a few twists along the way, Ice Crypt has me excited and looking forward to the third book in the Mermaids of Eriana Kwai series.

The strongest of recommends!

Para la reina!

-My rating: 5/5 stars

[freckled-lili]

Ice Crypt: *(describes mermen as being ugly/monstrous in comparison to the more humanoid and beautiful mermaids)*

Me, a Disaster Bisexual Beauty-and-the-Beast /Monster-Romance Fan: lol I’d still tap that.

[fanofspooky]

Scream King - David Warner

[ilreleonewikiart]

Alysanne and Alaric in the crypt of Winterfell

for @targaryen_the on twitter

[ilustrandocanciondehieloyfuego]

04_Juego de tronos_Eddard I

—Juré matar a Rhaegar por esto —dijo el rey después de tocar la mejilla de la estatua y acariciar la piedra áspera como si ésta tuviera vida.

  —Y lo hicisteis —señaló Ned.

  —Sólo una vez —dijo Robert con amargura.

  Se habían enfrentado en el vado del Tridente, en el centro mismo de la batalla, Robert con su maza y su enorme yelmo astado, el príncipe Targaryen con su armadura negra. Llevaba en la coraza del pecho el dragón de tres cabezas de su Casa, todo recubierto de rubíes que refulgían a la luz del sol. Las aguas del Tridente enrojecieron en torno a los cascos de sus corceles mientras ellos cruzaban las armas una y otra vez, hasta que por último un golpe de la maza de Robert destrozó el dragón y el pecho que había debajo. Cuando Ned llegó al lugar, Rhaegar yacía ya muerto en el río, y hombres de ambos ejércitos se zambullían en las aguas turbias para buscar los rubíes que se habían desprendido de la armadura.

  —Lo mato cada noche en mis sueños —admitió Robert—. Pero un millar de muertes siguen siendo menos de lo que merece.

[kaoribriefs]

“Jon. The thought of Jon filled him will an immeasurable sense of regret. If only he could see the boy again. Talk to him. Explain things.”

-Eddard Stark, AGOT

[ufogoo]

pip... pippa ingellvar... never posted her final look.... look at my queen

[formulas-fatal-to-your-mom]

[jonsnowunemploymentera]

There’s something so…gorgeous about how the story of Vermax laying dragon eggs in the crypts of Winterfell works as piece of symbolism. It doesn’t really matter if physical dragon eggs exist down there imo because this story adds so much meaning to Jon’s status as a hidden dragon and also his status as one of the last remaining scions of House Targaryen. Plus it does a lot to contextualize how Ned’s action of saving his nephew’s life is in line with centuries old magic, even though he never intended it to be such.

Because Jace and Cregan quite famously made a pact which was called the “Pact of Ice and Fire”, in which they promised to join their houses through the union of marriage. We also have the canonical representation of Starks as 🧊 and Targaryens as 🔥. Two opposing sides that could do harm to each other have decided to come together through marriage and procreation. Through this pact comes a new life that will be a balanced union of ice and fire.

Then we get the story of Vermax laying eggs in the Winterfell crypts. An act that symbolizes the continuation of life. It’s so interesting because we know how this story ends. We know that after this, the dragons will die and will be no more in Westeros….BUT there’s the exception of the eggs in Winterfell. They may be unhatched but they are like a promise of life. And it’s Winterfell’s crypts that keep them hidden from danger and Winterfell’s heated walls that cover them.

What’s even more gorgeous is that this pact is made in a period of civil war that threatened the survival of the Targaryen dynasty. And like… isn’t that Jon Snow’s life story?! He was born at the tail of of Robert’s rebellion which saw the death of the Targaryens. Aerys and Rhaegar (and Rhaegar’s children were dead). A child Viserys, Rhaella, and an unborn Dany were all that was left of the Targaryen legacy.

And then comes the unexpected Jon Snow. Born of the union of Stark and Targaryen, ice and fire. Ice and fire were on opposing sides in the war and killed each other. But then comes Jon Snow to mend that rift and heal that divide. He is born after a period of death to represent new life and new beginnings. He’s just a little baby but he symbolizes so much!

It’s why I think Jon serves better as a symbol of spring and not winter. Because everything about him represents the promise of life after death: born at the end of a civil war, him being represented by a winter rose, him being symbolized as the corn king (a mythical figure who represented the cycle of life and death), his presumed death at the end of ADWD but the promise that he will be resurrected, etc.

And then we have Ned Stark being the unwitting proxy to his ancestor Cregan. Ned took this dragon egg and hid him away within Winterfell’s walls. Then he took Jon’s mother and also placed her in the crypts. It’s no wonder that Jon has so many strange dreams regarding the crypts. Symbolically, the secret of his birth being hidden away in the crypts ties in quite nicely with Vermax’s hidden dragon eggs. In both cases, a symbol of Targaryen life is hidden within the walls of the Winterfell crypts. Then there’s Summer’s strange vision of a winged serpent as Winterfell burned. Many fans has often wondered what this vision meant. I’m not sure either, but it would be a nice touch if this is a symbolic representation of Jon Snow. As it was with Summer’s vision, Jon is the dragon that has hatched and left the confines of Winterfell’s walls, and he is ready to do some damage.

[mechahero]

//Pondering something for a moment here but what if I made a comm.unity?

[accultant]

oh, it's dark down here, isn't it? (from Wyll)

“Very observant. Cold, too,” Iago grumbles their complaint, only emerging from their bundled cloak far enough to cast a spell of light on an outstretched hand. Their illuminated surroundings do very little to quell the rising anxiety, highlighting just how close all the walls seem.

Unlucky as always, they had been standing just close enough to Wyll that they went tumbling into the collapsed underground catacomb together. They only had a few scrapes, but the two were solidly trapped and would likely have to spend some time traversing the decrepit mausoleum to find a way back out.

“Is now a good time to mention I have the tendency to see dead people? How do you feel about ghosts, brave Blade of Frontiers?”

[freckled-lili]

Just finished Ice Cyrpt, and now I’m experience that vibrating high I get when I finish a piece of media and can’t focus on anything else because all my brain wants to do is think about what I just finished.

It was so good. Now I want to read the 3rd book, but I don’t have it. 😭

[visenyaism]

Because you've been talking about Jacaerys, that reminds me of a passage from Fire and Blood that really stood out to me. There's the possibility that Vermax laid eggs while at Winterfell apparently? Do you think there might be dragon eggs in the Winterfell crypts? I feel like the crypts of Winterfell are vast and mysterious, so why not. But I love dragons so I'm biased.

let’s see here. i feel pretty neutral towards dragons but i appreciate a good egg hunt. I’m just not sure what they would like. do with them other than the classic “hidden dragons underneath winterfell? who could imagine such a thing? am i right jon snow?” the others are coming in like a month and a half who has time to find and hatch them. verdict: of course i have dragon eggs cregan i just threw them into the crypts during one of my dark moods

[classicasongoficeandfire]

Meera Reed by Thaldir

[hostiae]

( @esoterium asked: ❛ i had it under control. you didn’t need to do that. ❜ (Louis to Armand—is novel okay? I only know them. I…yep! Love me! It’s been 84 years since I wrote Lous! You can use show Armand tho! Catch me up??? If you want!) )

for a moment, armand is still — listening to the sounds of the dismissed vampire's footsteps as they create distance. he could have predicted what was said next, just as quickly as he can write it off. it doesn't matter. he turns back to face him with deliberate slowness. he locks onto louis, the amber hue of his dark eyes catching the candlelight.

❝ did you? ❞ it's rhetorical. armand excuses louis's protests as little more than a younger vampire's clinginess to pride and he does nothing to disguise the disbelief clear in his expression, eyebrows raising with question, and the compassionate ( sympathetic, not pitying ) exhale that follows. he perceives him as almost-human in sensitivity, in the emotions that drive him — he's fascinated. and with it, he yearns to shield, to protect ( to keep him ).

they have so much they could learn from one another.

louis isn't the same as those within his coven. he's so severed from the old ways, born detached — completely of the new world. armand craves a deeper understanding, something to light him from the inside out again. the giddiness of the macabre dramatics of the theater was beginning to wane. and if armand senses any discord between him and any of the others, he won't hesitate to intervene. did he know how easily he'd turn them to ash for him? all that he built leveled for one.

❝ that isn't what i saw. ❞

it should be proof of the devotion he was willing to offer. crossing closer, it's as if he barely touches the floor, eyes locked on louis's, standing a breath away. ❝ why do you refuse my help? ❞

[gbhbl]

Live Review: Frozen Soul with Creeping Death, Foreseen and Overthrow at The Underworld, Camden, London (12/02/2024)

Its a chilly Monday night in London and things are about to get a lot colder as we head to The Underworld to check out the icy death metal outfit, Frozen Soul. The Texas based band are a few dates into a huge European tour and this is the first of 5 shows here in the UK with Bristol, Manchester, Glasgow and Birmingham next in line before they head to mainland Europe. Well known for their…