The Girl and the Stars

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

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 was lucky enough to receive an advanced copy of this book via Netgalley so massive thanks to the publisher for giving me the opportunity to write this review.

I’ve been a Mark Lawrence fan for a number of years and it was with a smug sense of satisfaction I devoured his latest offering. However, I did approach it with slight trepidation because I found it difficult to get into The Book of the Ancestor series (even though on paper it is right up my street). And whilst TGATS is set in the same world as BotA, I did not struggle in the slightest to make sense of what was going on.

The book takes place in a cruel, ice-covered world where small tribes make their living in the blistering cold and weakness of any sort usually means death. Every few years, the clans gather at the mouth of a gaping pit and any children perceived to be ‘broken’ are mercilessly tossed away. Yaz has lived her past few years knowing she will be thrown aside but when the unspeakable happens, she will do whatever it takes to save the people she holds dear. Even if it means destroying her own future in the process.

However, things in the darkness are not what they seem. A war has been brewing beneath the ice, and Yaz has the power to make everything shatter.

Firstly, I absolutely LOVED this book. I seriously could not stop thinking about it once I’d finished. Secondly, it was not what I expected. Given the title and the blurb my initial thought was this might not be adult fantasy. I mean, it’s a girl from a grim world who has a special power that can change everything and has no fewer than three love interests. So far, so YA. But oh, is that a severed head?

TGATS definitely reads like a grown-up fantasy, and honestly that is one of my favourite things about it. Stylistically, the book is a work of art and each chapter is crafted with so many overlapping layers of suspense you will be ‘one more chaptering’ until you’ve finished the story. And oh my God, THE END OF THE BOOK. I had to sit quietly for a while just to get over it.

The characters are unique and interesting and I found myself really caring for some of them amongst the peril (so, so much peril). I was a big fan of Thurin in particular given his past, which I won’t spoil here given this is a review of an ARC. Suffice it to say, in the whole love...quadrangle? TGATS has going for it, I know who I want to win.

The world-building, as always, is beyond reproach. Mark should do one of those Masterclasses on Youtube about painting a realistic setting. Having recently read a very poor example of this in another 2020 release, it has never been more prevalent in my mind the importance of surrounding and, honestly, a bit of common sense.

There is almost like an algorithmic trend in fantasy at the moment, where one thing does well and a catalogue of increasingly dull clones floods the shelves for the next three years. I understand this is speculative fiction, and that we are reading about magic or space or underdog heroes over and over. And yet, every time I read Mark Lawrence I am reminded that wondrously unique stories exist. That we needn’t even subvert tropes to create something enjoyable and new.

So on that note (and before I put a bounty on anyone who dares give The Girl and the Stars anything less than five glowing stars), do yourself a favour and get it pre-ordered.

This is the type of book that goes straight to the top of the reading pile.

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.

A great Sci-Fi/fantasy story. Children who are different in some way are thrown down into a pit once a year. All is not as it seems in this fascinating story. Non stop action, great imagination and interesting characters. The ending wasn't quite what I had hoped but leaves an opportunity for a sequel. Loved it!

Received from Harper Voyager and Netgalley for honest read and review.
As you know I have read a lot of Mr Lawrence's work and this is the start of another series set in his fabulous world.
We follow Yaz and her trials and tribulations on the Ice. For her to survive shE has to live and learn thing differently than she is used to.
This had a flow to it that I have come to depend on from Mr Lawrence and he did not disappoint.

Yaz is another brilliant character along with Nona,and this looks as if it is going to be a great series and I cannot wait to read more.Soon

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.

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.

I am going to make a confession: I have yet to finish reading the Book of the Ancestor trilogy. In fact, I have only read Red Sister - oops. I have every intention of getting to them eventually, maybe even this year. Fortunately for me, it is not required reading to understand this book despite the shared world.
We follow Yaz, a teenage member of one of the ice tribes where any defect or variation from the norm sees children thrown down into a big dark icy hole in the belief that they would weaken the tribe and threaten its survival. I think it should be fairly obvious where this story is going. And, as it turns out, death is not necessarily waiting at the end of that dark tunnel.
The world both on and below the ice is brilliantly created and described - the monotony and struggle of surviving on the vast ice sheets, and the exploring of the world lost beneath the spreading ice. You can really feel the wonder at the amazing sights and ruins, the claustrophobia of the tight, dark spaces, and the blood-pulsing fear of what's lurking in the dark.
I loved the characters, their interactions and their shared and differing struggles.
I can't wait to find out where this is all heading and schemes our characters will have to fight.

This little book about the ice on Abeth came at just around the right time. I was going to stop in the middle but I could not put it down when I did reach that point. There just was no going back. I was hooked.

The Girl and the Stars is set in the same world as Mark Lawrence previous trilogy Book of the Ancestor. The ice has been touched upon in those books and I really wanted to learn more about it.However you do not need to have read that trilogy to be able to read this book. It stands fine on its own. You might catch some things here and there if you have but there is really no overlap except the same world.

Yaz is our main character and one who thinks that because of her magical abbility is weak. On the ice there is no error for weakness and so those deemed weak are thrown down the hole. Beware when going in that this does include dissabilities as well. She expects to be culled at the meeting they are going to. Instead it is her brother that gets seen as weak and pushed down the hole. On impulse she jumps after him and discovers that there is more to the 'weak' than all the ice clans above ground think.

Not all the weak die. In fact, they are being used. She learns about her powers, about the strange city below the ice that seems to have created some metalic creatures. There are demons that possess others. Honestly, this has a lot of elements I loved. An ice cold setting and a mystery city that we learn about. I love it when we learn about the history of a world. I hope that in the next installment we learn even more about this all and how it all fits into the timeline with the Book of the Ancestor too.

The story whirls through, not taking many stops along the way for you to catch your breath. I loved every minute of it