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Singer in the Snow
by
Louise Marley (Goodreads Author)
On the ice planet of Nevya, people rely on Cantors and Cantrixes, men and women with the ability to channel psi energy through music, creating heat and light. Mreen is possibly the most talented Cantrix on Nevya?but she is unable to make a sound. She is accompanied to her first posting by a younger Singer, Emle, who must come to terms with her own flawed Gift. When the two...more
Paperback, 320 pages
Published
February 15th 2007
by Firebird
(first published October 20th 2005)
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Reviewed by Dena Landon for TeensReadToo.com
In this inventive and well-told fantasy, Marley creates a world bound by ice and snow, where the daily ritual of quirna is all that keeps its residents from death. Those who create the ritual are called Singers, their ability to channel their Gift - a psionic power - and create warmth carefully trained at the Conservatory before they are sent out into greater society to serve. Emle is training to be a Singer, but while her technical skills are perfect,...more
In this inventive and well-told fantasy, Marley creates a world bound by ice and snow, where the daily ritual of quirna is all that keeps its residents from death. Those who create the ritual are called Singers, their ability to channel their Gift - a psionic power - and create warmth carefully trained at the Conservatory before they are sent out into greater society to serve. Emle is training to be a Singer, but while her technical skills are perfect,...more
The professional reviews I read about this series said that it shouldn't be classed as YA, as it's just generally wonderful. Those reviewers are insane.
I really haven't been as frustrated with characters in a long while as I have with Marley's ice-world inhabitants. They're twits. They are brought up in a cross between a cloister and a snobby finishing school, and then are loosed on a world that's been trained to revere them. Now, this might be an interesting construct to take apart, but it's a...more
I really haven't been as frustrated with characters in a long while as I have with Marley's ice-world inhabitants. They're twits. They are brought up in a cross between a cloister and a snobby finishing school, and then are loosed on a world that's been trained to revere them. Now, this might be an interesting construct to take apart, but it's a...more
2 likes · like · see review
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A really intriguing premise--on an ice world, Gifted musicians have psi, which warms and protects large, communal Houses from dying of the deep cold. She does a nice job of worldbuilding, using foreign-sounding words to indicate unique animals and cultural events (for instance, every night there is a hot bath with a special name; the mandatory nightly warming ceremony is called a "quirinha", IIRC), and has a couple of characters with interesting conflicts (like Mreen, a Gifted who cannot speak,...more
Ugh, this was immensely unsatisfying.
Let me start by saying that the author's prose is lovely. The characters are well-written and consistent. The world-building is intriguing. But the plot? The story? The character development?
The only real tension in the story (view spoiler) is completely ignored. It's never resolved. The plot point that the author orchestrated to be the main conflict however, fell flat. Everything was tied up too neatly, too quickly, too easily. (...more
Let me start by saying that the author's prose is lovely. The characters are well-written and consistent. The world-building is intriguing. But the plot? The story? The character development?
The only real tension in the story (view spoiler) is completely ignored. It's never resolved. The plot point that the author orchestrated to be the main conflict however, fell flat. Everything was tied up too neatly, too quickly, too easily. (...more
I bought this for a dollar because I thought the introducing line of the summary, "On the ice planet of Nevya, music is a matter of life and death," was very interesting. However, I was afraid it would not be good because it had been marked down so many times.
I don't get why it was marked down!! I loved it!! Sometimes, the foreign vocabulary threw me off a few times, but that was because I'd neglected to read the glossary. I loved the characters, and I thought the idea of channeling psi energy t...more
I don't get why it was marked down!! I loved it!! Sometimes, the foreign vocabulary threw me off a few times, but that was because I'd neglected to read the glossary. I loved the characters, and I thought the idea of channeling psi energy t...more
A marvelously crafted world with real danger lurking ominously about! I love this sort of thing. The characters struggle with some heavy situations, particularly in regards to family and coming of age. It can be a bit difficult to read for the truly sensitive, and those who love happy endings might be the tiniest bit disappointed. The bittersweetness of it, though, is touching, and considering the darkness of Luke's storyline, it's appropriate. He's going to carry this with him forever, and so i...more
I loved this book. It's especially great to read on a cold winter's night sitting by the fire. The characters all had personal conflicts to battle and interesting pasts that wove the story together. The book was hard to put down. Louise Marley's writing style, characters and plot reminded me of Shannon Hale and her Bayern book series which I also loved. This is the first book I've read by Louise Marley and I look forward to reading more.
The book was a pretty quick read, but learning the book's vocabulary was a bit tedious. It was hard to start due to not knowing the language, but as the book progresses it becomes easier to remember the vocabulary. The story-line was alright, but it could have been a little bit better and the reader could have learned more about the character's backgrounds. It wasn't that great.
Thank heavens I have a little bit of music training or else I might have been lost with this one. It was a fun and simple story.
Jun 27, 2011
Summer
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
beach read
Recommended to Summer by:
synopsis
Shelves:
teen-fiction,
fantasy
Reminiscent of Anne McAffree's Dragon Song/Dragon Singer. Good summer read to keep you cool.
Sep 05, 2012
Kayla
added it
i think this book was interesting. Very good though....
Jul 24, 2012
Katrina Sutton
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
teen-fantasy,
want
I read this book a couple of time from my local library and just love the story. I am a huge fan of fantasy and mythical times intertwined with magic. I gave it 5 stars because it was smooth from start to bottom.
the first time i read this book i cried my eyes out and stayed up until midnight just to read it.
Jun 16, 2013
Chanika
marked it as to-read
Jun 08, 2013
Andrea
marked it as to-read
May 04, 2013
Camille Silva
marked it as to-read
Apr 29, 2013
Sola
marked it as to-read
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Louise Marley, a former concert and opera singer, writes stories of the fantastic. Sometimes set in the past, sometimes in the future, and often in a curious present, her novels tend to be feminist, often musical, occasionally dark, but always with compelling, colorful, and complex characters. Louise is in demand as a teacher of writing workshops for adults and young adults.
More about Louise Marley...
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