Cold Magics

Thomas Flarety #2

by Erik Buchanan

Thomas Flarety has magic. He used it to destroy a corrupt bishop who tried to steal all the world's magic for himself. And so far, Thomas has managed to keep it a secret.Then raiders attack the northern Duchy of Frostmire with fire and magic. Henry, son of the duke and Thomas's friend, convinces Thomas to leave his studies and go help. But the church is also investigating the rumours of "witchcraft" in the north, and the Archbishop's Envoy is as interested in Thomas as he is in the raiders.Now Thomas must use all his wits, his skills and his magic to figure out who the raiders are and how to stop them. He must protect Eileen, the girl he loves, from the intrigues of the duke's court. He must find a way to keep the duke from turning him over to the Archbishop's Envoy. And he must do it before the raiders destroy them all.

Genres: Fantasy

320 pages, Paperback

First published March 10, 2010

Reviews

[Leo Valiquette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I dove into Cold Magics right after finishing Small Magics. This is a strong sequel that stands alone, equal to, if not better, than the first book. It continues along as a compelling coming of age story for our three main protagonists, with a great mix of action, intrigue and suspense.

As with Small Magics, the hallmark of the series remains Eric's deft characterizations. You can't help but like these characters and root for them. The plot is fresh and takes the story gracefully in a new direction without seeming contrived or forced.

I look forward to the final book in the trilogy, which Eric has confirmed will be launched in Toronto in April 2015 at the annual Ad Astra conference. I'll be there for my signed copy!

[Laurel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finally finished Cold Magics last night. Have to say that I was completely unprepared for the ending. In an effort not to spoil it for any of you, I will say only this.
It takes a lot to surprise me, but Cold Magic did it.
My only eenzy-weenzy complaint is that it ended rather abruptly, but there was an obvious lead into the next book, which I can't wait to read!
If you love sword fights, tension and adventure, you can't go wrong with this book!

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was looking for a nice quick read to close out the year, and this sure got the job done! The plot was very interesting, which was apparently more than enough to make up for the fact that I was not at all attached to any of the main characters. Despite the fact that I had predicted where the story was going and also then the twist, there were still plenty of surprises along the way, which I really appreciated. Everything stacked very neatly together. This book moved and it moved fast. Plus, it managed to talk about the reality of violence against women in a way that was honest and to the point, (the author presented a lot of 'period typical' violence this way) and was still very respectful and genuinely felt pretty authentic most of the time. Some of it made me bristle a bit, but we did actually get to have women talk about how they felt about the whole thing instead of just hearing about the men's feelings and that was so refreshing. Anyways I definitely recommend this one.

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A worthy follow up

Very exciting, thrilling, chilling. A wild ride with about favorite characters from the first book. Many more books like this and Eric will become one of my favorite authors

[Wise_owl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like it's forbearer this tale wasn't 'amazing', it didn't break new ground in many ways, but it's setting and it's character were quite good. The continuation of a story set i a setting more late Renaissance than Medieval, with interesting fantasy over-tones is really a story about the people, the characters and what transpires in the life of one man. The balance of the story, the characters, the realistic limiations set upon all the characters was quite appealing. So not a Brilliant Book, but a thoroughly enjoyable one.

[Carol Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my second read through of this book. It continues the story of Thomas and his friends. I enjoyed it as much this time as I did the first. I recently ordered the third in this series.