Beyond the Sea of Ice paints an elaborate picture of the unforgiving life on the glacial tundra. Readers will find themselves immersed in a world where danger lurks in the form of predators, furious storms, looming starvation, and other – less compassionate – tribes. Sarabande does an excellent job illustrating daily life in a time long before our own while developing a distinct cast of characters.

While I thoroughly enjoyed this book, there were times where I felt the descriptions became redundant and I started to wonder when the cast was ever going to leave the mountain and head
“beyond the sea of ice” as the title suggests.

The climax of the book seemed to unravel rapidly – and conveniently – in the final 2-3 chapters of the book. Character development and suspense on certain characters like the “magic man” in Karana’s band seemed to build throughout the story only to be addressed in resolved in the span of a few pages.

Still, the ending brings a solid resolution to the main protagonist’s story and Sarabande does a marvelous job of immersing the reader in the culture, ways and environment of this story.