Icefall by Matthew Kirby

…One might imagine that Kirby’s second novel, Icefall, would have a difficult time matching the quality of his first novel, The Clockwork Three. Darned if he didn’t just do it though. Before I’d even finished it, Icefall was already on my list of top ten children’s novels for 2011 and by the time I was done, as I suspected might happen, it made its way to my top ten fantasy novels in general. And fair warning to all those books coming out in the last few months: it’s going to be hard to knock Icefall out of either list… my nine-year-old son loved it, devouring it in a single sitting. I’ll just point out, however, that I did the same (age 49) as did my wife (age 46). In other words, don’t let its targeted age group deter you from picking it up; Icefall is easily better than 95 percent of the fantasy novels I’ve read this year, in any age category… In two books, Matthew Kirby has, in my mind, cemented himself as one of the best fantasy writers going today. Read the rest.