I like the characters in Ian's books. A number of them keep cropping up and some even go back into legend. The books have tremendous imagination and the characters have a gritty reality about them. The clever thing is the plots hold up even though this is his third series. Well of Echoes is still my favourite series, but they are all well worth reading. Some folk may find them a tad long but I like that it a novel. ( )

The Allies are trapped on Mistmurk Mountain and the God-Emperor guards every way of escape. There's only one chance for freedom: for demure little Maelys to confess to a crime she has not committed, though if she does it will turn her friends against her. Nish, Flydd and Maelys have no choice but to venture to the Tower of a Thousand Steps, on the frozen Isle of Noom. There they must seek aid from the implacable sorcerer - the Numinator. But on that tragic journey, they will uncover a greater and more deadly secret.

This is the second in Irvine’s trilogy, Song of the Tears. I read it straight after the first one, and - as always with Irvine - found myself immediately drawn into the adventure.

There is some interesting character development and the story is well-developed from the first book. I could still slap the main protagonists at times, but that only heighens the realsim for me - I'd hardly feel like giving them a shake if I didn;t care about them!

I'm looking forward to book 3. ( )