“Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become.” CS Lewis
I had the pleasure of being asked to do an honest review of Beth Anderson’s young adult, dystopian fantasy novel The Frost Eater; book one of The Magic Eater’s Trilogy. I have always been a fan of fantasy and all of its sub-genres. I spent many hours in my youngest years reading books like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I progressed to Anne Mc Caffrey’s blend of fantasy and science fiction. By my teenage years I began books like Dragon Lance series and the Wheel of Time. While I don’t write fantasy myself at this time, I admire writers who have the capability of building unique new worlds without bogging the story down.
What is Dystopian Fiction?
According to the above article, Dystopia is an antonym for Utopia. In contrast to a perfect society described by Sir Thomas Moore in his book written in 1516, a Dystopian society is dark, impoverished, and inhumane.
Beth does a good job of easing into the dystopian theme in the Frost Eater. Her novel is set 200 years after a cataclysmic disaster wiped out most of the planet Anyari’s population. Anyari is a future colony of earth that has been cut off from its home planet for some time. It thrived until the event known as “the Day.” A mysterious orange stone pulled from the ground unleashed a deadly wave of radiation. It killed most of the planet, destroying technology. The survivors discovered it had also created magic creatures and capabilities amongst the once humans inhabiting the planet.
THEME
Blend of Science Fiction and Fantasy
Beth’s novel reminds me of Anne McCaffrey’s style of blending science fiction and fantasy. One of the things Beth does well here is leaving some information open to questions. I think some science fiction writers feel they have to describe EVERY detail of the science behind their stories. I almost want to scream at them that they’re writing fiction, not a tech manual or survival guide. If I want that, I’ll shop in the non-fiction section, thanks. It’s great to leave some things open to question, even debate. Especially in writing targeted toward the young adult crowd. Beth’s story provides just enough to spark questions like:
- Could radiation have such and effect on the planet? What are some of the things that are considered global killers by scientists?
- How does solar power work? Why can’t they just turn it back on?
- Energy sources—unless they had large animals/plant life decaying millions of years prior, the planet is just not going to have large hydrocarbon deposits. What other energy sources might people colonizing another planet use?
- How will we travel to distant planets?
- What are the challenges of surviving interstellar travel and still being able to reproduce?
- Could we grow food on a planet with different conditions than our own? Could we eat the plants and animals that may already be there?
- What are the consequences of a losing technology once you are dependent on it? Surviving a disaster is one thing, but then surviving the lack of technology might be another.
I’ve mentioned this reference in previous posts, but a great source of information on life on other planets and how many “habitable” planets may exist in the universe is Wait but Why’s article, The Fermi Paradox by Tim Urban:
Her story sparks many more interesting questions about birth control, feminine hygiene products, clothes, many things we take for granted in a modern society when we have plentiful energy. As an electrical engineer, I think her story makes for great talking points amongst young people about not only how to solve this problem if there was no energy, but how much of this do we waste right now on what we don’t need. Many have a pessimistic attitude of the state of the planet and what the future holds. I can understand why. Things are not in the best of conditions. But I for one have hope. People pick on the next generation, but I work with young people on a regular basis, and I see a generation asking questions, rejecting the status quo. These questions are the sparks of ideas that will turn the tide.
SHOWING vs. TELLING
DATA DUMPING AND EXPOSITION
Sometimes fantasy and science fiction novels lend themselves toward data-dumping and too much exposition that bogs down the plot. Beth does a great job of giving out the background behind “The Day,” in little snippets throughout the story. She does this the form of excepts from history written by the first survivors of the cataclysm. This allows her to maintain the pace of the story but gives the reader insight and history. She matched the excerpts very well with the theme of each chapter.
CHARACTERS
Magical Powers or Mutant Capabilities?
“What we call Man’s power over Nature turns out to be a power exercised by some men over other men with Nature as its instrument.” CS Lewis
I really enjoy the Marvel X-men series. Super Villain Magneto is one of my favorite characters. His fears of being exterminated by humans for his differences are founded on his past experiences. In the Frost Eater, this trope is turned on its head. It is the people with magic capabilities that have become royalty, and the people without are commoners. The friction between the two factions is growing.
Princess Nora Abrios
One of the trends in fiction that bothers me is the rise of the “bad-ass” female stereotype trope. In my opinion, this has become worse than the dreaded “Mary Sue.” In the name of feminism, I see a lot of writers striving for the ruthless “alpha” female. She is better than any man—dammit! She is going to prove it any way she has to, with no help from anyone. She can out-smart, out-fight, out-drink, out-cuss and out-sex any man or woman for that matter. Set up on a pedestal, she has a long hard way to fall, but never does, of course.
As a woman who has worked in a male dominated profession for over 20 years now, this really defeats the purpose. I can only speak for myself, but my professional success as an electrical engineer, operator and technician has been my ability to recognize my strengths and weaknesses and continue to grow and develop over time. While there are times insecurity creeps in, my success has had nothing to do with being better than anyone.
This also runs the risk of making a character unrelatable. Unlike Mary Sue or the “Super-Alpha-female,” no one is perfect. As readers, we fall in love with flawed characters and their insecurities that remind us of ourselves. It’s great to have a larger than life character, but there has to be believability.
What Beth depicts in her female lead here is far better. She shows honest character development that reminded me of my own high school years. Was I a beautiful, rich princess on an alien planet? No. But I was young with hopes, desires and insecurities about where I belonged in the world and my future.
The pampered, sheltered Princess Nora has never experienced the true hardships the commoners of Cellerin face. She also has no real friends, which leaves her naïve, lonely and bored. Surrounded by adults in a world where she knows that someday she will face the pressures of running the kingdom, it leads her to befriend the enigmatic Krey. He is a Frost Eater like herself and has talents that no one else is willing to teach her. As her eyes become open to what is really going on, she begins to mature. She also develops latent magical capabilities. While she always dreamed of having these powers, they will alter the course of their quest and even her own destiny as Princess.
Her loss of innocence as she discovers the truth about herself and her family is what bridges the gap to real friendship between herself and her companions. It also gives her credibility that she really will have what it takes to be a competent ruler someday.
Kreyven West
Krey has a huge chip on his shoulder when it comes to the royal family and an ulterior motive for grudgingly accepting Nora’s friendship. He is on a quest to find his girlfriend Zeisha. He was told she left for an apprenticeship, and subsequently sent him a letter coldly breaking off their relationship. Certain the note was fake, he is determined to find her. Even with his mistrust of the royal family and his belief that they are behind Zeisha’s disappearance the slow development of their friendship is heartwarming and believable.
The one thing I would say that could have been done better here was a few more hints as to why he mistrusts the royals over the beginning parts of the book. Maybe more flashbacks to the reason without coming out and saying it (avoiding spoilers the best I can here). We’re bombarded with his anger and his constantly being nasty to Nora which starts to make me resent him. She puts up with it because she’s lonely, wants a friend, and wants to learn more about being a Frost Eater. Frankly there’s times in the book I would have told him to get over it or explain why.* At the scene where he finally ‘fesses up, it is because of the character in the story I like to call “the voice of reason.” Almost like Samwise Gamgee in the LOTR trilogy, this person usually the calm, logical, collected one. In the Frost Eater, its Beth’s character, Ovrun.
*Just to be clear—this is a very minor dislike and just my personal opinion, otherwise, great character development. And I understand why she might not want to reveal much as it might take impact away from “the big reveal scene” you could argue the point either way.
Ovrun
Ovrun starts out a secondary character in the story, but becomes a stronger presence in the adventure as the story unfolds. Nora’s crush, he loses his job as a royal guard for the sake of helping the two on their quest to find Zeisha and the truth. His logic and practicality during the action and tough situations is a great foil to Krey’s recklessness and Nora’s naivety. I really enjoyed the slow burn of romance between Nora and Ovrun. Beth builds on genuine conflict between the princess and the commoner. At first it comes off as just teenage hormonal passion, but as the story progresses, they realize they have something deeper. A real future together may not happen since she is expected to have her future husband chosen for her, and that future husband has to have magical capability (which he doesn’t). This prevents them from acting further on their romance, but you can cut the tension between the two with a knife by the end.
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.” CS Lewis
As the three teens travel into the “abandoned” cities on Anyari, searching for Zeisha, the bond between them grows. They test the limits of their magical capabilities and the bond of friendship. The vivid images of a decaying modern city gave me the chills. High rise buildings filled with bones, crumbling light rail lines suspended in mid-air, and empty streets decaying in the sun were all easy to visualize. While the city is “abandoned” it is not empty. The teens encounter Troggs, the people they have been taught are savages. There will be many things that make them question their upbringing and what is right and wrong. It is clear from the beginning of the story that the government has something to do with the disappearance of the young people with magic capabilities. By the end of the story, all three will have to decide where they will make their stand. With each other, or the life they once knew.
The Frost Eater, Beth’s first book in the Magic Eaters Trilogy leaves the reader hungry for more. Unlike some dystopian novels, I would argue there is a sense of hope that our young people will prevail, though it will be a tough rough ahead. I can’t wait to see where she takes us in the next offering, The Vine Eater.
Thanks for reading my review of The Frost Eater. This week is a double header. Be sure to check out my review of Stephen Coghlan’s 50 Shades of Neigh.
Next week’s blog will be about my upcoming battery study planned for this summer at the cabin in Chicken, AK.
I obtained my CS Lewis quotes from the website below: