Rating: 
Summary: A reminder of how fun reading can be!
Review: Cavern is the first book in a new series set to be three books long. It is classic high fantasy and very well done. It takes place in a medieval world in the dead of winter. War has erupted between the northern clans and darker days are on the way.The characters in Cavern jump right off the page. I found myself thinking of them as real people. Things they did frustrated me then made me cheer them on. Raif and Ash, the main characters, are very easy to like. They help make a good book great. The plot is well done. It is not overwhelming despite the fact that many things are going on at once. There are many plot lines yet it is not confusing. Although Raif and Ash are my favorite characters I enjoyed every story line. This book serves as a reminder for how good reading can be. It reads much faster than its 750+ pages would suggest. I recommend it to anyone who loves fantasy or good books in general.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best fantasies ever!
Review: This is an exceptionally good fantasy, ranking right up there with the first books of the Robert Jordan series (Wheel of Time) and even George R. R. Martin. The writing is extremely smooth, the pace is quick (most of the time) and the hero and heroine are both heroic and flawed. The story leaves you begging for book 2, though, as the ending is filled with loose ends. The good news is that book 2 is FINALLY coming out in August, at least in the UK (and hopefully in the US as well). This is a horror story as well as a fantasy, so be prepared. A great read!
Rating: 
Summary: decent reading with some notable flaws
Review: The book wasn't very satisfying...It was readable, but the embarrassingly shallow charactors made it torture to continue and I will never pick up another Jones book ever again. Mace Blackhail is easily the most irritating charactor I've ever read in a book. There are similar charactors all over fantasy, but by the time Jones has gotten around to it...the very idea of a "Mace" charactor is extremly frustrating. I also agree with an earlier reviewer that Clan Blackhail are a bunch of idiots to believe the drivel that Mace tells them...Everything he says is just "Aye, aye" and nodding agreement. Raina not saying she was raped for whatever reason was also annoying. Unless you like reading something with a plot a 8 year old could predict, I would stay away from it...
Rating:
Summary: More of the same with some gruesome differences
Review: J.V.Jones is more of a horror writer than fantasy -- her attention dwells on the putrid and painful. Her sadistic and masochistic urges are -- I hope anyway-- vented through her fiction. If this is your cup 'o tea, then buy her books. If not, then avoid them. There are lots of other fantasy options out there that tell the same story of boys with special powers and plucky girls. Somehow, George Martin's Ice and Fire series, which has plenty of pain and anguish, avoids the gratuitiousness of Jones' stories. I don't know where the line is drawn, but she crosses into the purient. Maybe she'll resolve some of these issues and write some stuff I can stomach reading. Until then, I must leave her books to those readers who are far tougher than I am.
Rating:
Summary: What A Difference A New Book Can Make!
Review: After reading "The Barbed Coil," a truly unmemorable and rather stale tale, I was reluctant to pick up this work, regardless of an advanced reader's copy given to me or the sfsite's recommendation of the book as one of the best works of 1999. Since January of that year the book has been sitting on my shelves gathering dust and in general ignored as I turned to more obvious and predictable sources of reading pleasure. In hindsight, the only benefit I have accrued by this error in judgment is that I will have less time to wait for the next novel, which I dearly hope will soon be released. As another reviewer has implied, it is difficult to believe this book was ever written by the same author as "The Barbed Coil." Whereas that book was common and at times self-consciously cute (and continues annoyingly here to err in this direction with an occasional use of Scottish brogue and references to "wee lassies"), this work is well above the ordinary or clichéd work that dominates most fantasy fiction, offering a tale that is complex and written with a skill only barely glimpsed in the earlier book. Interweaving plots with the skill of the best epic fantasists, if Ms. Jones is able to maintain the level of writing found here, this work will surely come to equal the recent work of authors such as Katherine Kerr, Robin Hobb, George R.R. Martin or Robert Jordan. And the author has created a cold and ice-bound world that is largely original---certainly so in terms of the mythic cosmology surrounding it and the deep, oftentimes grim mysticism with which it is imbued. The mythos surrounding this tale is as broad, complex and detailed as any to be found in fantasy fiction, equaled only contemporaneously by Steven Erikson or Robert Jordan. And while her cast follows standard types familiar to any devotee of the genre, the author has made each striking and individual in character, and for the most part has avoided singular or one-dimensional characterizations. Her players' motives are complex, and, like George R.R. Martin or Robin Hobb, the author has wisely given her cast depth and contradictions in character. This book presents almost an almost perfect balance between slowly unfolding narrative and action, and while a great degree of mystery and unresolved questions continue to nag the reader at the book's conclusion, at no point does once feel obviously manipulated or robbed of satisfaction in the novel's denouement or progress. There is a clear sense of plot progression and resolution to this "chapter" of the series' development, and hopefully Ms. Jones will be able to avoid the extraneous and often episodic plot threads that have in part frustrated the most recent offerings by Jordan and Martin, and even more significantly Goodkind. This is a marvelous and imaginative beginning to a much larger work, already vast in potential scope. My only hope is that it does not come to feed upon itself. This work stands as further proof for me that one should not discount future work by an obviously talented writer based upon the false starts or less than fully realized efforts of earlier work. There are any number of new and imaginative and potentially exciting authors writing today---Elizabeth Haydon, John Marco, and Juliet Marillier, to name just a few---that have revealed gifts of storytelling far stronger than anything found or ever suspected in Ms. Jone's "The Barbed Coil." "A Cavern of Black Ice" stands as certain admonishment that rewards are to be gained by continuing to follow the work of newer and more recent authors, such as David Farland or Martha Wells, allowing them time to hone and perfect their skills. After all, first-time epics such as Stephen Donaldson's "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant" are rare indeed. "A Cavern of Black Ice" could easily herald a work in progress that may well become, when completed, a masterpiece of epic fantasy fiction. It certainly shall if successive books prove the equal of this one. I look forward to the second installment with great anticipation, and selfishly wish the author every possible success. And I heartily concur with the sfsite that this was one of the best books of 1999, or, for that matter, any recent year. Sorry it took me so long to heed their advice.
Rating:
Summary: Great Beginning
Review: I really enjoyed this story, the hero is a dark, brooding,character, with a finely refined sense of honor. I am very muchlooking forward to the next book.... This is an outstanding tale setin a harsh and bitter land. Her use of magic in the story is quiteclever and struck a cord with me for some reason. Imagine a personwith the power to kill anyone or anything? Sure it costs him, buthaving that kind of power, it's has a major effect on his development,and I can't wait to see where the road leads. Also I liked herdivision between simple, flashy tricks and the the true altering ofevents, like moving a fog bank being nearly impossible. The limitsare fairly rigid and I like that because it adds an element ofrealism. I mean why be afraid too much if you know your hero has thepower to crack the earth in half if he or she wants? I picked up thisbook based on my enjoyment of the author's "The Book ofWords" trilogy. Which I highly recommend to anyone who likedthis book. All I end with is I want the next book NOW NOW NOW. :)
Rating: 
Summary: A worthwhile read
Review: Reading this book, I kept getting the impression that J.V. Jones has been reading some George R.R. Martin. The Book of Words trilogy was a decently fleshed-out world, but the darkness of the world in A Cavern of Black Ice, the means she uses to fill in the world's history, and the 3-dimensionality of the characters in this book remind me very much of Martin, although he is a smoother, more subtle writer. All in all, a very satisfying read, but it doesn't quite measure up to Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire," so only 4 stars...
Rating:
Summary: Great Book - When's the Sequel Coming Out?
Review: I read this book in one day and loved it! I've read it many times over! I've read many SciFi/Fantasy books and this one is unlike any that I've read so far. I like how there's a lot of detail about everything - the landscape, the characters, and the problems the characters face. I know that there's a sequel at least being written for this book, does anyone know when it's coming out?
Rating:
Summary: Top-notch, first rate work
Review: What a tremendously delightful and much welcome surprise! It is very easy to get bored with the predictable plot lines, carbon-copy worlds, and two-dimensional characters so often present in contemporary works of fantasy. Indeed, one is sometimes tempted to question whether shelling out hard-earned cash yet again for basically the same old drab stories simply dressed up in pretty new book jackets is really worth it. Fortunately, every once in a while it does prove to be worth it -- and sometimes, on even more rare occasions, as with this wonderful new novel by J. V. Jones, it proves to be far more than worth it. Jones paints a world of rich texture and surprising depth. The frozen north setting she describes was so alive and real that I had to put on a sweater to finish reading the book. Her characters were psychologically engaging and emotionally captivating. The story itself is gripping and suspenseful and filled with startling -- though perfectly believable -- plot turns and twists. I've read some of her other, previous work, and while I enjoyed her efforts in those books, this outing is by far her most impressive and skillful production. There are only a small handful of fantasy authors whose work has so captured my imagination by its originality and poise that I have been inclined to read it more than once (e.g., Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" series, George R. R. Martin's "Game of Thrones" "Clash of Kings", and Kate Elliott's "Crown of Stars" series). This wonderful story by Jones has, however, most definately been added to that list. I await with intense anticipation the next installment in this promising and thoroughly enjoyable story.
Rating:
Summary: Top-notch, first rate work
Review: What a tremendously delightful and much welcome surprise! Its very easy to get bored with the standard plot lines and two-dimensional characters so often found in the majority of contemporary works of fantasy. Indeed, sometimes one even begins to question whether shelling out hard-earned cash yet again for basicaly the same old drab stories simply dressed up in pretty new book jackets is really worth it. Fortunately, every once in a while it does prove to be worth it -- and sometimes, on even more rare occasions, as with this wonderful new novel by J. V. Jones, it proves to be far more than worth it. Jones paints a world of rich texture and surprising depth. Her characters are psychologically engaging and emotionally captivating. The story is gripping and suspenseful with startling -- though perfectly believable -- plot turns and twists. I've read some of her other work, and while I enjoyed her efforts, this book is by far her most impressive and skillful production. There are only a small handful of fantasy authors whose work has so captured my imagination by its originality and poise that I have been inclined to read them more than once (e.g., J. R. R. Tolkien, George R. R. Martin, Kate Elliott), but this wonderful story by Jones has most definately been added to the list.
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