The voice here is so Eastern European: deeply sarcastic, sort of self-pitying if it all weren’t true. Because of the cold disposition his turn as Old Man Frost granted him, his personal relationships suffer, until he learns that they can actually thrive besides the frost of his skin. The side characters had been fairly well-developed. I found myself thinking about them during long intervals during their absence. The consistent introspection gave weight to the personal touchstones in his life, which is hard to convey in a narrative that spans so many years.

In addition the relationships, I greatly admired how Sidorova omitted greater events of historical history. In fact, Alexander runs away from Russia in the 1800s to go to Persia. He even spends a good decade in the Arctic, trying to discover ice’s secrets and the relationships there are simply fascinating.

Icy in its sarcasm and coverage of smaller political stories mostly set in the 1700s, The Age of Ice perfectly covers the exhaustion that comes with long, unnatural life.