The Ice Lion

April 12, 2021
With this engrossing series launch, Gear (Cries from the Lost Island) conjures a vivid postapocalyptic world. It’s been almost 1,000 years since glowing green zyme covered the oceans and Earth iced over. Now the world is divided between the Sealion people and the Rust people, enemy factions spurred on in their enmity by the Dog Soldiers. Friends Quiller and Lynx are Sealion people. After lions attack and kill Lynx’s wife but leave Lynx mysteriously untouched, Quiller must save the hapless Lynx from being exiled for his cowardice. She does so by convincing their community that Nightbreaker, a legendary giant lion, must have chosen Lynx for some special purpose. Instead of exile, Lynx is ordered on a quest to find Nightbreaker and learn why he was spared. Quiller promises to join him, only to be assigned to a scouting party instead, leaving her torn between her desire to protect Lynx and her duty to her children, who will be threatened if she disobeys. Meanwhile, Lynx encounters elderly Dr. John Arakie, who, impossibly, seems to be a survivor of pre-zyme society, and his quest takes a turn as he learns the truth of how his homeland came to be. This mesmerizing adventure through a world destroyed by climate change is sure to have readers hooked. Agent: Matt Bialer, Sanford J. Greenburger Assoc.

May 15, 2021
In Gear's new climate fiction novel, the Sea Lion people struggle to survive amid a dangerous ice age. A man named Lynx is unable to do anything when his new wife is murdered by lions on his wedding night; he is cast out for his cowardice, sent to discover what the white-faced big lion Nightwalker wants from him. Meanwhile, young, bold woman Quiller fights to follow him while discovering strange new truths about their world's history. Whispered words and myths tell of a world before this one, of a people who locked themselves into caves with the wondrous animals that lived before the Ice Giants took over, before the ""zyme"" flooded the oceans, alive and toxic. While it feels as though the novel ends before the pieces of the puzzle have been fully fleshed out, Gear's book remains a quietly thrilling mystery about human nature and courage, and what it would look like to live within the roots of an iced-over world where re-creations of extinct animals roam and hunt.

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June 1, 2021
Prehistoric young warrior Quiller must choose between helping her best friend, Lynx, survive his spirit quest in the glacial wilderness or saving her newly formed family from the Rust People. When lions attack Lynx's camp, leaving only him alive, Quiller must convince the Sealion People elders that Lynx is not a coward who abandoned his people--for which the punishment is death. Nightbreaker, the lions' giant and unusually intelligent pride leader, seems to have protected Lynx during the attack, so Quiller argues that he must be a spirit helper with a quest for Lynx. Maybe he's even the mysterious old man who appeared during and after the attack, in a different form. Her ploy works, and the elders abandon Lynx on the Ice Giants, huge glaciers, to seek Nightbreaker's guidance or die trying. Lynx has never been good at hunting or battle, so Quiller promises to defy the elders and help him. Before she can, she finds four children in an enemy village ravaged by disease and predators. After adopting the Rust People children, she must choose between finding Lynx or protecting her new family. Meanwhile, despite almost dying several times, Lynx finds the mysterious old man Dr. John Arakie. He shows Lynx there's truth to the old stories about gods leaving Earth and disappearing underground when the ice came but needs Lynx to become part of the story for humanity to survive. Gear brings her vast knowledge of prehistoric cultures to this climate-fiction tale with beautiful and engaging worldbuilding. However, there are many seemingly contradictory and confusing details that may make it hard for readers to find their footing early on. Just enough hints and promises of revelation are doled out--often in exposition thinly disguised as "there's an old story that says..."-- to make readers hang on for answers. However, the big reveal after the slow and meandering buildup isn't much of a surprise and only adds more unanswered questions--all to set up a sequel. A loose, beautiful tapestry of a tale that would be more satisfying if woven tighter.

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