I just finished reading the Snow Queen: The Complete Saga by K.M. Shea. This fairy tale is written in two parts: Heart of Ice and Sacrifice. The Complete Saga also includes a number of short stories at the end. 

As with any review, beware of spoilers. 

The Snow Queen takes place in the same world as the other Timeless Fairy Tales by K.M. Shea only a hundred (or so) years earlier. I am not positive, but I am pretty sure it was written after the author had written several of the other books in the same world. So, it is a bit of a prequel to the great world events, while at the same time acting as a complete story. 

Rakel is the Snow Queen, a princess born with Magic. In this time frame magic users are hated and feared. Rakel is despised by her parents and locked first in a cold, isolated tower then exiled to a distant mountain peak in the northern kingdom of Verglas. While Rakel grows to love her magic, she is frightened of people – as they often want to kill her or call her a monster. All that is about to change when the Chosen decide to invade. 

While her first instinct is to let the people of the kingdom suffer, that doesn’t last long. And soon Rakel sets off to save a neighbouring village. She wields her magic to protect her people and over time becomes the hero of her kingdom. 

For Rakel, her journey is about making friends, learning to trust other people and to live in a world beyond her ice castle. She finds love in a colonel from the invading army, a best friend in an outgoing thief and loyalty in the Captain of her guards and the attendant who has served her for the past 8 years. 

It is a sweet story that clearly delineates good versus evil. Yet, it does take time to look at motivation and method. The story draws parallels between the power Rakel has and uses as the Snow Queen and that of her enemy, the leader of the Chosen. While Rakel is reluctant to kill, Lord Tenebris, leader of the Chosen is off to enslave everyone without magic. Both these characters have faced discrimination, yet both have come out of that experience with two different objectives. Rakel would rather hide away from the world. Her goal is not to cause pain to others because she knows what it is like. Rather, her strength lays in her ability to forgive (also in her incredible control over ice, snow and temperature). Tenebris wants to punish those that have hurt him. He will be the strongest and will demonstrate his strength by ensuring no one has the power to hurt him again. He also wants revenge. Death and destruction are his goals. 

The death count may be low for Rakel, but just to be clear her army does not hold the same views. They are killing the enemy, occasionally there is imprisonment, but there is still a lot of death. So, yes the good guys try to be better, but in war there no real heroes. And that is something this book does not really touch on. Granted this is a nice, straightforward fairy tale of good versus evil. The message the book spells out is that forgiveness and love are stronger and more important. But I think it tries to portray the battle as too clean. In a war like this, both sides would have lost. However, that would have made for a different and more complex tale to tell. 

This was a good story. And with the chaos of the real world, sometimes we need these unrealistic heroes to exist so we have something to strive for. Sure no one is going to be as perfect as Rakel, the Snow Queen (not just because magic on that scale doesn’t exist). But we can all try to be a bit more like her: kinder, more empathetic, and far more forgiving. 

Final rating for the Snow Queen: 4.5 out of 5 stars. Another good book my K.M. Shea.