I liked this book less than Fire Country and I'm somewhat confused about how to rate it. I adore the author's sense of humor and whenever he made me laugh (and it was quite often, too) I was enjoying the read immensely. But then there were the serious parts and they left me wanting something more. The plot felt kind of simplistic and predictable, and maybe a tad too Young Adult for me. 
 I found it much harder to connect with Dazz, the main character, a hot-headed guy who was all about gambling and fighting, than with Siena from Fire Country. And my best reading experiences have always come from books when I was able to become one with the protagonist and see the story though their eyes. 
 Anyway, in the beginning Dazz is a reckless guy who'd pick fights just for fun, 
 "We stand over our fallen foes, grinning like the seventeen-year-old unemployed idiots that we are, enjoying the aliveness that always comes with winning a good, old-fashioned fair fight." 
 but gradually starts using his brain for a change, too 
 "An important decision. To fight or not to fight? Why is it that I constantly have to make this decision over and over again? My standard answer used to be fight, which I preferred, but now it's like my brain's taken over everything, and I don't know up from down." 
 There is barely any romance in this book, if you even can call it that. It's more like mutual attraction, and it doesn't happen until the middle of the story. The romance seemed to come out of nowhere, really, but who am I to argue? It's not like I haven't had a fair share of insta-attraction in my life. 
 Like in the Fire Country, I loved all the made-up curse words and lingo, they made for some very funny expressions. A little excerpt to prove;) 
 "A stone clatters to the floor, leaving a gap in the wall. 
 When I peer through, dark brown eyes stare back. 
 "Who in the burnin' scorch are you?" the eyes say, as raspy as a punch to the face. "And why the scorch are you followin' me?" 
 "What the chill is scorch?" I say, feeling a warm blush on my cheeks. What the chill? I'm not a blusher. I don't blush. 
 "What the scorch is chill?" the icy voice says. Did I say icy? I meant raspy. Yah, just raspy. 
 "I'm Dazz," I say, memories of a strong, brown-skinned girl floating through my mind. A punch to the face. 
 "I don't give a burn whether yer King Goff," the Heater girl says, which confuses me for a second, because didn't she ask who I was? But she's speaking so different than what I'm used to, using words that make no sense and rounding them off, almost like the curve of her hips. 
 "Uhh," I say. 
 "Why're you followin' me?" 
 "I'm not," I say. 
 "Who're you talking to?" Buff calls. 
 "That Heater girl," I reply. 
 "I ain't no Heater girl," the Heater girl says sharply. "I'm a Wild One." 
 I grin. "I'm sure you are," I say, instantly pleased with my wit. 
 "You are?" Buff says. 
 "No, you 'zard-brained baggard. Not Wild--Wilde, like with an e on the end." 
 Roan's words come back to me. The Wildes steal more and more of our women every year. 
 "Yah, Buff, I am. Now can you please shut your icin' trap?" I shoot over my shoulder. I turn back to the hole in the wall and the set of mysterious brown eyes. "You're a Wilde?" I ask stupidly, considering that's what she just told me. 
 "Well, that settles it. I'm speakin' to a searin' fool. Sun goddess help us all." 
 Well, I don't know about the searin' part, but the fool bit's probably right, considering I'm in a dungeon on an impossible mission to rescue a sister who might not even be here. "Can we start over?" I say hopefully. 
 "Watcha mean?" 
 I take a deep breath. "I'm Dazz. I'm an Icer. I'm not following you." 
 "Oh-ho," the Wilde says. 
 "Okay, okay. I am, but not like you think. You see, my friend and me, his name's Buff. Say hi, Buff." 
 "Hi, Buff," Buff says. The Yag. 
 The set of deep brown eyes just look at me and I can see what they're thinking: his friend's a searin' fool too. Which is probably a fair thought to have at this point." 
 Just like with the previous book, I felt the ending was too rushed, like things were wrapped up too quickly. (view spoiler)[Why wasn't King Goff chasing after the escapees? Was he really that easy to defeat? If so, why haven't people of Ice Country ever tried to stage a coup? It's not like everyone was happy with the King, especially poor people. And like we still don't have the slightest idea why the Glassies were trying to wipe out the Heaters, so we can only guess why the Stormers came to Ice Country to destroy the King. (hide spoiler)] Also, I'd wanted to learn more about the Ice Country society and how it worked. 
 I'm going to read the next book sometime, but not very soon. Maybe try The Dwellers companion series first.