Oswin lives a tough life on a timber splinter farm in Central Tundra. His is a world of ice, planting timber splinters for his mother day in and day out, lucky to get a good meal if he has done a good day of work. He’s lonely now his big brother has gone to his training to become an Ice Apprentice. He’s been alone now with his mother for a few years, with no hope of change.

Despite this life, Oswin has a quick mind, keen to crack a joke and try to make his mother smile, even though she never does. He has excellent hearing, able to hear further than he should, and a photographic memory to boot. This all becomes very useful when he is unexpectedly called to begin an Ice Apprenticeship himself.

By rights this should never have happened. Many believe he shouldn’t even be alive. Oswin is a ‘Stray’ who is a person taken in by the Tundrans when he should have been left to perish out on the ice alone as a young child. Strays are deemed wasteful as food and resources aren’t plentiful and feeding and caring for them is pointless.

With this in mind at his new school, and students keen to remind him of his lowly status, Oswin is determined to prove himself useful and worthy of his training. His big brother is a great support and Oswin tries to make new friends. His adoptive mother hasn’t explained all he needs to know however, leaving his Tundran education lacking. His quick mind and endless curiosity has him asking question after question, but few will help. Especially when he ventures near unspoken topics.

One girl, as frosty as the ice around them, tolerates Oswin in small doses. No one else seems to want to share time with her, but Oswin is intrigued by her along with everything around him.

A very-unlikely-barely-there friendship is sparked as they begin to investigate strange goings on within the school. Monsters are wreaking havoc where monsters shouldn’t be and Oswin is hearing a voice in his head. Is it all connected? Will he pass the tests to enable him to stay, or will he be cast again as a Stray, as some wish for his fate?

Ice Apprentices is the first instalment of a new trilogy for middle grade readers. Oswin is the main character, and a likeable one at that. He might be deemed less than desirable by many due to his family status and name, but he does all he can to prove himself in a school that trains young teens to be Ice Apprentices and useful members of Tundran society.

The Tundran world is an interesting one, as is the training school Oswin attends. Imaginative world building shows the reader a talking gate swooning over a nearby fence, the ability to grow logs from wood splinters and three word spells that can hamper a monster or cause complete havoc.

I’m interested in Oswin’s past and how he came to be ‘adopted’ at 7 years old but can’t remember his life before then, and who the strange voice he hears might be. I do have an idea, but I’ll leave that to the reader to deduce for themselves.

Fans of Harry Potter, Skandar and the Unicorn Thief and Rise of the Remarkables Series will enjoy this new trilogy, learning about the world of the Ice Apprentices along with the main character. 

Author – Jacob North

Age – 8+

(2025, Simon & Schuster UK, Action, Adventure, Bullies, Courage, Fantasy, Friendship, Magic, Mystery, Prejudice, School, Secret, Series, Ice, Training, Spell books, Monsters, Trilogy, Big Brother, Tests, Trials, Frozen)