A good story keeps you reading. A great story impacts you emotionally and sticks with you for years to come. Tim Susman has done that with Breaking the Ice. A wonderful arrangement of stories about a frigid planet that offers opportunity, yet corruption and greed have made it a dreary place to live. And now, those who were seeking the chance at a better life are just trying find a sliver of happiness, escape the planet, or simply survive. Stories like “A Prison of Clouds” will show you two characters who are filled with love and hope, even when times are tough and it seems like there’s no escape from the dismal, frigid planet. Yet a story like “Skin Deep” will pull you into the dark world of an assassin who’s forced to make a haunting choice that will stick in your psyche for a very long time. I still think about that ending to this day. It was a great read, and I recommend it to anyone that loves anthropomorphic fiction.
- Sean Silva