Bears of the Ice: The Quest of the Cubs by Kathryn Lasky (3/5)

The book The Quest of the Cubs by Kathryne Lasky is a very fantasy story that includes a recurring theme of adventures and friends. This series of four so far is actually a spin-off or sequel of Guardians Of Ga’Hoole written by the same author. Both fantasy novels take place in the same universe. Two polar bear cubs are given a quest to find their mother. The family of three was safe until Roguers who take young cubs to sacrifice them to the Ice Clock, which was believed to keep their homeland frozen. Svenna, their mother, refuses and offers to work for their cult in order to spare her babies who haven’t even been named yet. They are handed to Svenna’s distant cousin, Taaka. In tragedy, Taaka was not the best caretaker as she already had three cubs as well as being evil and neglectful. The two cubs set off in secret to find their missing father and perhaps retrieve their mother, meeting any friends and dangers. Midway of their journey, they decide to name themselves Jytte and Stellan. They sought help from multiple creatures until they find someone of their kind, named Uluk Uluk, an escapee of the Den of Forever Frost, or the cult’s hideout. He firsts warns the cubs of the area, but they push forth, desperate to find their father. Little did they know, Uluk Uluk set their travels to the opposite way of their father, into the Den of Forever Frost, where their mother is being kept. On the way, they find one of Taaka’s cubs, who were kicked out for being too small. As soon as they arrive and see the huge ice clock, they knew, Uluk Uluk had fooled them. Although this novel was based on travels, I felt the theme of friends/mentors was repetitive. Many creatures of various species helped out, but most of them just gave them a place to stay and a bit of food to survive. There were good fiction concepts that were nicely built into the lore of both this novel and the Guardians of Ga’hoole series which I do recommend more than this book.The book was pretty graphic and violent as it included cannibalism and the sacrifice of babies, so it may not be the best story for the soft-hearted audience.