Smashwords — About Icy Sedgwick, author of 'Checkmate and Other Stories' and 'The First Tale'

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Location: United Kingdom
Member Since: Feb. 05, 2010

8 users have added this author as a favorite.

Icy Sedgwick

Biography

ICY SEDGWICK is part film academic, part writer and part trainee supervillain. Icy dreams of Dickensian London and the Old West. She writes all kinds of nonsense about telepathic parrots, Cavalier ghosts and steampunk automatons. Find her ebooks, free weekly fiction and other shenanigans at Icy’s Blunt Pencil.

Where to find Icy Sedgwick online

Website: http://www.icysedgwick.com
Twitter: icypop

Facebook: Facebook profile
Blog: http://blog.icysedgwick.com/

Books

Checkmate and Other Stories by Icy Sedgwick
Price: $0.99 USD. 14900 words. Published on October 30, 2010. Fiction.

(5.00 from 3 reviews)
Fifteen previously published stories, collected together for the first time, spanning fantasy, horror, sci fi and speculative fiction. Among other things, Bleed Them Dry puts a new spin on vampires, talking corpses tell their side in The Dead Do Listen and and a devilish game of chess goes wrong in Checkmate. Perfect for Halloween.

The First Tale by Icy Sedgwick
Price: $0.99 USD. 14360 words. Published on September 13, 2010. Fiction.

(4.25 from 4 reviews)
The Vertigo City Resistance is pitted against the shadowy Weimar Corporation. Their stalemate is broken by the death of an infiltrator. The fiery Resistance Commander Liss Hunt and bewildered companion Philip Wiseman set off on a journey into both organisations to discover the truth behind who runs Vertigo. The First Tale is an action adventure featuring automatons, mad scientists and explosions!

Icy Sedgwick’s tag cloud

adventure adventure action adventure story adventure thriller books adventure thrillers anthologies devil fantasy horror short stories speculative fiction steampunk thriller thriller action

Smashwords book reviews by Icy Sedgwick

Prophecy Moon on Oct. 03, 2010

This is a fine debut for a talented writer, maintaining a consistent pace and even tone. With no preamble, Eno throws us straight into the adventure. Prophecy Moon is an easy read, ticking the boxes of the fantasy check list. Travis is the brave hero who not only has to learn to use a myriad of magickal abilities, but he also has to learn how to love, which is arguably a harder challenge. Elessa is the feisty hunter who captures his heart, while a cast of strong characters fleshes out the plot with their neuroses, abilities and trickery. A story of secrets revealed and mysteries untangled, Propechy Moon grabs your attention and doesn't let go until well after the final showdown. All plot strands are woven together into a cracking adventure yarn that I thoroughly recommend.
Shadow Memories on Nov. 01, 2010

If you enjoy lush, vivid description, inventive story telling and more than a dollop of 'weird', then I urge you to buy this book. Not only is David a lovely chap, he's also an extremely talented writer who will wrap you up in a cocoon of details and senses, before suckerpunching you with the virtuosity of his writing. My favourite story by far is Runaway Jack, the tale of an evil pumpkin, but Memor Mora is a close run second, as a sumptuous tale of longing and memory. Action, imagination and intrigue abound in this well-presented e-book.
Blood Picnic and other stories on June 27, 2011

Anthologies are sometimes accused of having a lack of focus, but not so here. Blood Picnic is divided into four "chapters" - Tales of the Heavens, which contains six fantasy stories; Tales of the Earth, which contains eight literary fiction stories; Tales of the Moon, which collects six horror stories; and Tales of the Sun, which includes eight magical realism stories. Indeed, a hallmark of Tony's style is his verstatility, although his "voice" comes through strongly to add coherence to the diversity on display. My own personal favourites are the superhero tale, "Grey Ghost Gone"; "Straight and True, my arrow, Fly", in which a pair of lovers discover the difference between love and lust; "Aspirations", in which the extent of a young man's insecurities are laid bare; "Ridi, Pagliaccio", in which a fading star tells a chilling story; "Long Story", in which a desperate man tests the strength of duct tape; and "Reconciliation", in which a penitent man tries to rejoin his family. The themes are varied and the endings are both happy and sad, but the strength of storytelling is self-evident, and the stories are clearly the work of a talented writer. I had the privilege of seeing this anthology in its original form, and it's my absolute pleasure to be able to review the finished article. I can't stress enough how enjoyable these stories are, with their intelligent plotting and deft wordplay. Tony has a vivid imagination and a true mastery of the written word, and I guarantee you'll find something to love in this collection.
The Soulkeepers on July 06, 2011

The Soulkeepers has a really interesting concept, and it's like nothing I've read before. Jacob seems to be your usual teenager struggling to fit into a new school in a new town after his mother disappears. He has trouble with the "popular crowd" and can't wait to get out of this dull new town that he hates so much. That might seem fairly run of the mill, but not many teenagers begin their books by coming back from the dead. Nor do they see their mothers fighting monsters. Most of all, they're not usually Soulkeepers - Jacob has a mystical bond with, and power over, the element of water. He encounters the local botanist, Dr Silva, who turns out to be a lot more than she appears, and she starts training him up to be able to fulfil his destiny. Along the way, he gets himself a girlfriend in the shape of Malini, a fellow social outcast. If the word 'soul' gets you thinking that this is probably a bit deeper than your usual "teen with a superpower" fiction, then you'd be right. It's not just about teenagers throwing tantrums and pouting all over the place (are you listening, Bella?) In The Soulkeepers, Jacob encounters questions of faith, both in humanity and in a higher power, and the book really kicks things up a gear when we meet the villains of the piece - the fallen angels. They're a truly nasty bunch, which leads to an amazing setpiece between our hapless heroes and the demons in disguise, but I won't say much more because I don't want to spoil it. Now, I've always been a sucker for angels but having had a fairly secular upbringing, I'm not overtly keen on religious fiction. However, GP has such a knack for storytelling that The Soulkeepers is a less a story about religion and more a story about finding faith - it doesn't necessarily have to be in a particular deity, even just faith in the universe itself will suffice. Jacob's quest for peace with the Almighty could be substituted for anything - hell, if Dr Silva was two feet tall and green, then Jacob could easily be the young Skywalker. As far as characters go, GP has created a cool bunch here. Jacob is moody but with good cause, and Malini strikes me as being that quiet, shy kid at school who would actually be a really awesome friend if you bothered to say hi. The relationship between them feels very genuine and unfolds at just the right pace. Dr Silva is completely badass, and I actually found myself warming to her more and more as the book went on. However, favourite character has got to be Gideon - you'll see why. All in all, I really enjoyed The Soulkeepers, and got so engrossed that I think I read the last quarter of the book in one sitting. I highly recommend it!
Just My Blood Type on July 11, 2011

Just My Blood Type tells the story of an encounter between the moody Mr Marcelles and romance author Therése von Willegen. The story takes it in turns to leap back and forth between Nerine Dorman's Therése, and Carrie Clevenger's Xan, giving us a unique insight into our dual protagonists. The steady banter ups the sexual tension between the pair as they trade innuendo at the Pale Rider bar, in Pinecliffe, Colorado. Just My Blood Type rattles along at a good pace, letting both characters (and their creators) share the limelight. Therése just takes Xan at face value, something I think our favourite vampire secretly enjoys, while Xan seems genuinely fascinated by this new woman in his life. It's a quick yet highly enjoyable read, and I've always been a fan of Xan so nice to see him in a new piece. At the same time, this is the first piece I've read by Nerine Dorman and based on this, I want to read more. A lot more. Perfect for fans of Gothic romance, or hard rock vampire fiction, Just My Blood Type is a highly recommended read that serves as both a stellar introduction to two incredibly talented lady writers, and as a lesson in just how good collaborative writing can be.