Coldmaker by Daniel A Cohen

review by Maryom

 In a world which is blazing hot, cold falls from the sky at night to be collected by the slave-class Jadans and used by the Nobles. One class live in luxury; the other in desperate need. The balance kept by a religion which reinforces the Jadans lower status.  In the city of Paphos though, things are changing. A young Jadan boy, Micah, has a knack for 'tinkering', making objects from salvaged rubbish. One night, out hunting for useful scraps, he sees an odd girl - a Jadan from her appearance, though not bent in submission as he and everyone he knows is, but walking tall and straight, as if she had as much right to as the Nobles. Is she in some way linked to the signs of rebellion appearing throughout the city? From his first glimpse of her, Micah's life certainly begins to change.

Coldmaker is a brilliant book. Well-drawn characters, a story-line which doesn't follow the expected path, gruelling heat that you can almost feel, and excellent world-building - for me, the stand-out feature of the book.
Firstly there are the weird climatic conditions that plague Paphos. I must admit I'd at first imagined the Cold that falls at night to be something like hail, but it turns out to be a more complex thing, capable of being stored in its natural state, kept as treasure, or used for both cooling water, buildings, and gardens, and powering the inventions that Micah makes.
Then there's the class system. The Nobles are in charge; the Jadans kept like slaves. A lot of dystopian novels have a similar set-up of a ruling class virtually enslaving the rest of the population, and I often wonder why the 'slaves' don't rebel. The clever bit here is the invention of a religious system in which the Jadans are considered the cause of the annihilating heat, therefore always 'unworthy' of the benefits of the Cold, and permanently subservient to the Nobles. Punishment is random and brutal, but, indoctrinated from an early age, the Jadans fear worse if they rebel. Micah has to take a psychological leap to understand that he won't be struck down for challenging the status quo, and I found his development fascinating.
At the same time, it's a compelling adventure, full of danger and tension, which doesn't pan out quite as I think you'd expect.


Crossing the boundaries of adult and young adult fiction, this is an excellent read for anyone looking for a new dystopian 'fix'.

Maryom's review - 4.5 stars
Publisher - Harper Collins (Harper Voyager)
Genre - YA/adult dystopian fantasy