The Anvil of Ice is the first chronicle of The Winter of the World, a history of ancient magic, mystery and enchantment, of light and darkness, a great quest with an epic conclusion, and a hero whose deeds would live on in myth and legend.
In the Northlands, beleaguered by the ever-encroaching Ice and the marauding Ekwesh, a young cowherd, Alv, saved from the raiders by the mysterious Mastersmith, discovers in himself an uncanny power to shape metal – but it is a power that may easily be turned to evil ends. Alv flees the Mastersmith and embarks on the quest to find both his own destiny and a weapon that will let him stand against the power of the Ice.