The book feels like a classic detective story transposed into a magical apocalypse, characterized by "steampunk noir" aesthetics and gritty realism.
As a commercially published work, official digital copies of Ice (Лёд) and the subsequent books in the series are available through major retailers:
Ordinary items from "our world" are precious commodities, and life is cheap compared to a working heater or a crate of ammunition. Plot and Protagonist: Led
You can find English translations and other series by Kornev on Amazon and Goodreads .
The novel follows (Russian for "Ice"), a protagonist who embodies Kornev's signature "everyman" hero—flawed, pragmatic, and driven primarily by survival. Unlike traditional fantasy knights, Led is a cynical operative who navigates the cutthroat politics of the Borderlands' gangs and militias.
Human settlements are isolated pockets of warmth surrounded by frozen wastelands teeming with monsters and bandits.