I am pretty sure I’ll enjoy it, but there’s one thing I want to know before I get into it:
The ice creatures–are they treated simply as a given, or are they treated as some kind of mystery the origins of which may be illuminated as the work progresses? (Not saying the mystery has been explored yet, just asking whether they are being treated as the kind of thing that might be a mystery to be explored, or rather, are they simply a given evil that we’re not asking questions about but are just trying to figure out how to deal with?)
I’d prefer not to go into it thinking one thing when it’s actually the other…
I’m not sure I’m parsing your question exactly right, but if I am…I think both. But mostly the latter.
They’re a given in that they are purportedly the original reason the wall was created. But they’re a mystery in that they’re “now” ( in the time frame of the books ) semi-mythical boogeymen whose very existence is generally disbelieved and origins, motivation and capacities are virtually unknown.
If you’ve read McCaffrey’s Pern books, think of the Others as the Red Star and their wights as Thread…a known danger in the semi-distant past which almost nobody (at the beginning of the Pern books) believes still exists, but an unknown danger in that they don’t understand what this Thread that is attacking them is. The Wall is the Pernese dragons, and there’s kind of an agenothree equivalent as well in the dragonglass. It’s not a perfect analogy, but it’s in the neighborhood.