Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20458 in Books
• Published on: 2000-01-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 704 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
A remote antarctic research station, a strange alien presence and a group of hardy survivors trying to stay alive until help arrives? Sound familiar? Well, Matthew Reilly's debut novel is something of a mish-mash of several well-worn paths, borrowing liberally from movies like "The Thing" and "Die Hard" (among countless others) to create what really is the equivalent of an action movie in print. A distress call from the research station in the Antarctic prompts the arrival of a crack team of US commandos, eager to claim as their own the extraterrestrial prize discovered buried in the ice. Several station staff have already met mysterious deaths in the cavern where the supposed 'spaceship' has been found but a team of French soldiers also have their eyes on the treasure and before long all hell breaks lose as a band of soldiers and surviving scientists find themselves fighting for their life against what may be an inhuman enemy. At just over 700 pages, it's a hefty read but there is a distinct lack of padding and the plot is efficiently and tantalisingly constructed. Reilly's gifts do not lie in characterisation or believable dialogue and we are force- fed a diet of stock characters and some dialogue so banal that even Jean-Claude Van Damme would feel embarrassed to utter it. But what the book does deliver is action and plenty of it. The pace is relentless, as the reader is hit with one amazing set piece after another. Credibility is stretched to breaking point on several occasions, but that doesn't seem important. Ice Station will keep you turning the pages until the very end to create a pyrotechnic explosion of action and adventure. It is going to make one hell of a movie! --Jonathan WeirEND

Synopsis
At a remote US ice station in Antarctica, a team of scientists has made an amazing discovery. They have found something unbelievable buried deep below the surface, trapped inside a layer of ice 400 million years old. It's made of metal, and shouldn't be there.

Customer Reviews

Utterly Risible
I found this book on the shelf whilst on holiday and the blurb made it sound reasonably interesting (including a quote from the Sunday Telegraph saying "This is a great book"!) Having read ~150 pages in about 2 hours (no, it's not a particularly taxing read) I was forced to give up. SPOILER. At this point a pod of insane killer whales were eating US Marines and French Commandos while they all had a massive gun fight in a collapsing Antarctic base. I'm afraid this is just not for me, especially when everything is pointed out for you as if you are a complete moron, usually by dropping down a line and writing a nounless sentence or a fragment for dramatic effect. The following is not a real example from the book:

"The Cardboard Cutout Marine dropped his AR5125 SuperHyperMagnetic Plasma Pulse Injection Vaporiser as he heard a noise coming from the Killer Whales in the pool below.

They were preparing to mate."

I can't give it a one in good conscience as I didn't bother to finish it and after page 150 it may turn into a delightful character study, Also, if you are still at school I suppose it could be enjoyable, it's just it reads like a straight-to-DVD movie starring `The Rock'. Clancy did this sort of action book a whole lot better in Red Storm Rising, I can't see what this adds, unless you simply must have an alien spaceship.

Enjoyable Tripe
It's tripe, but it's enjoyable tripe. I'd agree with the reviewer who says this book is unintentionally hilarious. There are ludicrous twists and turns every few pages. And yet, you have to keep reading. Take your brain out and just have fun with the action!

GIVE THE GUY A BREAK
My girlfriend bought me this, along with Temple & Area 57 also by Matt Reilly, as part of a bundle for just £4! Now, these are not small books & I thought if they are being sold as a set for so little money (they are from wholesale seller, not second hand), then they must be pretty crap. And a lot of the reviews really slate the authour for being ludicrously unrealstic, writing like an excited teenager, la la la, etc. Well, sure that may be the case, but isn't reading supposed to be about escapism, and entertainment? If you want an intellectually stimulating book to sit around talking about & analysing endlessly go and read Ulysses or Gravity's Rainbow, lol! Ok this book is like the Hardy Boys for adults, but I really enjoyed it purely because of that! And I will look forward to reading the other two books I got with this one.