Ice Station

Matthew Reilly

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.

Something made of metal...something which shouldn't be there...it's the discovery of a lifetime, a discovery of immeasurable value. And a discovery men will kill for.

Led by the enigmatic Lieutenant Shane Schofield, a crack team of US Marines is rushed to the ice station to secure this bizarre discovery for their own nation. Meanwhile other countries have developed the same idea and are ready to pursue it swiftly and ruthlessly. Fortunately, Schofield's men are a tough unit, all set to follow their leader to hell.

They soon discover they just did...

'For lots of lethal violence involving high-tech weaponry. For thrilling escapes from the jaws of death. For cliff hanging suspense on just about every page...Ice Station delivers the action-thriller goods with all the explosive firepower of a machine pistol.

West Australian

Review by Alma (310501) Rating (9/10)
Review by Chrissi (310301) Rating (10/10)
Review by Nigel (310301) Rating (8/10)

Review by Alma
The setting for this story made me interested straight away, as well as the recommendation from Chrissi and Nigel.

I like stories set in and around the Arctic and Antarctic, the scenery is so stark and majestic, it makes the people behave in strange ways.

The story is about a group of American Marines on a rescue mission. They are sent to save the workers at a research station when members of an exploration party are lost on a dive below the ice pack.

It was none stop action and although I found it rather far fetched, I very much enjoyed the hectic pace and especially the setting.
Alma (31st May 2001)

Review by Chrissi
Right, you will have to forgive me because I have just finished this in about 24 hours; minus an afternoon at work (I took it to work and started it in my lunchbreak), made a visit to Tesco's, watched the final of Robot Wars, Friends, Frasier and had a night's sleep, (not a lot, mind. I stopped reading when I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore and picked it up again when I crawled out of bed, I'm sitting here in my dressing gown!)

This is quite a thick book (689 pages), we found it in Waterstones if my memory serves, and said that the blurb sounded good. It is one of those books that you can't put down, there are page breaks, and sections, but YOU DO NOT WANT TO STOP! It reads so quickly that it unfurls almost like a film in your imagination.

I cannot give you any quotes, not because they were not memorable or anything like that, but because I was there, travelling so fast with the story that they did not have an opportunity to make a home in my head!

Very briefly, because I don't want to spoil things for you, should you decide to read this, it is the story of what happens when a radio signal is sent out that says that "Whehay we've found something amazing which has great possibilities!" What they really mean is "come and grab what you can because we don't know what we've got and we can't stop you!"

This is what the book is about - the race to get hold of something which may be very important.

I'm sitting here trying to decide whether I should give this book a 10/10. This may not sound a difficult thing to do but a book has to really grab you, the kind of thing where you sit back when you've finished and feel sorry that it all had to come to an end. It did end, really well I might say, and I did go "wow!" - I actually woke Nigel to tell him about it and did this, so it has got to be special - what the hell, 10/10.

READ IT - IT WILL BLOW YOUR SOCKS OFF!!!
Chrissi (31st March 2001)

Review by Nigel
After Chrissi couldn't stop talking about this book for hours after finishing it, I put down the Koontz I was currently reading and started Ice Station (anything for a quiet life ).

The story involves the response by a crack team of marines to a distress call from an Antarctic research station, the contents of which includes that they have found a Spaceship. Unfortunately they are not the only ones to pick up the signal and from this point on everyone and his mother wants some of the action, which is OK because there is plenty to go around.

This book is basically non-stop action from beginning to end. The first half is excellent with the tension never letting up and at this point I would have probably given it 10/10 as well (see above). However as the end draws near I found some of the situations, although told with the same pace and style, a little hard to swallow. This is not the fault of the book, just me, as I'd rather have situations that are probable. If there were that many bullets flying around, no one, however skilled, would survive. Will baddies EVER learn to aim?

Still, like a lot of modern action films (e.g. MI2) if you suspend your disbelief you will have an excellent time.

In summary a very good action novel which allows you to switch off and go along for the ride. Now, where is that Koontz!
Nigel (31st March 2001)