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anticonnor's review against another edition
4.0
Totally love the Waterworld on ice feel of these two stories... the only thing keeping it from five stars are that the stories moved a little too quickly. And that it's not ten times longer.
ocurtsinger's review against another edition
3.0
Mad Max in winter. Plot is a little too fast-paced, but it shouldn't be read for its plot anyways; just the pure badassery.
rosseroo's review
4.0
This book reprints the original 3-book miniseries that was released under the same name in 1987 and adds an unpublished sequel called "Wintersea." The story is a basic post-apocalyptic survival one: the earth has frozen over into a near ice-age, and humanity only survives in small pockets of settlements. Scully is a trader who moves from settlement to settlement in a kind of snow-tank, bartering various pre-apocalypse goods (toys, candy, guns and ammo, etc.) to make a living. An ambush brings him together with a young orphaned teenage girl, whom he teams up with, only to be captured by slavers who sell them as field hands to a hothouse plantation being run in the old Houston Astrodome. He escapes, but can't leave her behind, and hatches a scheme to rescue her. In the sequel, the two travel to find her homeland, and when they find it, it's both a paradise and a prison of sorts. Then the cannibal Vikings come... Oh yeah, throughout all this, there's a ferocious overgrown badger as sidekick.
The pacing of the storytelling is great, everything moves at a nice clip and various beats click nicely into place. Which is good, because it keeps you from asking too many questions as you're reading (questions like why Scully bothers to lead the dangerous life of a trader when he has access to what is basically a treasure trove of goods that could set him up for life, or who the market is for the food and alcohol being produced at the plantation, or where anyone is getting all the gasoline needed to drive these massive machines around the frozen wastes). But none of that really matters too much, because what makes the whole thing work is the artwork. The original series appeared in color, but the publishers have wisely decided to reprint in pure black and white, thereby showcasing the work of Argentine artist Zaffino. Without the expressive inkwork of Zaffino, whose style seems very European, the story wouldn't really captivate. But his ability to create a realistic snowpocalypse and realistic characters makes the story jump off the page. Definitely worth checking out if you are interested in seeing striking artwork, or if you're really into post-apocalyptic settings.
The pacing of the storytelling is great, everything moves at a nice clip and various beats click nicely into place. Which is good, because it keeps you from asking too many questions as you're reading (questions like why Scully bothers to lead the dangerous life of a trader when he has access to what is basically a treasure trove of goods that could set him up for life, or who the market is for the food and alcohol being produced at the plantation, or where anyone is getting all the gasoline needed to drive these massive machines around the frozen wastes). But none of that really matters too much, because what makes the whole thing work is the artwork. The original series appeared in color, but the publishers have wisely decided to reprint in pure black and white, thereby showcasing the work of Argentine artist Zaffino. Without the expressive inkwork of Zaffino, whose style seems very European, the story wouldn't really captivate. But his ability to create a realistic snowpocalypse and realistic characters makes the story jump off the page. Definitely worth checking out if you are interested in seeing striking artwork, or if you're really into post-apocalyptic settings.
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