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jonathanpalfrey's review against another edition
3.0
I've read a few of Wilson Tucker's books, and this is my favourite of them, although it's a short and slight novel, less ambitious than the others.
Published in 1975, it imagines a fairly near future suffering from a new ice age, with glaciers overrunning Canada and threatening the northern United States—which is quaintly amusing, as it's the reverse of what's actually happening now.
A team of investigators in the very cold zone near the advancing glaciers finds strange objects and human corpses falling intermittently out of thin air, and eventually works out where they must be coming from and why.
What I like about the book:
1. The gradual unfolding and solution of the mystery.
2. The rather unusual and offbeat writing style and characters (in particular the protagonist).
3. The ingenious use of a few elements of past history, woven into this speculative future.
Nothing special happens at the end of the story: it just ends quietly as the mystery is solved (in outline) and the team disperses. But, in the context of this story, I think the ending is satisfactory, and a more exciting finale would seem out of place.
The story is implausible in various ways (not just the ice age!), but I don't find that a problem. Just think of it as a quirky fantasy, and press on.
However, the short penultimate chapter is implausible in terms of human behaviour: it seems to show primitive hunter-gatherers behaving in a way that they wouldn't. I don't see the point of this chapter: it contributes nothing useful to the book, and could be omitted.
Published in 1975, it imagines a fairly near future suffering from a new ice age, with glaciers overrunning Canada and threatening the northern United States—which is quaintly amusing, as it's the reverse of what's actually happening now.
A team of investigators in the very cold zone near the advancing glaciers finds strange objects and human corpses falling intermittently out of thin air, and eventually works out where they must be coming from and why.
What I like about the book:
1. The gradual unfolding and solution of the mystery.
2. The rather unusual and offbeat writing style and characters (in particular the protagonist).
3. The ingenious use of a few elements of past history, woven into this speculative future.
Nothing special happens at the end of the story: it just ends quietly as the mystery is solved (in outline) and the team disperses. But, in the context of this story, I think the ending is satisfactory, and a more exciting finale would seem out of place.
The story is implausible in various ways (not just the ice age!), but I don't find that a problem. Just think of it as a quirky fantasy, and press on.
However, the short penultimate chapter is implausible in terms of human behaviour: it seems to show primitive hunter-gatherers behaving in a way that they wouldn't. I don't see the point of this chapter: it contributes nothing useful to the book, and could be omitted.
thomcat's review against another edition
3.0
Thin book, quick read. Aspects of time travel (Mesopotamian bricks?) and climate change and gynarchy; I really liked the alternating chapters. Some chapters mention the events of other chapters but from a different perspective - I've always been a sucker for that. Also, the main character (Fisher) is quite humorous at times.
Drawbacks - the story ends somewhat abruptly, with no real resolution.
Bonus - the supporting character who mentions the research of Charles Fort. More well known today than in the early seventies, and my favorite phenomenologist. I definitely enjoy Wilson Tucker's writing style and will seek out more in the near future.
Drawbacks - the story ends somewhat abruptly, with no real resolution.
Bonus - the supporting character who mentions the research of Charles Fort. More well known today than in the early seventies, and my favorite phenomenologist. I definitely enjoy Wilson Tucker's writing style and will seek out more in the near future.
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