Ice (Masterplots II: British and Commonwealth Fiction Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Helen Woods
- First Published: 1967
- Type of Work: Surrealist fable
- Time of Work: The near future
- Setting: A sequence of unidentifiable countries, probably in Northern Europe
- Principal Characters: The Narrator, The young Girl, The Man she marries, The Warden
- Genres: Long fiction, Fable, Science fiction, Surrealist literature, Fantasy
- Subjects: Girls, Love or romance, Twentieth century, Nature, Future, Alienation, Jealousy, envy, or resentment, Imagination, Science fiction, Soldiers, Quest, Winter, Glaciers, Ice Age, Mammals, Snow
- Locales: Europe
The Novel
The scenario for Ice is familiar from a dozen science-fiction novels. A new Ice Age is coming, created seemingly by radioactive fallout from a nuclear explosion of some unknown type. As the glaciers extend, more and more heat is reflected back from the Earth, dropping the temperature further and setting up a disastrous downward spiral. Some populations react to this by fleeing south, which creates immediate resistance and sets up the conditions for further war, civil disturbance, and military dictatorships. In the developing chaos, one man searches frantically...
[The entire page is 2002 words long]
