Atmospheric setting brings the Artic chill as this story unfolds.
A linguist noted for her study of dead Nordic languages, Val Chesterfield, is invited to a remote island off the coast of Greenland to see if she can find a way to communicate with a young girl who apparently has been thawed after found frozen in ice. She decides to go, though she has severe fear anxiety, because her twin died there a year ago and Val wants to talk about him with his mentor and project leader, Wyatt Speeks. The weirdness begins as soon as she gets off the plane in this barren, unforgiving landscape.
What I liked most about this book: the details and descriptions of the Arctic outpost and the way the author used it to set the tone and mood. The reader can almost actually feel the extreme cold and the minimalist conditions under which the team is meant to live. The close proximity of the characters to one another in the crowded spaces with nothing but endless snow and wind as the light diminishes each day. I also was very interested in the language aspect and the translation of the words as Val struggles to communicate with Sigrid. And, I was eager to discover the truth about the girl who had come to life after being frozen -- the how, especially. The writing style of the author was engaging and absorbing.
What I didn't like -- the actual unfolding of the story was a disappointment especially the last third of the book when all falls apart and becomes predictable as far as outcome. The characters were such stereotypes and the plot basically seemed to turn into Helen Keller on ice. I found it difficult to relate to any of them, Val included, and some of what happened created difficulty for me to sustain my ability to buy into all that transpired.
The underlying theme is focused on climate change and all that entails -- very scary to be sure. I found myself fascinated by the ice wind phenomenon described. I even googled it to see if it was a real thing (not as far as I could tell). Also, quite enthralled with the topic of thawing a frozen person or other living thing to bring them back to life and wish there had been more focus on that in the novel. In all, however, the book left me with more questions than answers because I do like science fiction when it can be made plausible with explanation.
Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery/Scout Press for this e-book ARC to read and review. I will be thinking about this one for awhile.
This is a standalone and is not part of the series. I may check out the author's other books because of the different settings in each and the author's writing style is compelling.
Genre - sci fi thriller, atmospheric
No comments:
Post a Comment