novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
written in
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
by the
Polish science fiction
Science fiction and fantasy in Poland dates to the late 18th century. During the latter years of the People's Republic of Poland, a very popular genre of science fiction was social science fiction. Later, many other genres gained prominence.
Po ...
writer
Jacek Dukaj
Jacek Józef Dukaj (born 30 July 1974) is a Polish science fiction and fantasy writer. He has received numerous literary prizes including the European Union Prize for Literature and Janusz A. Zajdel Award.
Career
He was born on 30 July 1974 in ...
, published in Poland by
Wydawnictwo Literackie
Wydawnictwo Literackie (abbreviated WL, lit. "Literary Press") is a Kraków-based Polish publishing house, which has been referred to as one of Poland's "most respected".
Company history
Since its foundation in 1953, Wydawnictwo Literackie has b ...
. The novel mixes
alternate history
Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...
with
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
elements, in particular, with alternative
physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
and
logic
Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...
. It won the
Janusz A. Zajdel Award
The Janusz A. Zajdel Award (''Nagroda imienia Janusza A. Zajdla''), often called just Zajdel,
is the annual award given by the Polish science fiction and fantasy fandom for the best stories published in the previous year. The winners are chose ...
,
European Union Prize for Literature
The European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL), established in 2009, is a European Union literary award. Its aim is to recognise outstanding new literary talents from all over Europe, to promote the circulation and translation of literature among ...
and
Kościelski Award
The Kościelski Award is an independent Polish literary award, awarded since 1962 by the Geneva-based Kościelski Foundation. The jury issues annual awards to "promising writers" 40 years of age or younger.
Past winners have included Sławomir ...
.
Translations
English language rights to ''Ice'' have been acquired by London-based publisher
Head of Zeus
Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. It is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index. Bloomsbury's head office is located in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a ...
in 2017. The publication date will be announced once the novel is translated. In 2017 the novel was translated to Russian and Bulgarian; in 2018 the novel was translated to Ukrainian.
Universe
The story of the book takes place in an alternate universe where the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
Tunguska event
The Tunguska event (occasionally also called the Tunguska incident) was an approximately 12-megaton explosion that occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Yeniseysk Governorate (now Krasnoyarsk Krai), Russia, on the morning of June 30, ...
, the Ice, a mysterious form of matter, has covered parts of
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
in Russia and started expanding outwards, reaching
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
. The appearance of Ice results in extreme decrease of temperature, putting the whole continent under constant winter, and is accompanied by ''Lute'', angels of Frost, a strange form of being which seems to be a native inhabitant of Ice. Under the influence of the Ice, iron turns into ''zimnazo'' (cold iron), a material with extraordinary physical properties, which results in the creation of a new branch of industry, zimnazo mining and processing, giving birth to large fortunes and new industrial empires. Moreover, the Ice freezes
History
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
and
Philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
, preserving the old political regime, affecting human
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...
many-valued logic
Many-valued logic (also multi- or multiple-valued logic) refers to a propositional calculus in which there are more than two truth values. Traditionally, in Aristotle's logical calculus, there were only two possible values (i.e., "true" and "false" ...
of "Summer" to
two-valued logic
In logic, the semantic principle (or law) of bivalence states that every declarative sentence expressing a proposition (of a theory under inspection) has exactly one truth value, either true or false. A logic satisfying this principle is called ...
of "Winter" with no intermediate steps between True and False.
Dukaj noted that in this book, science in science-fiction stands for the
philosophy of history
Philosophy of history is the philosophical study of history and its discipline. The term was coined by French philosopher Voltaire.
In contemporary philosophy a distinction has developed between ''speculative'' philosophy of history and ''crit ...
Tomasz Bagiński
Tomasz "Tomek" Bagiński (, born 10 January 1976 in Białystok) is a Polish illustrator, animator, producer and director. He is a self-taught artist.
Education
Bagiński studied architecture at the Warsaw University of Technology. Works
His firs ...
.
Plot
The protagonist of the novel is Benedykt Gierosławski, a Polish mathematician and notorious gambler, collaborating with
Alfred Tarski
Alfred Tarski (, born Alfred Teitelbaum;School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews ''School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews''. January 14, 1901 – October 26, 1983) was a Polish-American logician a ...
on his work on many-valued logics. The Ministry of Winter's officials visit Gierosławski and make him embark on a Transsiberian journey to find his lost father, who is said to be able to communicate with Lute. During his journey Gieroslawski finds out that he is caught in a political intrigue, brought about by rivalry between two palace factions, ''liedniacy'' (conservatives and Siberian entrepreneurs backing the idea of "frozen Russia") and ''ottiepelnicy'' (mostly revolutionaries aiming for a literal and political "thaw"), supported also by the Tsar. He also meets
Tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...
to relieve Russia from the Winter. During the journey and upon his arrival in
Irkutsk
Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and mn, Эрхүү, ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 617,473 as of the 2010 Census, Irkutsk is ...
Gierosławski discovers that various political forces, including Followers of St. Marcyn, a sect worshiping the Ice led by
Rasputin
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (; rus, links=no, Григорий Ефимович Распутин ; – ) was a Russian mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, thus ga ...
, followers of
Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov
Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov (russian: Никола́й Фёдорович Фёдоров; surname also Anglicized as "Fedorov", June 9, 1829 – December 28, 1903) was a Russian Orthodox Christian philosopher, who was part of the Russian cosm ...
, who strive for assuring human immortality, and Siberian industrial potentates, are interested in his person and that
Józef Piłsudski
), Vilna Governorate, Russian Empire (now Lithuania)
, death_date =
, death_place = Warsaw, Poland
, constituency =
, party = None (formerly PPS)
, spouse =
, children = Wan ...
, in this reality leading a group of
Sybirak
A sybirak (, plural: ''sybiracy'') is a person resettled to Siberia. Like its Russian counterpart '' sibiryák'' the word can refer to any dweller of Siberia, but it more specifically refers to Poles imprisoned or exiled to Siberia
or even to thos ...
s and Siberian separatists fighting for Polish independence, may possess knowledge about his father.
Critical reception
''Lód'' was planned as a short story for '' Król bólu'' anthology, but has grown into an epic-length novel. The book, counting over 1,000 pages, was published in early December 2007 (samples were released in October issue of ''
Nowa Fantastyka
''Fantastyka'' (est 1982, in 1990 renamed ''Nowa Fantastyka'') is a Polish speculative fiction monthly fantasy and science fiction magazine.
History
''Fantastyka'' was established in 1982 by sci-fi fans Andrzej Krzepkowski, Jacek Rodek and , un ...
''). It had been long-awaited by fans, as Dukaj's previous book – '' Perfect Imperfection'' – was published in 2004. Around the time of book's premier, Dukaj was interviewed by Polish radio stations
Radio Kraków Radio Kraków ( pl, Polskie Radio Kraków) is one of the regional stations of Polish Radio
Polskie Radio Spółka Akcyjna (PR S.A.; English: Polish Radio) is Poland's national public-service radio broadcasting organization owned by the State ...
and by
TOK FM
Agora Spółka Akcyjna (Agora SA) is a Polish media company. Agora and ''Gazeta Wyborcza'' (''The'' ''Electoral Gazette'') were created on the eve of the parliamentary elections in 1989. ''Gazeta Wyborcza'' became the first independent newspape ...
. In December 2007, the book received the honorary prize at the
Poznań
Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...
Review of New Publications and was named "Book of Autumn 2007" organized by Raczyński Library in Poznań.
In his review
Wojciech Orliński
Wojciech Orliński (born 24 January 1969 in Warsaw) is a Polish journalist, writer, and blogger. Between 1997 and 2021 he was a regular columnist for Gazeta Wyborcza.
He has written several books, including an alternate history novel, an encyclo ...
writes that unlike many previous books by Dukaj, this one has excellent action, and names it a "sensational novel ''par excellence''", and compares it to books by Ludlum (albeit in the science-fiction, alternate history genre).
Wojciech Orliński
Wojciech Orliński (born 24 January 1969 in Warsaw) is a Polish journalist, writer, and blogger. Between 1997 and 2021 he was a regular columnist for Gazeta Wyborcza.
He has written several books, including an alternate history novel, an encyclo ...
Gazeta Wyborcza
''Gazeta Wyborcza'' (; ''The Electoral Gazette'' in English) is a Polish daily newspaper based in Warsaw, Poland. It is the first Polish daily newspaper after the era of "real socialism" and one of Poland's newspapers of record, covering the g ...
Wirtualna Polska
Wirtualna Polska (WP ) is a group of companies operating in the media and e-commerce sectors. The WP Group owns the Wirtualna Polska horizontal portal. It operates various specialized websites and e-commerce websites like AutoCentrum.pl S.A., ...
, 6 December 2007
*
Wojciech Orliński
Wojciech Orliński (born 24 January 1969 in Warsaw) is a Polish journalist, writer, and blogger. Between 1997 and 2021 he was a regular columnist for Gazeta Wyborcza.
He has written several books, including an alternate history novel, an encyclo ...
Gazeta Wyborcza
''Gazeta Wyborcza'' (; ''The Electoral Gazette'' in English) is a Polish daily newspaper based in Warsaw, Poland. It is the first Polish daily newspaper after the era of "real socialism" and one of Poland's newspapers of record, covering the g ...